UC Berkeley

This dissertation is an art historical analysis of a set of objects related to a ritual corpus of Tibetan Buddhism known as the Kālacakra tantra. Objects are tracked according to distinct socio-cultural conditions, each of which developed into differing interests regarding the Kālacakra tantra, interests distinct from the purposive and functional norms of Tantric Buddhism itself. The dissertation thus attempts a somewhat different methodology from other historical narratives regarding Buddhist art by moving beyond iconographic interpretation to analysis of how a common iconographical matrix is serially adapted into divergent forms and functions across distinct social formations in time and space. Field research and embodied analysis are prioritized.

Individual chapters attempt to isolate individuals and social formations for focused analysis. The introduction covers some background by focusing on the earlier, established dissemination of the Kālacakra tantra during and immediately after Yuan dynasty patronage of the tantra following the thirteenth century. This patronage was borne out by art from the Sa-skya sect of Tibetan Buddhism, in which Kālacakra imagery was subsumed into standardized ritual practices. This chapter also introduces common themes linking the subsequent parts of the dissertation, such as the sacrality and iconic presence common to works of Buddhist art. The second chapter focuses on how the seventeenth century Ganden Phodrang of the Geluk sect in central Tibet attempted to standardize Kālacakra imagery. A guidebook produced by the regime was an assertion of secular control bound to the the position of regent. The third chapter discusses the invention of a Kālacakra Hall for the Qing imperial capital in Beijing, and how the this hall reflected the multi-ethnic and identity-based values that the Qing court used to assert its power through the hall. The fourth chapter discusses the eighteenth century development of Labrang Monastery and its Kālacakra Hall. The large, relatively autonomous Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Amdo, in a region in halfway between central Tibet and the Qing capital Beijing, defined its hall in terms of its local population. A brief conclusion reconsiders the totality of works.