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Document Details : Title: Tours, Titles, and Tests Subtitle: Issues of Standardisation in Medieval Tibetan Monastic Education Author(s): SAMUELS, Jonathan Journal: Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies Volume: 43 Date: 2020 Pages: 181-213 DOI: 10.2143/JIABS.43.0.3289056 Abstract : There is a growing academic literature on what is commonly phrased 'Tibetan medieval scholasticism', but few studies have considered the institutionalisation of learning within monastic centres, or the norms and practices associated with this during specific historical periods. As so much within the tightly-structured, monastic education of present times has traceable medieval origins, it is often assumed that learning during those earlier times was highly regulated. Epitomising this vision of continuity, both in systems and practices, are understandings of the three institutions of scholastic touring, testing, and the awarding of titles, marking the culmination of the learning process. Based on documents from the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, this article explores the nature of these three at the time and what they reveal about the organisation of learning. It both tests and questions the current understanding regarding the existence of a standardised educational system. |
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