104p., Abb., Bib., 23 cm. (Bibliotheca Inso Buddhica Series No. 239)
CONTENTS
CONTENTS:- I. Introduction
II. The Sanskrit Pratimalaksana: 1. Translation 2. Sanskrit
III. The Chinese Pratimalaksana: 1. Translation 2. Chinese
DESCRIPTION
In the "applied" Arts of India iconometry, talamana, the Knowledge of the measurements and the proportions of images, has an old tradition, not entirely different from the Greek and the Renaissance tradition. Ever since B. Laufer's Study about the Citralaksana in 1913 the subject has raised new interest among artists and scholars alike. The Indian Buddhist Pratimalaksana, which is edited in transcription and translated into English here, may date from the 10th century, anyway before Atisa (died 1054). The Tibetan translation was made by the Tibetan Grags-pa-rgyal-mtshan (ca. 1285-1378) and the Indian Dharmadhara, in Southern Tibet before 1322, date of Bu-ston's catalogue. The text most probably belongs to the Mulasarvastivada tradition. The Chinese translation is the work of the Mongolian aristocrat mGon-po skyabs, Gongbu Chabu in Chinese (ca. 1690-1750). The text was brought out in 1742 at Qianlong's Court in Beijing. mGon-po skyabs translated the Tibetan text to Chinese, and he added a Commentary using Tibetan literature. The Chinese text in this volume is based on the Japanese edition T. 1419, but the stanzas are numbered, and the commentary in prose is separated from the main text. Illustrations have been added. The glossaries at the end will help further more research, it is hoped. The Chinese translation of Sanskrit words is often very useful to know the exact meaning of a term, in both languages.
