The transmission of Tantric Buddhism from Tibetan to Mongol and Sinitic cultures between the 10th to 13th centuries is a field of research that still largely relies on the interpretation of patron-priest relationships established between Mongol ruler and Tibetan Sakya hierarchs – a rather one-sided approach that does not take into account many details in the transmission process. In order to reconstruct this transmission process more accurately the study of so far neglected or unknown (Chinese and Tangut) manuscript collections are a valuable resource which we are currently exploring. Shen Weirong will give an overview of these – mainly Chinese – manuscripts collections in their historical context; thereafter Carmen Meinert will present specific examples of Chinese Tantric ritual manuals transmitted in the Tangut Empire in Eastern Central Asia.

Carmen Meinert studied Sinology and Tibetology in Bonn and received her doctor degree in Buddhist studies from the University of Hamburg. In summer 2013 she was the Numata Visiting Professor at the ISTB. Her main research field is the Chinese tantric Buddhism.

Shen Weirong graduated in the field of language and cultural Science of Central Asia at Bonn University. He is currently a Research Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. Among his major current research interests is the investigation of the twelfth and thirteenth century Tibetan manuscript finds.