• Thus have I heard what this Parinirvana Statue tells us in March 2008.

by Hojeong Choe

 

Parinirvana, Gilt bronze, pigment, lacquer, H. 15.3, L. 22.0, W. 8.0 (cm),
Gift of William B. Whitney, American Museum of Natural History (Cat. no. 70.0/6980)

---

The reclining figure in the center is the historical founder of Buddhism, the Buddha Shakyamuni. He is leaning on his right side flanked by his attendant Ananda who is kneeling at the Buddha’s head. The Ananda figure is on a cloud-like platform rising from the left front corner of the bed throne. The same kind of platform also rises from its right front corner. This might have been the place where Kashapa, the oldest disciple of the Buddha, was kneeling at the Buddha’s feet.

This figure is associated with story of parinirvana of the Buddha, the last phase of the life story of the Buddha Shakyamuni. His sermon and the circumstances of this story are depicted in the Buddhist scripture called the Mahaparinirvana Sutra in Sanskrit, which is also called Mahaparinibbana Sutta in the Pali language. Mahaparinirvana literally means ‘great (maha) complete (pari) extinguishing (nirvana).’ This last event of Shakyamuni’s life story, Mahaparinirvana, takes place at the town called Kushinagar, located in the northeastern part of India in the region of Uttar Pradesh. There the Buddha passed into nirvana and his body was cremated.

This parinirvana scene has been the most popular theme to be depicted in various genres of the Buddhist art such as stone relief, wall painting, sculpture, hanging scroll, etc. in different regions of the world: Ajanta, Gandhara, Kushinagar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Sichuan, Tibet, Dunhuang, Korea, Japan as well as in New York. [Nirvana Art in Asia]

According to Akira Miyaji, an art historian whose special field is Indian art history, particularly Maitreya and Nirvana iconography in Gandharan art, depiction of nirvana scenes were generally horizontal and had an element of storytelling in Gandhara and Mathura. This kind of storytelling enabled ‘visual pilgrimage’ according to Miyaji. He also asserts that the mortuary customs of both Rome and India had influenced depiction of the last moment of the Buddha’s life story. This nirvana scene, however, started to be depicted vertically in Sarnath and no longer had a storytelling element. It was because the depiction of nirvana and enlightenment of the Buddha had more importance than other scenes of the Buddha’s life story by then. After Pala period, the time when Buddhism and Buddhist art declined in India, this nirvana scene also did not develop. However, outside of India, nirvana statue alone was very popular and there are many nirvana statues remaining in Sri Lanka, Thailand, etc.

While many other nirvana statues are on a large scale, this statue at the American Museum of Natural History (hereafter AMNH) is on a small scale. It might have been used as portable shrine. This statue might have been enshrined with his head pointing north as the Buddha Shakyamuni put his head toward north facing west according to the Buddhist scripture. This object is likely to have been enshrined at the home altar of ordinary people rather than court. The way that patterns of the bed throne are articulated shows that the statue is not high quality object.

The inscriptions support this hypothesis as well. The inscriptions are engraved on three sides along the small panels above the lotus petals. At first sight, these letters seem to be derived from 11th century Nepalese script among the various versions of Sanskrit letters. However, most of these letters are poorly written and do not indicate any mantra, names of donors or artisans.

Front/Back/Left/Right Inscriptions (Clockwise from Top Left to Bottom Left)

The front inscription between poorly inscribed floral patterns can be Romanized as ‘so nah ma – -.’ The inscriptions on back, left and right sides are as follow: ‘aum ra/ya/pa jha – – -’(back); ‘- ra/ya/pa jha – te ra’(left); ‘- – dr te ya/pa – -’(right) [Thanks to Prof. Somdev Vasudeva and Victor for their advice on inscription decipherment and Romanization.]

