| Description | The Toyo Bunko Manuscript Kanjur was received as a diplomatic gift. Ekai Kawaguchi, who is famed for his four journeys to Nepal and two to Tibet, had requested a version of the Tibetan canon during an audience with the thirteenth Dalai Lama (1876–1933) in Lhasa in 1913. The Tibetan leader acceded to this wish and granted him a Kanjur of 114 volumes from Dpal 'khor chos sde Monastery in Gyantse, that is, the very same place where the original Them spangs ma Kanjur was produced. Kawaguchi received the manuscripts in 1915 and brought them to Japan via India in the same year. In 1941, these volumes along with numerous other Tibetan manuscripts were donated to the Toyo Bunko research library, where they have been preserved ever since, forming an important part of the "Kawaguchi Ekai Collection." |
