Study On The Literariness Of Tibetan Biographical Documents

Biographical literature is a treasure trove within the vast and varied classical literature of the Tibetan people,with its unique quantity and quality,as well as diverse styles.In recent years,due to its academic value being increasingly recognized by scholars,corresponding research results have emerged like spring shoots after a rain.With a history of over a thousand years,this literary genre has been deeply influenced by different cultural,ideological,political,and economic factors at different times.Especially in the context of different stages of literary development,it has already evolved into a diverse,colorful,and stylistically varied literary genre.Therefore,summarizing these characteristics under a general framework is a biased approach.Based on the development history of biographical literature of our ethnic group,and using literary theories and thoughts from different ethnic groups as a foil,studying and exploring the "literaryness" of Tibetan biographical literature is a difficult but significant task.Using representative works of Tibetan biographical literature that have distinct literary characteristics at different stages of its development as research examples,such as the eight praise biographies of Tibetan kings in the Dunhuang manuscripts from the Tubo period,the Bka’ gdams pha chos and Bka’ gdams bu chos written by‘Grom ston pa rgyal ba’i ‘byung gnas during the Tubo’s fragmentation period,and the The Biography of ‘Gos lo gzhon nu dpal The Biography of Mila ras pa,The Bigraphy of Great Translator Marpa,The Biography of Khophu Translator,The Biography of Buton,etc.,In addition,there are also more than thirty authoritative and influential biographical works from different sects and different periods,such as The Biography of Sakya Pandita kun dga’ rgyal mtshan written during the Sakya period and the Ganden Phodrang period,the Tsongkhapa’s Hidden Biography written by Mkhas grub rje,the The Autobiography of Fifth Dalai Lama,The Biography of Pho lhapa,The Biography of Rdo Ring Pandita,etc.,as research materials,to thoroughly explore the "literariness" of Tibetan biographical literature.The author discovered during their research on the "literary qualities" of biographical literature that some biographical works are not simply about describing mythological stories or praising the merits of kings and teachers.Although these biographies lack historical authenticity,their literary value in terms of "truth,goodness,and beauty" is extremely high,and they have won the hearts of tens of thousands of readers in different eras.They not only played a significant role in expanding the "unity of politics and religion" in Tibet but also provided direction and methods for the creation of biographies in later times.This article consists of four parts.The first part briefly introduces the development and different definitions of biographical literature,as well as its significance.It explains the different narrative modes of biography and literature due to their different modes of factual and fictional narration.It also discusses how the "literariness" of biography is composed of literary images,storylines,character traits,and rhetorical structures.The second part delves into the "literariness" of Tibetan biographical literature,which stems from its narrative art.By combining several major themes of literary narration,it discusses narrative structure and relationship,narrative perspective,and narrative time and space.The third part explains that the "literariness" of biography comes from its language art,mainly composed of the choice of modifying words and colloquial,elegant or vulgar,natural or literary language.The techniques of modification include character traits,inserted poems,and other aspects.The fourth part classifies the genres and different forms of biographical literature based on literary genre and form,and briefly describes the structure and composition of biographical literature.Finally,it divides the development of biographical literature into four periods,further exploring the evolution and causes of changes in biographical literature in different periods,as well as the development process of the "literariness" of Tibetan biographical literature.