A STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MONGOL YUAN DYNASTY AND THE TIBETAN SA-SKYA SECT (DBUS, GTSANG, MNGA-RIS, MDO, KHAMS; CHINA)

This dissertation makes the argument that while under Khubilai Khan the Mongols attempted to take political advantage of the personal relationship between the emperor and the Sa-skya hierarch 'Phags-pa, under Khubilai's successors this attempt failed due largely to the deep involvement in Tibetan Buddhism by the latter. The most important of the new contributions of this dissertation are its detailed studies of the Hsuan-cheng-yuan and the lineage of Imperial Preceptors who succeeded 'Phags-pa. These topics have not hitherto been investigated in depth by scholars in this field.; The first chapter, "Sources and Problems," discusses the Tibetan and Chinese source-materials, and earlier studies of them. The second chapter, "Relations Between Mongols and Tibetans Before Khubilai Khan," deals with problems in the history of the developing relationship. The third chapter, "Khubilai Khan and the Sa-skya-pa," begins with the period when Khubilai was still a prince, and continues through the period when he was emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. It discusses his encounter with the Sa-skya hierarch 'Phags-pa, which caused a dramatic change in the relationship between the Mongols and the Tibetans. The fourth chapter, "The Yuan Management of Tibet," is divided into two sections, one on the office of Imperial Preceptor and one on the Hsuan-cheng-yuan, the office of the Yuan court which was involved in the administration of Tibetan and Buddhist affairs. The fifth chapter covers the relationship between the Yuan and the Sa-skya sect after Khubilai Khan (with special attention to the history of the later Imperial Preceptors), until its end in 1354.