Abstract
English summary From historical sources and the Tibetan Tun-huang manuscripts, we know that in the VHIth century the Tibetans had a good knowledge of Chinese classical texts. The two Tibetan Tun-huang mss., P. tib. 987 and 988, studied here are two copies of the same text. It is a translation or a paraphrase of Chinese maxims which may have been a moral hand-book circulated in the Tun-huang area. These maxims were given by « the sages of ancient times». Several of these wise men such as The-kori (= T'ai-kong) and Kon'-ce ( = Confucius) are easy to recognize in Chinese literature. But the manuscript speaks about a Koň-ce as a «wise child» ('phrul-gyi bu). In the Tibetan manuscript, 1.0. 742, the Kon'-ce, « wise child» has invented a method of divination (a similar method is found in the Chinese mss. S. 813, 2578 & P. 1339). Again, in this manuscript Confucius resembles a legendary person who can be assimilated to Lao-tzu. Some maxims can be found in the Li-chi and the Lun-yu. Some are not identified. A French translation of these two Tibetan mss. is presented in this article. It is hoped that one day a Sinologist will be able to identify the manuscript in a Chinese source. (Summary done by Kuo Li-ying.)
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