Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 21. (Budapest, 2002)

Béla KELÉNYI: „...May They Here Increase! May All Gather Together!" A Woodprint and its Inscriptions from the Mongolian Collection of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts, Budapest

bai dgra lha).

6 These animals are the Tiger (stag); the Dragon Çbrug); the mythical Khyung bird, the Garuda (khyung); and the Lion (seng ge), which, together with the Horse, also correspond not only to the elements, but also to the "personal forces" that fulfil an important role in the Chinese version (nag rtsis) of Tibetan astrology.

7 As can also be read in the texts of the woodprint, these were the basic categories in astrological calculations (and even corresponded to signs of the zodiac): life energy (srog, "life"); health (lus, "body"); personal power or prosperity (dbang thang, "power"), which also refers to financial situation; and, of course, success or good fortune (rlung rta, "wind-horse", or klung rta), which also keeps the others in balance.

8 (In what follows. I shall sometimes translate the expression rlung rta as "windhorse" and sometimes as "good fortune", depending on the context in which it occurs.) In order to counterbalance the decline of good fortune (rlung rta rgud pa) and in order to win it back or cause it to rise (rlung rta dar ba), the Tibetans had numerous ceremonies. These included the ceremony connected with saving the lives of animals intended for slaughter (tshe thar), the propitiation rite to counter demonic forces (mdos), the offering of libation (gser skyems), and the frequent offering of fumigation (bsang).

9 The groups of deities featuring in our picture are almost completely surrounded by a text from the last-mentioned ceremony. This text is taken from a work by the 5

lh Dalai Lama (1617-1682) whose title is indicated by the inscription in the lower part of the woodprint. Its special significance is that the deities featured in the picture are without doubt depicted on the basis of the list it gives: "Kyel O Lama, yidam, Three Jewels, deities of the four classes of tantras, mighty Buddha, Three Protectors, dakinis, protectors of the law, Sitabrahma, deities of the space of the sky, of the foundation of the earth, and of the mighty wind-horse, excellent Kong rtse bodhisattva with one hundred thousand sages, four deities of the windhorse, namely Wood-Tiger, Fire-Snake, MetalMonkey, and Water-Pig, as well as Horse, Tiger, Lion, Garuda Bird and Dragon, Deity of Birth, Deity of the Enemy, Deity of Males, Deity of Place, a certain spirit King, Deities of the Individual, Owner of the Soil, demons belonging together from earlier births to the present life, supernatural beings, you yourselves from the holiest places, I, with great and loving compassion, pray for your unhindered coming!"

10 As the above text describes, at the top and in the middle of the woodprint under discussion it is a depiction of Buddha Shakyamuni that can be seen; beneath him - as with the generally known astrological diagram (srid pa ho) - it is the Three Protectors (rigs gsum mgon po) whom we see: Shadakshari Lokeshvara, Manjushri and Vajrapani. Beneath Manjushri (who according to Tibetan tradition taught the science of astrology to humankind) sits his embodiment on a Tortoise; this is Kong rtse 'Phrul gyi rgyal po, who according to legend introduced the science of Chinese astrology to Tibet. Directly underneath him is a blazing circle filled with Sanskrit mantras and the Eight Good Luck Symbols (bkra shis rtags brgyad). In the middle of this circle there is an OM mantra, while around it, next to a Sanskrit mantra, there is the characteristic imprecation that appears in most of the texts on the woodprint: "May life energy, health, power, and good fortune increase!" (srog lus dbang thang klung rta yar la bskyed cig). Beneath this can be found the "Wind-horse"; beneath that, in the middle, is the Great Golden Tortoise (Maha gser gyi rus sbal) containing the astrological diagrams.

11 But the woodprint follows a still more complex and complicated pattern: in its structure it emulates a type of picture that depicts a group of several deities.

12 [111. 2] All this permits us to conclude that the picture shown here - in 111. 2 - stems from a combination of srid pa ho and rlung rta. On the Hopp Museum woodprint inscriptions explaining the depictions can also be found. Around the deities numerous other good luck symbols can be seen also. Inscriptions accompany these symbols, too. The bottommost, abovementioned inscription gives the authors and the titles of the works from which the texts on the woodprint derive.