モンゴル時代におけるチベット・漢地間の交通と站赤

Abstract

In order to understand society in Mongol times, clarifying the situation in Tibet and the role of Tibetan monks is a critical issue. Most previous studies of this period have focused on government organizations concerned with Tibet, such as the Department for Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs 宣政院, and the Imperial Preceptor 帝師. This article adopts an innovative point of view, using the study of travel in an effort to focus on Tibet in this period and actual activities of Tibetan monks. There are many records related to Tibet monks in a group of documents concerning the jamci, post station system during the Mongol period that are included in Yongle dadian 永樂大典. These records have not been used sufficiently in the past, but on the basis of a thorough analysis of these records, this article examines the travel of Tibetan monks between Tibet and China proper, and addresses the activities of Tibetan monks, other than the Imperial Preceptor, duringthis period. First, in regard to the travel of Tibetan monks between Tibet and China proper, I concretely clarify the scope of one such group in terms of number of members and number of annual trips, and prove that contemporary people were conscious of the frequency of the trips. Next, I examined the shipment of Tibetan goods that employed the post horses, vehicles, and boats set up in the jamci system and prove that the most of the goods were offering. The vast amount of offering proffered to Tibetan Buddhists by the Mongol royal house had been estimated to a certain extent, but the argument has seldom been based on clear factual evidence from original sources. By focusing on these shipments, this article makes clear aspects of the flow of offerings from China proper into Tibet. Buddhism had been brought to the ruling class in China proper from Tibet, and as a result the foundation for the structure of the flow of wealth into the Tibetan sphere in the form of offerings was readied in the Mongol period. Although this fact had generally been hypothesized, there had been little recognition of the role of offerings. By focusing on the communication between Tibet and China proper during this period, this article has pointed out the basic evidence needed for an understanding of its composition.