Written by Cécile Ducher (FCHNT)
From the 17th to the 19th of October, 2024, the First International Conference on the Northern Treasures took place in Paris. Twenty participants were gathered and gave talks in the auditorium of the Inalco on Rue de Lille, a few steps away from the Musée d’Orsay and the Seine.

During this conference, the Northern Treasures’ history and ritual traditions were discussed by an international panel of speakers coming from Tibet, India, Italy, China, the USA, Japan, Russia, Hungary, Greece, and France.

On the first day, talks dealt with the early history of the Byang gter tradition, and especially the life of its founder, Rig ‘dzin rGod ldem (1337–1401). Stéphane Arguillère presented an overview of the gter ston’s works and revelations, with reflections about how this material could contain biographical indications. Roberto Vitali talked about the wider political and historical framework of the region—La stod byang—in which the gter ston was active.

Later on, other members of the FCHNT research group (Jay Valentine, Tenpa Tsering Batsang and Cécile Ducher) gave talks about specific parts of the gter ston’s life,
especially his dreams, his exploration of hidden lands, and his death. Jay Valentine’s presentation incidentally brought a much better understanding of how the oldest and most authoritative biography of Rig ’dzin rGod ldem (by Se ston Nyi ma bzang po) was written, while Tenpa Tsering Batsang’s presentation strongly argued in favor of a revision of the date of Rig ’dzin rGod ldem’s death as being 1401, and not 1408 or 1409 as generally assumed since the 17th century. Tulku Ngawang Tenzin Bhutia then presented what is known locally and in traditional sources about Rig ‘dzin rGod ldem’s revelation of the “concealed land” of Sikkim (‘Bras mo gshongs).
Overall, it appeared that the historical sources about Rig ‘dzin rGod ldem lack crucial details about several parts of his life, and leave significant gaps in his biography. By cross-examining various kinds of sources, his life certainly becomes less hypothetical, but it is quite likely that some veil of uncertainty will be difficult to lift.

Later in the afternoon, speakers explored the expansion of the Byang gter tradition during the 16th c., with a focus on the lives of Byang bdag bKra shis stobs rgyal (by Gen Tsangtruk Tsewang Topla from Dharamsala), sNgags ‘chang Shākya bzang po (by Zsóka Gelle) and sGam smyon Phyag rdor nor bu (by Charles Taylor). This topic was resumed on the following day first with Alexandra Sukhanova’s presentation of Zur chen Chos dbyings rang grol, the Fifth Dalai Lama’s main Nyingma master and a specialist of Byang gter, and then with Drölma Chökyi Jusal’s exploration of the links of the Fifth Dalai Lama with the Northern Treasures as mirrored in his writings.

Subsequent speakers expanded the scope of the discussions to encompass a more extensive historical and geographical context, with Borjigin Giitch’s groundbreaking presentation on the Nyingma tradition, examining the role of Prince Yunli in the translation of Northern Treasures texts into Mongolian language and the printing of Byang gter materials. This was followed by Dylan Esler’s presentation of the life of the Fifth Baḥ gnas sprul sku (from Baḥ gnas monastery in Khams) Thub bstan mdo sngags bshad sgrub rgyal mtshan (1888–1964), and by Varvara Chatzisavva’s description of the actual situation of the ‘Khor gdong monastery, also in Khams.
It is remarkable that while the early history of the Byang gter tradition was largely confined to Western Tibet and the Himalayas, its epicenter subsequently shifted towards Central Tibet, and, after the destruction of rDo rje brag in the 18th c., to Eastern Tibet.

The keynote lecture of the second day was delivered by mKhan po ‘Ju bsTan skyong, who spoke in Tibetan about the bKa’ brgyad literature in general and about Rig ‘dzin rGod ldem’s revelations in this field in particular, as well as the synthesis of the three major systems (Nyang ral, Chos dbang and rGod ldem) by mNga’ ris paN chen Padma dbang rgyal.


This initial exploration of the doctrinal characteristics of the Northern Treasures was furthered by Kanako Shinga’s presentations on the Tshe sgrub bKa’ brgyad, a specific long life practice associated with the bKa’ brgyad, followed by a presentations by Amanda Brown on forms of Yamāntaka that became important for the Northern Treasures institutions, and one by Yuewei Wang about the status of the mountain god gNyan chen thang lha, protector of Khri srong lde’u btsan, in Byang gter. Additionally Katia Buffetrille also provided a general overview of Himalayan locations associated with the Byang gter.
This initial two-day event provided a lively opportunity for informal exchanges between participants and the audience.




The conference concluded on Saturday morning, October 19, with talks from remote participants, Jean-Luc Achard and Katarina Turpeinen, on the dGongs pa zang thal within the New Bon and the Byang gter traditions.

It was a great pleasure to build on the discussions on the Northern Treasures that had been initiated in panels at previous IATS conferences, in Paris (2019) and Prag (2022). The majority of presentations were delivered in person in Paris and also made available to a wider audience via Zoom.
The conveners would like to thank all participants for their serious academic and fascinating presentations, and look forward to publishing them in a forthcoming special issue of the Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, scheduled for release in the second half of 2025. They also welcome proposals for any further research to be considered for publication in that issue. The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2025.

As a further bonus, a few days after the conference, the Voice of Asia in Tibetan issued a report on the event, which was attended by several Asian participants, including three Tibetans.
For the complete list of participants and title of their talks, see here.
The organizers thank the IFRAE (Inalco), the CRCAO (EPHE and College de France), and the CNRS for their financial support.
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
cecileducher (December 10, 2024). Report on the First International Conference on the Northern Treasures. Northern Treasures Histories. Retrieved April 20, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/12vy6