Gelugpa Merit Field, centered on Tsongkhapa, with lineage teachers above and to the sides, and meditational deities (yidam) and protectors (dharmapala) below. / Artist Unknown, Tibet or Nepal
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1962/2.1
- Title
- Gelugpa Merit Field, centered on Tsongkhapa, with lineage teachers above and to the sides, and meditational deities (yidam) and protectors (dharmapala) below.
- Artist Nationality
- Tibetan or Nepalese
- Medium and Support
- gouache and gold on cotton
- Object Creation Date
- 1800-1850
- Style/Group/Movement
- Buddhist thangka
- Inscription
- Inscription in red, on back.
- Dimensions
- 85.09 cm x 51.44 cm (33 1/2 in. x 20 1/4 in.)
- Century
- 19th century
- Physical Description
- A portable painting, with gouache pigments on sized cotton, bordered by three strips of Chinese brocade. The painting is designed to be rolled up when not in use.
- Subject Matter
- This painting is a diagrammatic representation of the transmission of teachings within the Gelugpa School of Tibetan Buddhism. Tsongkhapa (1357 - 1419), the founder of the school, wearing the Gelugpa yellow hat and flanked by two lotus blossoms, is seated at the heart of a vast array of figures. Below him, forming the mountain on which he sits, are row upon row of the meditational deities revered by the school, including Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and deified lamas (teachers), as well as the fierce ‘dharmapala’ deities (protectors of the faith). At the side, seated in large numbers on billowing clouds, are teachers in the Gelugpa lineage. The ascetic figures at the top center, above Tsongkhapa, represent famous Indian mahasiddas, yogis who have mastered tantric teachings.
- There are many variants of such lineage diagrams among the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. They type is known by many names, including “Assembly Tree,” “Merit Field,” “Refuge Field,” or “Field of Accumulation”; in Tibetan, the generic term is “tsog shing.”
- Secondary Keywords
- asian
- associated concepts
- buddhist doctrinal concepts
- doctrinal concepts
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- religions and religious concepts
- religious (people)
- religious concepts
- south asian
- styles and periods
- styles and periods by region
- visual works
- visual works by subject type
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 927 x 1441
- File Size
- 204 KB
- Record
- 1962/2.1
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1962-sl-2.1/1962_2.1.jpg
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- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1962-SL-2.1:1962_2.1.JPG
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"Gelugpa Merit Field, centered on Tsongkhapa, with lineage teachers above and to the sides, and meditational deities (yidam) and protectors (dharmapala) below.; Artist Unknown, Tibet or Nepal." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1962-sl-2.1/1962_2.1.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 19, 2024.