With the information from AMNH that this object is Tibetan piece, I have tried to decipher the inscriptions with Lantsa (Ranjhana) scripts at first. However, the letters were not correspondent to any of Lantsa scripts. This statue seems to be casted in China by the artist who does not read and know Sanskrit. If it were made by a court artisan, the inscriptions are likely to be written in correct Sanskrit. However, in this case, the inscription does not mean anything and is incorrect. To locate this statue on the map, it might have been made in main land China. Therefore, this statue would belong to Sino-Tibetan art, instead of Tibetan since it does not show orthodox Chinese or Tibetan element, but mixture of several different traditions. It seems to be appropriate to align this object on timeline between 17-19th century. And the color of lacquer shows Qing Dynasty taste.

The pattern of leaves which seem like sal tree leaves shows that artisan of the object knew and expressed the element of Indian Buddhist art tradition.
At the same time, the artisan used the Chinese traditional pattern of bat when filling the surface of the bed throne. The Chinese word for bat is fu. Fu is a homophone for happiness. Around 17th century, bats began to feature in auspicious pictures as a symbol of happiness. By the middle and late Qing Dynasty, auspicious bat motifs had had become widely used on architecture, textiles, embroidery, paintings, chinaware, furniture, and brick and stone carvings. This bat pattern also implies the chronological clue.

Then why was this object categorized as Tibetan object? The late Mr. William B. Whitney, a lawyer, has donated his collection to American Museum of Natural History in 1937 and it was named ‘Tibetan Lamaist Collection.’ His collection has been introduced in several books authored by Antoinette Gordon. According to the curator at AMNH, Mr. Whitney purchased Tibetan art objects via dealers in New York as well as from Art Exhibition at Macy’s. Among 910 objects donated to AMNH by Mr. Whitney in 1937, there are two more parinirvana statues. This object was understood not by its original context, but by the context of the contemporary collection.

The present condition of this object seems to be well reserving the original state. It consists of two parts: one is the bed throne including cloud-like platforms attached to it and the other one is the reclining Buddha figure. The figure has metal pins attached on the side that meets the bed frame. The pins were inserted into the bed frame and bent to secure the statue. On the other hand, there are several things missing and changed. From the uncomfortable position of the Buddha’s head suggests that there has been headrest or pillow under his right hand. As mentioned in the first paragraph, the cloud-like platform on the right side must have been a seat of Kashapa. Lacquer pigments have flaked off and the left rear leg had broken off and was reattached later. The material of the bed throne leg is iron, which cannot be cut or broken easily. It is possible that this object was buried underground and there had been huge exterior pressure by construction devices right before excavation.

In the context of the depiction of death of the religious founder’s can be comparable to Pieta by Michelangelo. This reclining posture appears in the European arts as well such as Etruscan Sarcophagus at Villa Giulia.

The last but not least thing that makes this object rare and interesting is the facial expression of the reclining Buddha. The smiling face does not seem like ordinary Buddha statues, but more like Milarepa. Further study of the route how the late Mr. Whitney purchased this object and the scrutiny of the other objects, which were purchased or excavated along with this object would enable to identify this object much clearer.

---

This article is hypothetical based on the knowledge and information currently available.
The comments on the time period, artisan, nationality, inscription decipherment, etc. are welcome.

Last update: 2008-03-07

Bronze, Iron, Gilt, Lapis, Coral, Carnelian, and Turquoise Mirror
From The Collections of the American Museum of Natural History
70.2/386 purchased in 1947 from Count S Walewski, owner of Esoterica,
East 56th Street, New York City.

