White beryl
White beryl ( Tib. / Sanskrit : Vaiḍūrya dkar po ) is the short title of the most extensive Tibetan manual on Tibetan calendar calculations , Tibetan astronomy , Sinotibetic divination calculations , astrology, geomancy and numerous methods of fortune-telling widely used in Tibet . The work was written by the Tibetan statesman Desi Sanggye Gyatsho (1653–1705). The block print editions published in Lhasa immediately after completion and in 1909 can be classified as masterpieces of the Tibetan block print art, especially because of their numerous excellent illustrations. The work is one of three "Beryl" titled works by Desi Sanggye Gyatsho. The other two works, the “Blue Beryl” (tib .: Vaiḍūrya sngon po ) and the “Yellow Beryl” (tib .: Vaiḍūrya ser po ), deal with Tibetan medicine and the history of the Gelug School.
Origin and title of the work
Desi Sanggye Gyatsho began composing the White Beryl on June 1, 1683 and completed the work on October 3, 1685 after more than two years of work. The manual, which in the large-format block print edition with 35 chapters completed in Lhasa in 1909 comprises 1268 pages, is entitled "The good presentation of the calculation science of the Phugpa school , a necklace made of white beryl leather stones serving as a necklace for scholars, most valuable possession for the astute" (Tib .: phug lugs rtsis kyi legs bshad mkhas pa'i mgul rgyan vaiḍūr dkar po'i do shal dpyod ldan snying nor ).
Reception of the work
The great handbook of the regents was not only positively received by the astronomers and divination masters of its time. A scholar, who is only known to us by the name Ngagwang (Tib .: ngag dbang ), put together the numerous critical questions submitted to the content of the manual and presented them to the regent as a separate work in May / June 1687. This collection of 208 questions on the content of the White Beryl was also printed. It comprises 124 pages in a large-format edition.
It should be emphasized that the fundamental opponents of astronomy of the Phugpa school and especially the followers of the Tshurphu school did not have a say in this work. Rather, the 208 questions only represent a contribution to the internal discussion within the Phugpa School. In response to this, the regent wrote another work, which he wrote on September 29, 1688 under the full title "Removal of the dirty skin and the appearance of imperfection from the Textbook Vaiḍūrya dkar po as an answer to the questions (written), showing the face of the true meaning ”(Tib .: bstan bcos vaiḍūrya dkar-po las dri lan 'khrul snang g.ya' sel don gyi bzhin ras ston byed ) and which was known under the short title Yasel (Tib .: g.ya 'sel ; "removal of the dirty skin "). With 946 pages it is almost as extensive as the “White Beryl” itself.
The regent responds to each of the questions put to him with extraordinary care. In terms of content, the explanations often go beyond what is discussed in the “White Beryl”, so that the Yasel can also be seen as a clarifying supplement to the Vaiḍūrya dkar po .
The Vaiḍūrya dkar po was published as a block print shortly after its completion in Lhasa. After the printing blocks were so worn out because of the frequent prints that legible impressions could no longer be made, a new edition took place in 1909. Another two-volume edition was printed in the Dege printing house.
Images in white beryl
The Lhasa editions are of particular importance for the history of the Tibetan printing industry because of their numerous, excellent illustrations .
At the beginning of the chapter there are illustrations of all historical and mythological personalities who were considered important for the history of astronomy and fortune-telling in Tibet. These include eminent scholars such as Duhar Nagpo , Phugpa Lhündrub Gyatsho and Pelgön Thrinle , to name a few. Mention should also be made of the images of all the kings of Shambhala . The astrological explanations of the Tibetan moon houses are provided with images of the assigned deities. There are also representations of the Tibetan zodiac signs . The almost unmanageable number of representations of the earth masters (Tib .: sa bdag ) called spirits is downright extraordinary . But also representations of objects of everyday life, such as scales , a measuring box for grain or a Tibetan ferry, can be found here. A scientific evaluation of these images has not yet been carried out.
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- sde-srid Sangs-rgyas rgya-mtsho: Phug-lugs rtsis kyi legs-bshad mkhas-pa'i mgul-rgyan vaidur dkar-po'i do-shal dpyod-ldan snying-nor (block print)
- sde-srid Sangs-rgyas rgya-mtsho: bsTan-bcos vaiḍūrya dkar-po las dri-lan 'khrul-snang g.ya'-sel don gyi bzhin-ras ston-byed (block print)
- Nag-dbang: sNgon med-pa'i bstan-bcos chen po vaiḍūrya dkar-po las' phros-pa'i snyan-sgron nyis-brgya brgyad-pa (block print)
- Dieter Schuh: Studies on the history of the Tibetan calendar calculation . Wiesbaden 1973
- Dieter Schuh: Tibetan manuscripts and block prints as well as tape recordings of Tibetan stories, part 5 . Wiesbaden 1973
- Gyurme Dorjee: Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings. Illuminated manuscripts from The White Beryl od Sangs-rgyas rGya-mtsho with the Moonbeams treatise of Lo-chen Dharmaśrī . John Eskenazi Ltd., London 2002. ISBN 0953994104