关于藏文蓝黑纸(■)写经的初步考察:以文献为中心

A Preliminary Survey on Mthing shog Manuscripts

蓝黑纸(■)是藏族文化中一种特制的纸张。蓝黑纸的制作主要分三个步骤,首先将数层纸粘合在一起,然后在纸张表面涂一层特制的墨汁、颜料或染液,最后研磨打光。蓝黑纸主要用于书写佛经,其中最珍贵且常用的是用金汁或金银汁隔行书写。蓝黑纸包括汉地所谓的瓷(磁)青纸,但二者不能等同。

Mthing shog,translated as blue-black paper蓝黑纸in Tibetan-Chinese dictionaries,is a kind of colored paper that we find in Tibetan culture.Its production covers three steps:1)several layers of papers are laminated with a wheat paste;2)a specially made coloring material is applied to the surface of the paper;and 3)the paper is burnished with a gzi bead or a smooth piece of conch shell or other smooth and hard precious stones.The recipes and substances of making coloring materials for mthing shog vary.For instance,one formula uses black ink,which is made from soot(sre nag)or burnt resinous pine wood(sgron shing),which is mixed with yak and/or sheep brains;one formula uses a mixture consisting of black vitriol(nag mtshur),euphorbia(thar nu),borax(tsa la),wheat beer(gro chang),and myrobalan(a ru ra);one formula uses a solution made with ground white cowry shell(’gron bu),ground cardamom(dzāti)and myrobalan juice;one formula uses indigo(rams).Judging from literary sources and extant objects,the expression mthing shog derives from shug bu mthing ga of the Tibetan dynastic period.It is mthing shog that was used for writing royal edicts.Beginning from the 10th century,mthing shog is most often used to write Buddhist sutras.The most prized manuscripts frequently use gold ink or a combination of gold and silver ink.The main purpose of preparing mthing shog manuscripts is for devotional purposes.These are deposited in shrines and monasteries and prepared for the accumulation of merit;they are not intended for circulation.Chinese scholars often term the black-blue paper of Tibetan cultural tradition as瓷/磁青纸,"porcelain green paper,"an indigo-dyed paper in Chinese culture.However,as mentioned above,there are many different materials that are used to make mthing shog.Mthing shog includes indigo-dyed paper,but they are not identical.The gold or/and silver manuscripts produced in China proper,especially those in the Ming and Qing courts,may be written on indigo-dyed paper or mthing shog.As for gold or/and silver manuscripts from the Tibetan cultural area,the situation is more complicated,and it seems that not all gold or/and silver texts are written on mthing shog.