The mirror is very pretty. Across it measures nineteen centimeters and, being slightly concave, 2.2 centimeters deep at its center. The reverse is cloth-covered, lacking an inscription.It is one of an identical pair. The American Museum of Natural History has no information about its history prior to purchase, such as where it was made, or when, and we only can speculate about its intended use as it falls outside of recognizable categories. Note the decorative lapis lazuli, coral, turquoise, and carnelian, organized into patterns reminiscent of eight flowers, interspersed with eight dots, and the relief cloud-like or wave-like inner border, which make it fancier than mirrors worn by soldiers. Then look closely at the outer rim, to find four tiny places where a leather thong might have been attached, as though it had been worn. The elaborate loveliness of its style of construction reminds one of mirrors worn by oracles but one crucial, defining element is missing, an engraved Tibetan syllable in the middle of the mirror; therefore it could not have functioned as an oracle’s mirror. In short, with all the contradictory evidence, one hesitates to draw conclusions about the mirror’s past. Did it start out as one sort of mirror only to be altered? If so, why? The London auction house Spink was presented with a similiarly puzzling mirror only to conclude–rather than leave open the question–that it was indeed an oracle’s mirror; the rationale behind the conclusion was not provided. The 1995 catalogue features it on its cover. (link) The mirror would have been constructed by casting the outer brass ring, cutting it to sized, adding the wavy relief design, inlaying the stones from the reverse side of the brass ring, then lastly, placing the concave mirrored iron surface within the outer ring. With the absence of a provenance, one is left to contemplate the eccentric collector from whom the pair of mirrorss were purchased. In 1955 Walewski published “The System of Caucasian Yoga” based on esoteric teachings of Zoroastrianism. From the book’s preface: “His shop, Esoterica, was not only a famous New York connoisseurs’ landmark but the gateway of another world, in which magick, demons and talismans were as real as subways and neon signs. The Count firmly believed that he attracted these strange objects to him by a sort of higher magnetism of which he knew the workings; and his unrivalled collection seemed to prove his point.”

Compare to a mirror with a seed-syllable.
Photograph of an oracle wearing a mirror .
Photograph of a seated (horse was cropped) warrior wearing a mirror.

The first mention of mirrors in a Buddhist context was the gift of a mirror by the goddess of light, Prabhavati to Shakyamuni Buddha. The stainless mirror represented the “clear karmic past of previous lives”. Mirrors are one of eight auspicious substances in Tibetan Buddhism of Indic, pre-Buddhist origin–white mustard seeds, yogurt, precious medicine, durva grass, bilwa fruit, white conch, and vermilion powder, being the others. The ritual of pouring water over a mirror reflecting a sacred image, similiarly survived in Tibet (khrus gsol). The water which comes into contact with the reflected diety image is considered sacred.

The Tibetan word for mirror is melong. They were placed on shrines, usually in offering bowls; if used for divination called a thugs-kyi melong, a mirror of the mind; adorned the torsos of spirit-possessed oracles; employed in the consecration of thangkas; sprinkled with red sindhura powder for abisheka rituals; were worn front, back, and on the sides, over chain mail suits of the armor of warriors; attached to arrows symbolizing long life; and were symbols of the Dzogchen teachings.They are also to be found in book titles, such as the Crystal Mirror of Tenet Systems, a history of philosophy completed in 1802; or the Tibetan history, Clear Mirror: A Traditional Account of Tibet’s Golden Age by Sakypa Sonam Gyaltsen; or the Crystal Mirror of Obligations and Prohibitions, for governmental officials, authored by the regent of the Fifth Dalai Lama, Desi Sangye Gyatso; or the Mirror of Poetics, a 6th century work on writing poetry; or The Mirror of Mindfulness: The Cycle of the Four Bardos by Tsele Natsok Rangdrol; or The Mirror: Advice on the Presence of Awareness by Namkhai Norbu, a contempary Tibetan master. Mirrors were used as illustrative teaching devices by Zen as well as Tibetan masters.

In Songs of Naropa author Thrangu Rinpoche explains mirror-like wisdom thusly:”…is the basic purity
of or the transformation of anger. Due to not knowing our innate nature, there is an instinctive attachment to the belief in a ‘me’.
At the same time, there is an instinctive aversion towards that felt to be ‘not me’–the ‘other’. This clinging is very deep-rooted and
gives rise to intense fixation and manifold complexities. At the same time, there is always the possibility of the mirror-like wisdom.
The analogy here is that of a mirror: an image reflected in a mirror appears very distinctly, even though there is no ‘thing’ in the mirror.
It is empty of any substantial entity and yet visible. Once someone realizes the basic state and sees the empty nature of all things,
experience still takes place. Everthing is seen, but there is no attachment to these images as having any concrete substance. In this
way, there is no opportunity for anger to arise.” (p.147) Relative to the above is “melong yeshe” or mirror-like wisdom, “the unobstructed appearance of all qualities of existence and enlightenment,” as Thinley Norbu puts it in A Cascading Waterfall of Nectar (p.53) or equivalently, “always being unobstructed is mirrorlike wisdom” (p.280).

