Pelliot tibétain 1038
A ninth-century genealogical chronicle of the Tibetan btsan-po (emperor), written in Old Tibetan on a single sheet found in the Dunhuang cave library. The recto contains eighteen lines of Tibetan text; the verso bears a Chinese Buddhist text. Three Chinese characters (卅六秩, "thirty-sixth bundle") between lines six and seven serve as a library catalogue number — evidence that this Tibetan political document was catalogued within a Chinese library system, a testimony to the multilingual world of Dunhuang.
The text is remarkable for what it refuses to do: choose. Three competing origin myths for the first Tibetan king are presented side by side — celestial descent from the supreme Phyva deity, flesh-eating outcast lineage, and descent through thirteen sky-levels — and the scribe concludes with striking honesty: "Whatever the truth may be, it is not manifest." The political point survives the mythological uncertainty: regardless of which origin is correct, the Spu-rgyal dynasty is one lineage, and the clan is undivided.
This is the first English translation of Pelliot tibétain 1038. The text belongs to the genre of pre-Buddhist Tibetan royal genealogy — the tenth distinct genre identified within the Dunhuang Old Tibetan corpus by the expeditionary tulku lineage.
With territories and fortresses — from the four separate territorial divisions — the Spu-rgyal Bon btsan-po, King Thod-rgyal of Lti'u, arose.
According to some, he belonged to the Twelve Petty Kingdoms — so it is said. According to others, he did not belong to them — so it is also said.
The origin of the btsan-po's lineage, as it is recounted:
In the heights above the sky dwells the god Golden-Crown, lord of the Four Hundred, master of all the Ma-sangs, sovereign over all existence. He is the supreme Phyva of the Phyva — so it is said.
In the second account, he is of the flesh-eating outcast lineage, of the line of the Red-Faced King, lord of the snow mountains and their surroundings, of the lineage of the yaksha called Dza — so it is also said.
In the third account, from above the thirteen levels of the sky, through seven intermediate thrones, he descended — so it is said.
From the gods of heaven to the six reaches of the earth — lord of the Upright Black-Headed Ones, lord above whom there is no lord — unsurpassed crown of the Bowed and Tangled-Maned — with Minister Lho-rngegs, Bon Priest Mtshe-gco, and Phyag-tshang Sha-spug — having been made lord of men, gods, and demons — he came to Tibet, to the six yak-districts.
So it is said.
Whatever the truth may be, it is not manifest. The lineage is called Spu-bod and Spu-rgyal. The clan, too, is undivided.
Colophon
Translated from the Old Tibetan by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. First English translation.
The source text is Pelliot tibétain 1038, a single sheet from the Dunhuang cave library (Cave 17), now held in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. The transliteration was accessed from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO), a digital corpus maintained by the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (AA-Ken), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. The OTDO description catalogues this as "Origin and genealogy of Btsan po" and notes references to transliterations and studies by Lalou (1939–1961), Macdonald (1971), Yamaguchi (1983, 1985), Chu (1990), and Gnya'-gong (1995).
This translation was produced independently from the Old Tibetan transliteration. No existing English, French, or Japanese translation was consulted as a reference. The OTDO scholarly apparatus (variant readings noted in tooltips) was used to resolve ambiguous orthography: "sde" for manuscript "bde" (line 1), "rabs" for manuscript "rab" (line 5), "thams" for manuscript "tham" (line 7).
Translator's notes on uncertain readings: "bzhis brgyi ba'" (line 6, rendered "of the Four Hundred") — the phrase is syntactically ambiguous and may refer to four hundred divine retainers, four hundred Ma-sangs, or a numerical epithet of the deity. "Khri bar la bdun tshig" (line 13, rendered "through seven intermediate thrones") — "tshig" is uncertain; it may be a verb of descent, a noun meaning "stages," or a form of "tshigs" (joints/connections). Both readings are flagged for scholarly review.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: བཙན་པོའི་གདུང་རབས་ཀྱི་ཁུངས།
Old Tibetan transliteration from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO), AA-Ken, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Pelliot tibétain 1038. Recto, 18 lines. Presented for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above. Variant readings from the OTDO editorial apparatus are shown in parentheses.
(1) $ / / yul dang mkhar du bcas pa' / so so yul sde (ms. bde) bzhi
(2) las / / spu rgyal bon gi btsan po lti'u rgyal po thod rgyal
(3) byung te / / la la 'i [m]chid nas ni rgyal phran / bcu gnyis
(4) la gtogs shes kyang mchi / / myi gtog shes kyang
(5) mchi / / btsan po 'i gdung rabs (ms. rab) kyi khungs smos pa' / /
(6) gnam dgung gi steng na / / lha ku spyi ser bzhis brgyi ba' / /
(7) ma sangs thams (ms. tham) cad gi bdag po / / srid pa kun la mnga'
(8) mdzad pa' / / phyva'i yang phyva lags shes kyang mchi / / rnam
(9) gnyis su ni gdol par sha za 'i rigs / / rgyal po gdong
(10) dmar gyi rigs / gangs ri byud kor gyi ni bdag po / / gnod
(11) sbyin dza zhes bgyi ba 'i rigs lags shes kyang mchi
(12) rnam gsum du ni gnam rim pa bcu gsum gyi steng na /
(13) khri bar la bdun tshig / shes bgyi / / gnam gi lha las / sa
(14) gdog (uncertain: g & dog) drug du / / 'greng 'go nag gi rje myed gi rje / / dud rngog chag
(15) bla myed kyi blar / blon po lho rngegs / bon po mtshe gco / phyag
(16) tshang sha spug / / myi rje lha dang bdud / du brgyis nas / / yul bod ka
(17) g.yag drug du byon zhes mchi / / gang lags kyang myi mngon ste /
(18) gdung spu bod dang / spu rgyal du gsol / / sde yang myi bdad
Source Colophon
Pelliot tibétain 1038. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. Sheet, complete text. Recto: 18 lines in Old Tibetan with 3 Chinese characters (卅六秩, "thirty-sixth bundle") between lines 6 and 7. Verso: Chinese Buddhist text. Digital facsimile available via Gallica (BnF): ark:/12148/btv1b8303451f. Transliteration from OTDO (https://otdo.aa-ken.jp/archives?p=Pt_1038), © 2006 OTDO Project.
The manuscript was found in Cave 17 (the "Library Cave") at Mogao, near Dunhuang, by Paul Pelliot in 1908 and is part of the Pelliot tibétain collection at the BnF. The text dates to the Tibetan Imperial period (7th–9th century CE) based on palaeography and content.
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