Page 71 - Tibetan Thangka Painting Methodsand Mat, Jackson

Notes
I. The indigenous handbooks on art list many Buddhas (nirma~akaya, sambhogakaya and yi-dam)
misfortunes that will befall the careless artist, and and two types of tall wrathful figures (his classes
they describe the importance of correct orientation VI and VII).
and proportions. But in Sman-thang-pa's treatise, p.8, there are
listed only five major proportional classes. Omitted
2. See also Romi Khosla, Buddhist Monasteries in the
from the list was the sixth class, humans. Later in
Western Himalaya (Kathmandu, 1979), p.130.
part seven of his treatise (p.66ff.) he gave a more
3. Wooden or metal compasses were not absolutely detailed discussion of ten topics (don tshan), of
necessary since the marking line itself could be which nine were the following proportions:
made to function as a compass. The artist
!. The Buddha as Great Teacher, e.g., Sakyamuni
Wangdrak, for example, used only his marking line
Buddha:
to establish all of the major lines. First he estab- 2. Sambhogakaya manifestations, such as Vairo-
lished the diagonals. Then, pressing one point of the
cana, and some Nirmanakayas.
string at the intersection of the diagonals, he rubbed 3. Yi-dams, such as Samvara.
another point of the string beneath his thumbnail
4. Peaceful Bodhisattvas and Dakas.
making short arcs in each corner. The equidistant 5. Goddesses, such as Vajrava;ahi.
points thus established were then connected with 6. Great guardian deities of the worldly sphere
the marking string to create the four borders.
such as Brahma and Indra.
Finally he established the central vertical axis by
7. Wrathful figures such as Yak~as and demons.
finding the half-way points of both the top and
8. Deities of dwarfed proportions such as
bottom borders and connecting them. Ganapati.
4. Dagyab, p.30. Apparently neither author's text has 9. Hu~anssuch as Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas.
survived. Bu-ston's system is described in Rong-tha The tenth topic was the sitting postures, ornaments
Blo-bzang-dam-chos-rgya-mtsho, Thig gi lag len
and hand-held emblems found among the various
du ma gsaI bar bshad pa bzo rig mdzes pa'i kha classes of deities.
rgyan (New Delhi, Byams-pa-chos-rgyal, n.d.),
Topics I through 3 belong to the first major pro-
p.134.
portional class, topic 4 equals the second major
5. 'Phreng-kha-ba, Bzo rig pa'i bstan bcos mdo rgyud class, topic 5 equals the third major class, topics 6
gsaI ba'i me long (Dharamsala, 1978), p.9.1; Mi- and 7 equal the fourth major class, and topic 8
pham-rgya-mtsho, Sku gzugs kyi thig rtsa rab gsal equals the fifth major class.
nyi ma, Collected Writings (Gangtok, 1975), vo!.9
9. Chogay Trichen, pp.63-70.
p.3.!.
10. Sde-srid Sangs-rgyas-rgya-mtsho, Bstan bcos bai
6. Klong-rdol-bla-ma Ngag-dbang-blo-bzang, Gsung
dura dkar po las dris Ian 'khrul snang g.ya' sel don
'bum (Mussoorie, Dalarna, 1963), p.415f. Cf. Tucci,
gyi bzhin ras ston byed, (Dehra Dun, 1976), vo!.l,
voU, p.299.
p.585.2. This is a reprint of the Derge printed
7. See Sman-thang-pa Sman-bla-don-grub, Bde bar edition. The same work is also available in a two-
gshegs pa'i sku gzugs kyi tshad kyi rab tu byed pa
volume reprinted edition by T. Tsepal Taikhang
yid bzhin nor bu (Gangtok, Bla-ma Zla-ba and
(New Delhi: 1971), based on Lhasa Zhol prints.
Sherab Gyaltsen, 1983). We are much indebted to
II. Chogay Trichen, p.64.
Mr. E. G. Smith for having shown us this edition
of Sman-thang-pa's treatise when the present book 12. Chogay Trichen, p.66.
was in the press. 13. Mi-pham-rgya-mtsho, Sku gzugs, p.52. The tradition
Tucci, vo!.l, p.293f. mentioned a fragment of a seems also to have been upheld by Bu-ston, whose
treatise by Sman-thang-pa: Rdzogs pa'i sangs first class included both gurus and Buddhas. See
rgyas mchog gi sprul pa'i sku'i phyag tshad sman Rong-tha, p.134.3.
thang pas mdzad pa. This is only "a part, from the
14. The horizontal measures have been reconstructed
seventh to tenth chapters". Tucci also mentioned from the measures for class three found in Mi-pham-
there a work entitled Bde bar gshegs pa'i sku gzugs rgya-mtsho, Sku gzugs, p.39.
kyi tshad kyi rab tu byed pa'i (sic) yid bzhin gyi
15. Ibid.
nor bu (pp.34), which we know was the title of
Sman-thang-pa's great treatise. He states that the 16. Zhu-chen, Gtsug lag, p.157.!.
text was printed at Dga'-Idan-phun-tshogs-gling, and 17. Ibid., line 2.
that the author was Dpal-blo-bzang-po. The latter 18. Zhu-chen, ibid., line 3, quotes from the Vimala-
name, however, is that of 'Phreng-kha-ba. prabha commentary on the Kalacakra Tantra.
19. Chogay Trichen, p.70.
8. Zhu-chen Tshul-khrims-rin-chen, Gtsug lag khang
20. Mi-pham-rgya-mtsho, Sku gzugs, p.50f.
chos 'byung bkra shis sgo mangs rten dang brten pa
ji Itar bskrun pa las brtsams pa'i gleng ba bdud 21. Chogay Trichen, p.70.
rtsi'i rlabs phreng, Collected Writings (New Delhi, 22. Zhu-chen, Gtsug lag, p.157.4: de'ang nyan thos
1973), Vo!.7, pp.150.3-158.!. By dividing class one, rnams ni byang chub sems dpa'i tshad Itar skabs
the Buddhas, into two (Buddhas and yi-dams) one rer bshad pa yang yod cing lag len la 'ang bris thang
gets the "seven categories" of Gerasimova, "Compo- tshad ma rnams su de ltar byas pa mthong zhingj.
sitional Structure", p.43f. Tucci, voU, pp.297-299, This was in fact the practice of the painter
arrived at nine types by discerning three types of Wangdrak and some others.

NOTES CHAPTER 4 67