Page 28 - Bonhams IMages of Devotion, Hong Kong Nov 30 2022

1008
A SET OF TEN MEDICAL PAINTINGS FROM THE BLUE
BERYL SERIES
TIBET, 19TH CENTURY
Each painted on a cream colored ground in polychrome colors
with red borders and labeled in Tibetan with further inscriptions in
cartouches underneath.
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4704
Each approximately 72.5 x 59.5 cm. (28 1/2 x 23 1/2 in.) with three
in a horizontal format
HKD1,000,000 - 1,500,000

西藏 十九世紀 《藍琉璃》曼唐十幅

The Gyushi, or Four Tantras, for which these paintings are
based, remains the most foundational textual source on Tibetan
medical practices dating back to the 12th century. It describes
the relationship between the body and the five elements (water,
fire, earth, air, and space), the nyepa, or bodily fluids, and the
environment in the form of a poetic dialogue between two sages,
Rigpa Yeshe, the teacher, and Yilekye, his chief disciple. Divided
into four principal texts, each chapter covers one medical topic
initiated by a question posed by Yilekye to Rigpa Yeshe.

Unlike Western medicine, Tibetan medical practice extends beyond
the physicality of the body, understanding health and longevity to
be inextricably linked to the balance between the mind and body.
This non-linear approach where systems of the body and mind
overlap as environments within environments—both seen and
unseen, as illustrated in the first of these images—comprehend
health to include Buddhist practice, ritual, and divination. Much
like the texts themselves, these illustrations are lyrical and poetic,
and this whimsical blending of symbols, bodily functions, medical
practices, daily life, and otherworldly beings which tell of mystical
encounters is presented in stunning detail.

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