Below right, watch the video of the Sakya Trizin performing a long life ceremony for the Dalai Lama, for his 73rd year. The part of the ceremony featured displays a mirror atop a beribboned arrow, a dadar.

Above is Mandarava, a consort of the mythic figure
Padmasambhava, holding an arrow, called a dadar, topped with a
melong (just below the feather) and streaming yellow,
blue, red and white ribbons. She is associated with a long life
practice.

On the left is Dorje Yudronma, a worldly protector also
invoked for mirror divination. Dorje Yudronma
holding mirror in right hand and arrow in the left,
from a 19th century wall painting of a Drukpa
Kagyu temple in Bhutan. The image is from the
photographic collection of Francoise Pommaret.
Perhaps the translucence of the mirror is meant to indicate its
divinatory power.

The third patriarch of Hua-yen Buddhism, Fa-tsang, was a writer of philosophical works. As a Buddhist master, his demonstrations of philosophy for his royal patrons were paradoxical. He built a hall of mirrors in order to illustrate for the Empress Wu-Zetian the doctrine of mutual interpenetration of all things; in the room of mirrors the shrine and Buddha statue reflected infinitely. (Incidentally, in Hua-yen Buddhism the alaya-vijnana is called the great ocean mirror.)

Here is another story, this one of a magic mirror taken from “When a Woman Becomes a Religious Dynasty: The Samding Dorje Phagmo ” which concerns Kunga Sangmo, the second incarnation of the Samding Dorje Phagmo and the first reincarnation of Chokyi Dronma, who was a fifteenth century princess. Thangtong Gyalpo was one of her contemporaries. He is famous for having built iron chain bridges across the Brahmaputra River, one of which was used as recently as 1993. “Thangtong Gyalpo is said to have presented the young girl with a magic mirror that would become clearer and clearer the more it was wiped. This ritual item seems to epitomize her experience of being and becoming… In the narrative the mirror, along with the other gifts she recieved from Thangtong Gyalpo, seems an important metaphor that reflects the interaction among the girl, the master, and the community around them” (p.249).

Oracular practices and mirror divination were criminalized during the Cultural Revolution; oracles resumed practice around 1980, after the “more or less extraordinary reappearance of the mirrors” and, the Chinese legal reclassification of oracular
practices as “traditional custom”.

From the photographic collection of Harry Staunton at the
Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, taken in 1940 in Lhasa during
a prayer festival, the Monlam Chenmo. The soldiers wore mirrors
front, sides, and back of the torso. The purpose of the mirrors
was “to witness” (personal communication).

Video of the present Nechung Oracle, Thupten Ngodup,
by Maud Kristen. His oracular pronouncements are
used by the Tibetan government. Note the large decorated
mirror (thugs kyi melong) worn by the Oracle and
inscribed in its center with a syllable, the seed-syllable of a diety.

Regarding European history and the mirror, in antiquity we find the
myth of Narcissus as well as mirrors used
as symbols in the writings of Socrates and Seneca. Catoptromancy,
or divining the future with images in mirrors, was the subject of a
1932 book, La Catoptromancie grecque et ses derives; mirror divination
was practiced in the ancient Greek world. Catoptromancy is reported
through the nineteenth century in France.(The interested reader may
see p191 of The Mirror for specific instances.)

