Headword |
ཤོག་ཀ་ལི། shog ka li, ཤོ་ཀ་ལི། sho ka li, ཤོ་ལི། sho li, གསེག་ཀ་ལི། gseg ka li |
Translation |
“Tibetan book holder/stand” |
Description |
The Tshig mdzod chen mo (s.v. sho ka li) explains it as “same as shog ka li, namely, a receptacle for keeping a Tibetan-style book (i.e., stack of unbounded and loose folios) and made by fitting together bamboos and cloth” (shog ka li dang mtshungs te, smyug ma dang ras sogs bsgrigs nas bzos pa’i bod lugs dpe cha ’jug snod cig |). The translation of sho(g) ka li as “book container” may not give one a clear picture of what it actually is. The upper and lower frames made of bamboo are enclosed by cotton (or, silk) cloth on three sides (i.e., back, right, and left) and the front side is open, and it is built in such a way that one can place it on the table or one one’s lap at ca. 95° or 100° angle. It is a bit like a rectangular stand for a laptop. One can also close the sho ka li by binding the frame with a strap that is attached to the frame. One can flip the loose folios of the book that has been placed in the book holder. To be noted is that it is not a “book case/trunk/box,” which is called dpe sgrom. While the function of shog ka li is to hold dpe cha or portions of it when teaching or studying, the function of dpe sgrom is to store/transport books. The use of sho ka li may particularly become neccessary in places where there are no tables on which to place one’s book or portions of its lose folios such as classrooms or teaching halls without any furniture. It would be disrespectful and hence inconceivable to place a dpe cha on the floor. The etymology/origin of the word sho(g) ka li, however, remains, unclear. The variant gseg ka li may give one some hints. |
Sources for Term |
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