Leba Valley’s Cliff Carvings: Reading an Old Tibetan Inscription

At the mouth of Leba Valley, on the west bank of the Tongtian River, an eight-line inscription is cut into the rock beside a Buddhist image. In 2024, scholars from Qinghai Minzu University revisited the lines and compared their letter forms with inscriptions farther inside the valley. They identified the text as Old Tibetan and proposed an early ninth-century date.

Weathering, cracks and missing sections shape what can still be read. Researchers follow surviving strokes and compare them with nearby inscriptions, treating the cliff as both an image surface and a written record.

The survey connects the entrance inscription with carvings inside the valley, including images of Vairocana, Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani. Comparison suggests the entrance text and inner-valley images may belong to a broad period around the early ninth century. Researchers relate the group to the religious and political world of the Tibetan Empire and routes through Yushu.

The Tongtian River runs below the cliff, while images and writing remain on the rock above. Reading the valley brings together carved figures, an inscription and the landscape that holds them.