Hildegarde von Bingen, the twelfth century Christian mystic, wrote of God as analogous
to a mirror, “all works beyond age and time” contained therein. During the
thirteenth century encyclopedias were called specula, Latin for mirrors.
“In the Middle Ages, when the philosophical polarity between subject and
object did not exist ‘speculation’ was a consideration of a relationship between
two subjects like that between the mirror and what it reflects. This mode of
thought embraces all the visible world in that it resembles the invisible,
serving as a testing ground, providing clues with which man rises beyond
the known to the unknown…Saint Thomas Aquinas thusly linked ‘speculation’
to the speculum: ‘To see something by means of a mirror is to see a cause in
its effect wherein its likeness is reflected. From this we see that ‘ ‘speculation’ ‘
leads back to meditation.’ ” (The Mirror, p 113)

Bibliography

1. Ashencaen, Deborah. The Mirror of Mind: Art of Vajrayna Buddhism. Spink & Son, Ltd.,1995
2. Beer, Robert. Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols. Shambhala, 1999.
3.Giacomello, Orofino. “Divinations with Mirrors. Observations on a Simile Found in the Kalachakra Literature. in Tibetan Studies. Proceedings of the 6th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies. Fagernes, 1992. Vol 2 Edited by Per Kraerae.Published 1994 by the Institute for Comparativ Research in Human Cultures. Oslo.
4.Kapstein, Matthew. The Tibetans, Blackwell Publishing, 2006.
5.Diemberger, Hildegard. “Female Oracles in Modern Tibet” found in In Women in Tibet. Columbia University Press, 2005.
6.Melchoir-Bonnet, Sabine. The Mirror. Routledge, 2001.
7. Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Rene de. Oracles and Demons of Tibet: The Cult and Iconography of the Tibetan Protective Dieties.
Akademische Druck-u.Verlagsanstalt, 1975.
8. Norbu, Thinley. A Cascading Waterfall of Nectar. Shambhala, 2006.
9. Thrangu, Rinpoche. King of SamadhiL Commentaries on the Samadi Raja Sutra and the Song of Lodro Thaye. Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1994.
10. Zwalf, W. Heritage of Tibet, British Museum Publicatons, 1981.

Boots (AMNH)

Meet the Boots (AMNH collection)

The legs of these lightweight boots are made of layers of cloth, insulated with what appears to be animal hair. The cloth layers are stitched in columns to firmly hold the insulation that is lining the boots in an upright position. The two main, vertical seams of the boots are located in the front and back of each of the boots. There are several horizontal seams connecting the upper leg of the boot to the base of the boot and the base of the boot to sole of the boot. The cowhide layered soles are about 2 cm thick and are connected to the cloth leg that is about 28 cm tall. The width of the boot is about 6 cm wide and 15 cm long. The boots do not have appear to have insoles of any sort, indicating that the foot may have rested directly on the cowhide sole. However, it is possible that there was a some sort of lining inserted at the bottom of the boot to make it more comfortable. The boots have fibrous threads woven through the sole, creating a ridged bottom for traction. Though the legs of the boots appear worn and damaged, the soles are slightly worn and fairly clean. 

The legs of the boots are dyed red and, while tan and red floral designs are embroidered around the top part of the blue base of the boots. Discoloration and fading suggest that boots may have been damaged by water, causing the dye to run and to be unevenly absorbed by the cowhide sole. 

Like other Tibetan boots, these can be worn on both feet and have the unique, upturned toe. However, the careful stitching and floral embroidery along with the brilliant dyes and barely worn soles indicate that these boots were not intended for every day use by a nomadic Tibetan. Rather, it seems that the short leg, light weight boots were intended for a member of the nobility. Given the small size and delicate trimming, the boot was probably intended for occasional use by a wealthy woman.

See more information about the materials used in making boots

The Sole of the Boot
 
The sole of the boot is generally 2-3 cm thick and is sewed from about 5-7 layers of cowhide. The sole of the boot is later attached to the leg of the boot. Traction is provided on the bottom of the sole by weaving a fibrous thread through the layers of cowhide. This uniformly stitched pattern creates a ridged bottom that allows the boot to grip its surface. The sole of the boot is sturdy and very thick, but bendable, offering protection and good ankle support in various terrains. The Tibetan boot is often characterized by the upturned toe. This feature gives added protection and firmness to the head of the foot. The Tibetan boot is devoid of a heel, therefore the cowhide sole functions like a platform, elevating the boot. [10] 

