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Tripitaka in Tibetan
Tibetan court version, K'ang-hsi reign (1662-1722)
33 x 87.5 cm (set heights vary)
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| With more than 2000 years of history, Buddhism
has long been a major world religion. The
translation of Buddhist scriptures, known as sutras,
into Tibetan and Manchu not only preserved the
language and history of these peoples in China but
also assists in the study of Eastern culture. Sutras
are therefore a crucial source of historical
material. A compilation of Buddhist texts is called
a tripitaka. A tripitaka in the Museum collection
was written in Tibetan during the reigns of the
K'ang-hsi and Ch'ien-lung emperors and composed of
122 sets. The vermilion court imprint in Manchu from
the Ch’ien-lung reign contains 32 sets, making for a
total of 154. The sutra boxes in each set include
individual leaves, front and back boards, and
wrappings. The tripitaka in Tibetan written in gold
ink, known as the Kanjur Tripitaka, has leaves
written on both sides in standard script. Each set
contains 300 to 500 leaves. The sutra leaves,
arranged in order, are decorated with the Eight
Auspicious Symbols painted in gold ink. The boards
include an inner and an outer pair. The outer pair
is made of red lacquered wood and on front is an
inscription in Sanskrit that reads, "Om-mani-pad-me-hum,"
an invocation against evil. The inner pair is made
of dark bluish wood, and the reverse of the top
piece is carved with gold characters in both
Sanskrit and Tibetan for the Buddha, the Law, and
the Order. The top piece is wrapped in layers of
white, blue, green, red, and yellow silk, each
embroidered with Sanskrit and Tibetan letters along
with images of the Eight Auspicious Symbols. The
lower piece is painted with five Buddhist images in
color. The leaves between the two boards are then
bound with silk thongs along with a white silk
ceremonial hada cloth and finally wrapped in yellow
sutra silk to form a set. This format of sutra
mounting originated in India and was followed in
Tibetan Buddhism, becoming known as "Indian board
mounting". |
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