Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s1.t4.9

v1.c7.s1.t4.9

Tibetan Buddhism split into more than 20 relatively independent sects and schools with different doctrines and distinctive style, including five major sects such as dge lugs pa, rnying ma pa, sa skya pa, bkav brgyud pa, jo nang ba plus other sects and schools such as bkav gdams pa, zhi byed pa, gcod lugs and bu lugs. In particular, bkav brgyud-pa featured complicated *dharma* and many branch sects including three dharma lineages such as shangs pa bkav brgyud, mar pa bkav brgyud and dwags po bkav brgyud. Among them, dwags po bkav brgyud developed its own style and had four branch sects such as karma bkav brgyud, tshal pa bkav brgyud, phag gru bkav brgyud and vbav ram bkav brgyud and eight branches such as vbrug pa bkav brgyud, vbri gung bkav brgyud, stag lung bkav brgyud, gayav bzang bkav brgyud, khro phu bkav brgyud, shug gseb bkav brgyud, yel pa bkav brgyud and smar tshang bkav brgyud, which spread across Tibet.