As a supplement to the post "Tibet November 04, 2007 , I like to give here a rough translation of the article "Initial considerations on the appearance of A khu sTon pa" (a khu ston pa'i byung bar thog ma'i bsam gzhigs) by the 'Bri gung bKa' brgyud scholar Ra se dKon mchog rgya mtsho (b. 1968). In this article he draws a connection between the folk tale hero A khu sTon pa and a religious person living in the 13th century with the same name by means of some textual sources found in the Collected Works of 'Bri gung sPyan snga Grags pa 'byung gnas (1175-1255).
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Dear J.H.,
Thank you so much, this is so much fun!
I may have more to say later, but for now I just want to comment on two things.
[1] I hadn't thought about it, but don't you think that the Drugu Dogdog in some Uncle stories, being his relative and friend, could have something to do with an actual Turkic connection? After all, in Tibetan sources of rather early times Drugu (Gru-gu) generally does mean [Central Asian} Turks other than Uighurs, doesn't it? Any thoughts on that? Especially since Turks are so keen to claim Nasruddin as their own... Perhaps some of the Tibetan stories are "remembering" their source in a devious way? Something to think about more than once.
[2] I can answer at least one of your conundrums in the paper, at footnote no. 41. The Seven Day Buddha is a popular story (I've seen some connection to old Chos-Bon polemical stories, but that's another matter that's not for now). It's not something you usually find reference to in books, being an oral tradition. So off hand I only know of one published source, which is Jamyang Norbu in his essay "Back to the Future: Enduring Phobias and Superstitions in Tibetan Society," World Tibet News, March 23, 2005. You can easily find it with a Schmoogle search, or go to the WTN backlog for that date. Then you will find complete enlightenment, in even less than 7 days, guaranteed!
Ha ha.
Love the site! Expand, flourish, grow! We command you!
Yours,
Dan
Dear Dan,
sorry for my late answer, but we were busy in breaking "the silence" in Hamburg!
Thanks for your comments. Looking forward to get some more if time allows.
[1] I also hadn't thought about that connection before I say your blog the first time. But to be honest, I have no idea yet. But its true that Gru-gu has the meaning you mentioned and also some more like (Tshig mdzod chen mo): sngar bod byang rgyud dang | shin cang | mtsho sngon bcas kyi sa 'brel khul du chags pa'i rgyal phran zhig. Dung dkar's mTshig mdzod gives an even longer explanation. I think one should collect some stories dealing with Drugu Dogdog and ask a reknown Tibetan storyteller about that person and his name. Anyways, we should keep it in mind.
I hope I get some stories online next week. Up to now they are all more or less "btsog pa".
Best Greetings,
Joerg
There's also a meaning of drugu (gru gu) as a ball of string or spindle, if I remember right. Rarely it seems to be used to refer to some kind of weapon. But since it's part of a name, and comes as the first part, it looks likely it refers to nationality/place of origins, don't you think?
Today I had an interesting look in the book A khu bstan pa'i gtam rgyud. The introductory chapter
"Bod rigs dmangs khrod kyi rtsom rig gi me tog ngo mtshar ba zhig", already written in 1963, refers to the similarity of the A khu bsTan pa tales and the Na sir ting A hphan thi tales of the Uighurs, the A la than tshang tales of the Mongols and the Tshor mu kA tales of the Yi.
This book was published in 1980 in Tibetan translation based on the earlier edition in Chinese from 1966. The primary work on the book was begun in 1961 and it was printed in Chinese in 1966. But due to the cultural revolution (1966-76) it never reached the hands of the readers. It seems that in 1980 also a new edition in Chinese appeared.
I have more to say on the introductory chapter that gives a general introduction on A khu bsTan pa, but not today.
Sri khron zhing chen dmangs khrod rig rtsal brtag dpyad tshogs pa dang| Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, ed. (1980). A khu bstan pa'i gtam rgyud. Khreng tu'u: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang.
See pp. 1-15 for the introductory chapter "Bod rigs dmangs khrod kyi rtsom rig gi me tog ngo mtshar ba zhig".
Joerg:
Another connection perhaps worth taking into consideration is this:
Our dear author who discusses Aku Tonpa, of Drikung, who is often mention in connection with religious "madmen" (smyon pa) (like Drukpa Kunle et al.), is himself from Drikung and has at times been considered something of a religious "madman." (I am not sure how strong of an identification this is, but in the jacket for his book dam chos dgongs gcig gi dgongs rgyan (bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, 2003) it mentions that he has been called "'bri smyon".)
smyon pas, especially of the 15th century, are the topic of my research. If I come across anything pertinent to Aku Tonpa, I will keep you in mind.
Dear Divo,
Thanks for that note.
At university we read a text of Ra se dKon mchog on the special painting tradition of 'Bri gung ('bri bris/ris) and also a very short biography on him. I don't remember that he was called 'Bri smyon in these texts. At Hamburg University one student is preparing his M.A. thesis on the life and works of Ra se dKon mchog. I will aks her about Ra se dkon mchog beiing the 'Bri smyon.
Best Greetings,
Joerg
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