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
Underneath it there is a swastika, likewise symbolising good fortune. Since the second and third lines are for the most part illegible on both MC woodprints and since the PC text, too, is difficult to make out, here I shall give only the first line: 42 [g-]yung drung tshe ni mi 'gyur mi zad dbang II "Swastika of unchangeable existence and inexhaustible power!" Beneath the swastika can be seen Buddhism's most important ritual device, the vajra: bhyah rdo rje yu ba Icags la rag las pa'i I khams gsum lus bskyed tshe la dbang par shog I rlung rta dar rgyas bsod nams yar bskyed shog I "BHYOH! In the Three Empires resting on the metal hilt of the vajra May there be health, increasing lifespan and power! May good fortune spread and fluorish, and may merit increase!" On the PC woodprint there is merely a oneline version: he he srog lus dbang thang rlung rta yar la bskyed lha rgyal lo II "He-hel May lifespan, health, power and good fortune increase! The gods are victorious!" On two sides of the Tortoise various seals {phyag rgya) formed out of trigrams can be seen. Of these, six on either side have a top marked with an animal head; these are in all likelihood seals of the sa bdags of the different years. Next to the seals there are, on both sides, various symbols playing a major role in the rituals of folk religion: above are a spindle (phang) and an arrow (mda) symbolising the male and female principia respectively; beneath them are two staffs (?) and two thread-crosses (nam mkha), used in rituals for trapping evil forces. Beneath these there are various offerings. On each of the bottom two edges of the picture a house (khang bzang; see Nebesky-Wojkowitz 1956, pp. 359-360) can be found. On the bottom part of the woodprint, beneath the protecting seals and on each side above the Tiger and the Lion respectively, there is a text. There two texts are scarcely legible but do differ from one another. On the PC woodprint, however, both texts are almost completely the same as each other, although in a few of respects (mainly their length) they differ from the MC woodprint's left-hand text, which is legible only with the help of the PC woodprint. 'phags pa 'Jam dpal Kong rtse 'Phrul gyi rgyal po dang I rgyal po chen po x x x gser gyi rus sbal la sogspa'i lha srin sde brgyad kyi tshogs kyis mal 'byor bdag cag gi phyugs mams sky es cig I rlung rta yar bskyed cig I khams gsum pa dang I srog mthun pa dang I lus dbang thang rlung rta bde legs su bcos so II "Through the holy Manjushri, Kong rtse 'Phrul gyi rgyal po and the Great King, the Golden Tortoise and the other deities, as well as through the eight classes of gods and demons, may the cattle belonging to us, the yogis, give birth! May good fortune increase! May there be harmonious life energy, health, power, good fortune, and happiness in the Three Empires!" The bottommost part of the woodprint is filled with continuous text consisting of three parts. The first part is probably for the diagram that can be seen above the text in the middle. In other words, it relates to the empty lotus throne flanked by a lance on one side and an arrow on the other, and also to the diadem-like figure above it, on which A MA I mantras are inscribed. At the same time it may also refer to the fact that large prayer-flags (dar Icog) similar to the woodprints we have been analysing, along with lances and arrows when occasion serves, are