Lining and Insulation 

There are two general types of Tibetan boots, short leg and long leg. The short and long leg boots may be made of any material (cloth, canvas, corduroy, velvet, leather and felt) and most Tibetan boots are lined or padded, though some may be unlined. Tibetan boots are often lined or padded with layers of cloth, hay, fur, or hair (from the llama or goat) for insulation. The legs of corduroy boots are made of corduroy and lined on the inside with white cloth, (sometimes edged in red cloth). The legs of cloth boots are made of layers of cloth with goat hair insulation sewn in between the layers. Rockhill notes that, “the leg of the boot is usually lined with a very coarse woolen stuff, and no socks were worn on the feet.” [11] Depending on the material of the boot and the type of boot (short leg or long leg), the boot may be “bound tightly below the knee with a leather thong or long garter of wool.” [12] Garters are about 4.5 ft. long and 1 in. wide, the pattern on the garter is usually narrow, horizontal stripes, but, “some of them are beautifully fine and show great taste in the selection of colors.” [13] Typically, the seam of the boot runs down the back of the leg. 

Function and Purpose 

In central Tibet, the boots of men and women are the same and there is no distinction between the boot for the left and right foot. [14,15]Given the uneasy, nomadic lifestyle of many Tibetan tribes, it is possible that the lack of distinction between the boots allows the greatest utility for the footwear. Tibetans who were carrying everything needed to survive in an environment prone to sudden changes of weather needed a compact, versatile boot. Tibetan boots are suited for snow, but are also soft and breathable, so that they are good for walking. Previously discussed elements also contribute to the function of the boot. For example, a pair of long leg, ‘floppy’ felt boots, could be worn with a garter during harsh, cold wind or could be folded down during warmer weather. Similarly the unique, curved, pointed toe of typical Tibetan boots is appropriate for different types of environments. Rockhill once commented, “[Tibetans] can endure exposure without any apparent inconvenience…they put no clothes on children except in the coldest weather, allowing them to move about naked, or with only a pair of boots on.” [16] Even to an observer, the versatile boot seems to have a significant presence in the Tibetan way of life. 

Form and Style 

Tibetan boots are often richly decorated, compensating the simple, nomadic lifestyle. Some boots have elegant flowing lines and patterns where the seams are connected, and some materials for example, cloth and canvas allow for intricately embroidered and dyed designs. Exquisite workmanship and fine, decoratively embroidered patterns are characteristic of these boots. The elaborate designs often continue on the legs of the boots. [17] The extent of adornment on the boot is typically associated with wealth of the boots’ owner. For example, wealthy women frequently wear Chinese velvet boots, whose seams may be covered with colorful and intricate embroidery. [18] The Tibetan boots of “beautiful workmanship were probably obtained by barter.” [19] 

According to Rockhill, “the profession in which Tibetans excel is that of dyeing.” Tibetans almost exclusively use vegetable dyes and, “they know how to fix the colors so well that they are practically permanent.” [20] 


 

[10] The Early History of Felt by B. Laufer P. 8
[11] Notes on the Ethnology of Tibet by W.W. Rockhill P. 686
[12] Notes on the Ethnology of Tibet by W.W. Rockhill P. 686
[13] Notes on the Ethnology of Tibet by W.W. Rockhill P. 686
[14] [[http://en.tibettour.com.cn/geography/200412006420101601.htm%3C/span%3E%3Cspan|http://en.tibettour.com.cn/geography/200412006420101601.htm<span]] style=”FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA”>
[15] Notes on the Ethnology of Tibet by W.W. Rockhill P. 687
[16] Notes on the Ethnology of Tibet by W.W. Rockhill P. 675
[17] [[http://www.kepu.net.cn/english/nationalityne/mong/200312050055.html%3C/span%3E%3Cspan|http://www.kepu.net.cn/english/nationalityne/mong/200312050055.html<span]] style=”FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA”>
[18] Notes on the Ethnology of Tibet by W.W. Rockhill P. 687
[19] ‘Daktas’–People with a Tail in the East Bhutanese Himalaya by R. E. Cooper P. 6
[20] Notes on the Ethnology of Tibet by W.W. Rockhill P. 701