ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the early growth and spread of the Bon religion of Tibet by modelling the spatial densities of 70 documented early Bonpo monastery constructions ca. 1000–1240 CE. The term Bon was adopted in western scholarship to refer both to ancient pre-Buddhist, and also to later beliefs and practices that developed into an organized monastic religious tradition across Tibet starting around 1000 CE, partly in response to the increased growth and spread of Buddhism. These historical spatial patterns are compared to the earliest Buddhist temple and monastery building activity ca. 600–1240 CE across the Tibetan Plateau. The purpose of this approach is to provide a spatial history to how the organized Bon religion of Tibet’s post-Imperial period grew and spread, and shed new light about possible origins, building on Regional Systems theory and methods. A key finding of this study is that the paramount core “macroregion” of Bon was in eastern Tibet in Gyelrong (Chinese: Jiarong 嘉絨, part of today’s Sichuan province), where non-Tibetic languages were spoken. In addition, two smaller Bon macroregions formed in Central Tibet in Tsang, and in the Dolpo and Mustang areas in Nepal.
