四川理塘县麻通寺元末塔殿壁画调查简报

Brief Report on the Investigation of Late Yuan Dynasty Murals in a Stupa Hall of Mathong Monastery in Litang County,Sichuan Province

通过对四川省理塘县麻通寺小殿壁画进行实地调查和研究,可知该寺疑由萨迦派大师达尼钦波桑布贝建于13世纪末,现存小殿原为塔殿,其内壁画应绘于元末。题材主要为无量光佛西方净土、释迦牟尼佛与十六罗汉、六胜二庄严,以及药师七佛曼荼罗。其中,十六罗汉按克什米尔班智达释迦室利跋陀罗的传承绘制。风格在体现出元、明时期浓郁的尼泊尔艺术元素的同时,展示出一些本土特征,及与以北京为首的内地藏传艺术之间的联系。现存壁画对于尼泊尔艺术元素在元末明初的传播、西藏与内地的交通、萨迦派和噶举派的活动等历史的研究,都具有重要的学术价值。

This paper studies the murals in the hall of a stupa at Mathong Monastery, Litang County, Sichuan Province on the basis of field investigation. A preliminary research shows that the monastery could be established at the end of the 13^(th) century by bDag nyid chen po bzang po dpal, the famous lama of Saskya Sect;the extant small hall was originally the hall inside a stupa, with murals painted at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Themes of the murals mainly consist of Amitabha and Western paradise, Shakyamuni, the Sixteen Arhats and the Eight Famous Buddhist Scholars of India, as well as a mandala of the Buddha of Medicine. Among them, the Sixteen Arhats were created in the light of teaching by Kashimiri Pandita Shakyashiribhadra. The murals not only take on distinctive elements of Nepalese art during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, but also incorporate local traits, and further reflect connections with the Tibetan art introduced into the mainland, which is represented by Beijing. In combination with historical documents and inscriptions, the murals were possibly painted in the middle of the 14th century, at the end of Yuan Dynasty, yet we can’t rule out the possibility that they were created at early 15th century. The Murals are of important academic values for studying the spread of Nepalese art, transportation between Tibet and the mainland, as well as the history of Saskya and bKa’brgyud sects during late Yuan and early Ming dynasties.