Prof. Dr. Donatella Rossi

Internationales Kolleg für Geisteswissenschaftliche Forschung "Schicksal, Freiheit und Prognose. Bewältigungsstrategien in Ostasien und Europa"




Associate Professor

Home Institution: Dept. of Oriental Studies, Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, Sapienza Univ. of Rome


IKGF Visiting Fellow March 2014 - February 2015

(Last change of profile by end of stay)

IKGF Research Project:

Divination in Tibet: the Ancient System of Zhang Zhung Ju thig


Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Rossi obtained her MA summa cum laude (1985) from the University of Rome "La Sapienza" (Thesis: Traditions and Persecutions of Bon at the Epoch of the Ancient Tibetan Monarchy), and her Ph.D. in History of Religions and Tibetology (1998) from the University of Oslo, Norway, defending a dissertation focused on the metaphysical aspects of the Tibetan Bon tradition (Title: The Philosophical View of the Great Perfection in the Tibetan Bon Religion). She has carried out research and field work in Tibetan cultural areas and settlements of the PRC and India. Since 2003, she has been Associate Professor of the Department of Oriental Studies of the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of the University of Rome "La Sapienza", where she teaches BA and MA courses on the religions of Eastern Asia and Tibetan Language and Culture. Her main research focus is the Tibetan Bon religious tradition, with a particular interest in its metaphysical and apotropaic aspects.

Selected Publications

Books

  • Corso di Lingua Tibetana Moderna per Italiani (Modern Tibetan Language Course for Italians), Casa Editrice Libraria Ulrico Hoepli, 2013.
  • The Light of Kailash. A History of Zhang Zhung and Tibet. Volume Two, The Intermediate Period, (translated from the Tibetan and edited by Donatella Rossi), Shang Shung Publications, Arcidosso (GR), forthcoming, September 2013.
  • The Light of Kailash. A History of Zhang Zhung and Tibet. Volume One, The Early Period (translated from the Tibetan and edited by Donatella Rossi), Shang Shung Publications, Arcidosso (GR), 2009.
  • A Catalogue of the Bon Kanjur, D. Martin, P. Kværne, and Y. Nagano eds., Senri Ethnological Reports 40, Bon Studies 8, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, 2003.
  • The Philosophical View of the Great Perfection in the Tibetan Bon Religion, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca, New York, 1999.

Articles

  • "A preliminary note on the mandalas of the Bonpo tradition", in Tibetan Art between Past and Present: Studies dedicated to Luciano Petech, Proceedings of the Conference held in Rome on the 3rd November 2010, Elena De Rossi Filibeck ed., Supplement No. 1 to the Rivista degli Studi Orientali, Nuova Serie, Vol. LXXXIV, Fabrizio Serra Editore, Pisa-Roma, pp. 83-91, 2012.
  • "Bod/Tibet: sfide alla costituzione di un'identità", in L'identità nazionale nel XXI secolo in Cina, Giappone, Corea, Tibet e Taiwan, Marina Miranda ed., "Sapienza" Università di Roma, Dipartimento Istituto di Studi Orientali - Iso, Dottorato di Ricerca in Civiltà, Culture e Società dell'Asia e dell'Africa, Curriculum Asia Orientale, Libreria Editrice Orientalia, Roma, pp. 69-77, 2012.
  • "A Brief Note on the Bonpo Texts of the Giuseppe Tucci Fund Preserved at the Library of IsIAO", in Bon: the Everlasting Religion of Tibet, Samten G. Karmay and Donatella Rossi Editors. EAST AND WEST Volume 59, Nos. 1-4, 2010.
  • "L’Iconoclasta Gendün Chömphel (1905-1951) e il suo Kamasutra", Atti del Convegno Passioni ed Emozioni in India e in Tibet, Facoltà di Studi Orientali, January 27th 2007, Rome, Rivista degli Studi Orientali, Nuova Serie Volume LXXX, Fasc. 1-4, Fabrizio Serra Editore, Pisa – Roma, 2009, pp. 141-147.
  • "An Introduction to the mKha' 'gro gSang gcod teachings of Bon", EAST AND WEST Volume 58, Nos. 1-4, pp. 213-233, 2009.
  • "mKha' 'gro dbang mo'i rnam thar, The Biography of the gTer-ston-ma mKha'-'gro bDe-chen Chos-kyi dBang-mo (1868-1927?)", Revue d'Etudes Tibétaines (RET), No. 15, Tibetan Studies in Honour of Samten Karmay, Part II, 2008, pp. 371-378.
  • "Sacred Female Biographies in the Bon Religion: A 20th Century gTer-ma", Rivista di Studi Sudasiatici (RiSS), Firenze University Press, Vol. II, 2008, pp. 131-147.
  • "Holy Mountains and Saint Immortals in the Bon Tradition": A Preliminary Survey of The History of Chang-cha-dur”, Special Volume LXXVIII, Rivista degli Studi Orientali (RSO) In Memoriam of Prof. Piero Corradini, pp. 413-420, 2007.
  • "Light of Kailash", in Tibetan Literary Arts (May 2007), Exhibition Catalogue (Marit Kranmer ed.), Neilson Library, Smith College, Northampton (MA), 2007.
  • "Sensualità e Buddhità: il VI Dalai Lama e i suoi canti d'amore", Rivista degli Studi Orientali (RSO), Vol. LXXVIII, Suppl. no. 4, pp. 149-155, 2007.
  • "An Overview of Tibet's Religions", Himalaya (formerly the Himalayan Research Bullettin), Volume XXIV, Number 1-2 Special Issue, Tibetan Peoples and Landscapes, 2006.
    • "An Interview with the only high Tibetan Lama living in Japan", Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (Society for the Promotion of Buddhism) Newsletter, No. 6, 2003.
  • "The Lung rigs rin po che'i mdzod blo gsal snying gyi nor by Shar-rdza bKra-shis rGyal-mtshan (1859-1934)", Proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Leiden, 2000, Brill, Leiden, 2002.
  • "The Lo rgyus chen mo in the collection of the Ye khri mtha' sel attributed to Dran-pa Nam-mkha", New Horizons in Bon Studies, Bon Studies 2, S.G. Karmay and Y. Nagano Eds., Senri Ethnological Reports 15, Bon Studies 2, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, 2000.
  • "The Monastic Lineage of sNang zhig dgon pa in Amdo rNga ba", Tibet Journal, Vol. XXIII, No. 4, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, 1998.
  • "The Nine Ways of the Bonpo Tradition: an Oral Presentation by a Contemporary Bonpo Lama", Proceedings of the Sixth Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Fagernes, 1992, The Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture, Oslo, Vol. 2, 1994.
  • "La Condizione Attuale degli Studi Tibetologici nella Repubblica Popolare Cinese", Mondo Cinese, n. 83, Milan, 1993.
  • "Some Notes on the Tibetan Amdo Love Songs", Proceedings of the Fifth Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Narita, 1989, Naritasan Shinshoji, Vol. 2, 1992.
  • "Il Seminario Tibetologico nella RPC del 1991", Mondo Cinese, n. 76, Milano, 1991.
  • "I Tibetani al di fuori del Tibet Centrale: Gli Amdo del Qinghai", Mondo Cinese, n. 67, Milano, 1989.
  • "La Morte del Decimo Panchen Lama", Mondo Cinese, n. 68, Milano, 1989.

Multimedia Pubblications

  • Khandro Sangchod. An Introduction to the Liturgies and Principles of Chöd in the Bon Tradition. Documentary Dvd, 85 min., Rome, 2006.

Encyclopedic entries

  • "La medicina cinese". in La Grande Storia, L'Antichità, Umbero Eco ed., LE GRANDI COLLANE DEL CORRIERE DELLA SERA, Vol. 02, Encyclomedia Publishers srl, Milano, pp. 517-523, 2011.
  • "La medicina indiana", in La Grande Storia, L'Antichità, Umbero Eco ed., LE GRANDI COLLANE DEL CORRIERE DELLA SERA, Vol. 02, Encyclomedia Publishers srl, Milano, pp. 524-533, 2011.

Editorships

  • Bon: the Everlasting Religion of Tibet. Bon Studies in Honour of Professor David L. Snellgrove, Papers presented at the International Conference on Bon 22-27 June 2008, Shenten Dargye Ling, Château de la Modetais, Blou, France. New Horizons of Bon Studies 2, Samten G. Karmay and Donatella Rossi Editors. EAST AND WEST Volume 59, Nos. 1-4, 2010.

Reviews

  • Giulio Aleni (Ai Rulüe), Vita del Maestro Ricci, Xitai del Grande Occidente, Gianni Criveller (ed.). Brescia, Fondazione Civiltà Bresciana – Centro Giulio Aleni, in Ming Qing Studies 2012, Aracne Editrice, Collana Asia Orientale, Roma, pp. 267-268, 2012
  • L'Alchimia del Soffio. La pratica della visione interiore nell'alchimia taoista, Monica Esposito, Roma, Ubaldini Editore, 1997, Ming Qing Studies 2010, Roma, Scriptaweb, pp. 369-70, 2010.
  • J. Hopkins, Reflections on Reality. The Three Natures and Non-Natures in the Mind-Only School (University of California Press, 2002), Himayalan Research Bulletin, Vol. XXIV, 1, 2005.
  • Marcia Binder Schmidt, ed., The Dzogchen Primer: Embracing the Spiritual Path According to the Great Perfection (Shambhala, 2002), Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 62/3, 2003.
  • T. T. Lewis, Popular Buddhist texts from Nepal. Narratives and Rituals of Newar Buddhism, (State University of New York Press, 2000), Himalayan Research Bulletin, Vol. XXII, 1, 2002.
  • D.S. Lopez, Jr. ed., Religions of Tibet in Practice (Princeton University Press, 1997), International Journal of Hindu Studies, 1,1, 1997, published in December 2001.
  • M.C. Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China, Tibet and the Dalai Lama, (University of California Press, 1997), International Journal of Hindu Studies, 2,2, 1998, published in December 2001.
  • P. Kværne, The Bon Religion of Tibet: The Iconography of a Living Tradition (Serindia Publications, 1995), Himalayan Research Bulletin, Vol. XIX, 1, 1999.
  • T. Thondup Rinpoche, Hidden Teachings of Tibet: An explanation of the Terma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, (Wisdom, 1997), International Journal of Hindu Studies, 2,2, 1998.
  • S. Lienhard e G. Boccali, Tesori della lirica classica indiana (UTET, 1994), Acta Orientalia (AO), Vol. 56, 1996.