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"This volume is a major breakthrough for the history of the Sa-skya period of Tibet, the art treasures of the Gyantse region, and the evolution of a distinctive Tibetan style from the multiple strands of Indian iconographic elements, Chinese tendencies in larger compositions and the Khotanese manner in statuary.

"So far it had been held that Buddhism went to Tibet through Nepal and Kashmir, but this volume points out for the first time how it also traversed the Sikkim-Gyantse way. It details the historical monasteries on the road to and in the city of Gyantse, which are of unique value for the development of the Tibetan visual arts. The small temple of Bsam-grub Iha-khan near Phari has frescoes of the XV century and a statue of Avalokitesvara and two book covers of possible Indian origin. This book treats of the extraordinary flourishing of art due to the enlightened patronage of the Sa-skya-pas during the long tenure of their power. The princes of Zhalu and Gyantse followed their example. Chinese influences came to be felt during the hegemony of the Sa-skyas who maintained cultural and political relations with China for two centuries.

"The volume reviews the disappearance of ancient historical records because of the suppression of all rivals by the emerging Gelukpa sect. The Myan-chun Chronicles and the Eulogy of Nenying monastery, which have escaped, are unique sources for the history of the artistic heritage of the region. Along with them, historical geography, the chronologies of the Sa-skya abbots and of the princes of Zhalu and of Gyantse, and their relations with the Mongol court are discussed.

"The monastery of Kyangphu at Samada was founded in the XI century, but was restored in the XIV under the Sa-skyas. It has statues and stupas of Indian origin. Its surviving murals betray Central Asian style. Several Mandalas of Vairocana from different tantras are dealt with.

"The Gyani monastery in the Salu village has capitals of the XIV century. The monastery at Iwang was constructed before the arrival of Sakyasri the Great Pandit of Kashmir in the XIII century. An inscription on its mural says that it was painted in Indian style. Another inscription points out that Amitayus was done in the Khotanese way. The ancient monasteries of Shonang and Nenying have been restored and repainted, though at Nenying splendid fragments of the best epoch of Indo-Nepalese art survive.

"The superb monastery of Gyantse is described in all scientific details for the first time in this book. The most outstanding monument of the region is the Kumbum of Gyantse, also known as Dpal-hkhor chos-sde, important both for its architecture and for its paintings. It is a gigantic complex of several mandalas, a veritable summa of tantric revelations. The inscriptions name its painters and sculptors: unique in the history of Tibetan art. They give summary descriptions of the frescoes which serve as remarkable iconographic guides. The paintings can be dated to a well-determined period, namely the XV century, when an independent idiom of Tibetan art developed.

"Part I details the iconography of the Kumbum which is an architectonic Mandala, where progressive ascending from one floor to the other corresponds to an ascension from a lesser order of tantras to ever higher ones. The 73 major temples and minor chapels on its four floors and dome are described at length. An astounding number of 27,529 deities are represented in the Kumbum. This book is a mine of information and perceptions of the great master Giuseppe Tucci, and invites further researches on the vast tantric iconography and its symbolism detailed herein. Part II gives the text and translation of the inscriptions in the temples and chapels of the various monasteries. Part III is devoted to the mural paintings in them."

Contents:
Part I: General description of the Temples: Foreword/Lokesh Chandra. Preface. I. Importance of the monuments studied in the trip of 1937: 1. The Sikkim-Gyantse road and its monuments. 2. The importance of these monuments for the history of Tibetan art. 3. The lists of sculptors and painters in the inscriptions of Gyantse. 4. Importance and character of the paintings in these monuments. 5. Chinese influences on these paintings. 6. Paintings in Indian style. 7. Painters and paintings. 8. The diverse elements by whose fusion Tibetan painting is born. 9. The statues. 10. Architecture. 11. Importance of the Sa-skya-pa sect. II. Sources: 12. Disappearance of ancient historical documents. 13. The Myan-chun. 14. The eulogy of Gnas-rnin. 15. Secondary sources.
III. Historical geography:
16. The land of Nan.
17. The monasteries of Nan-smad.
18. Nan-bar.
19. The temples of Nan-smad.

IV. Chronology of the monuments and especially that of the Kumbum:
20. Chronology of the Sa-skya abbots.
21. The princes of Zha-lu and of Gyantse.
22. The Sa-skya monks and the Mongol court. V. The temples of Samada:
23. General characteristics.
24. The mgon-khan.
25. The chapel of the victory over Mara.
26. The atrium and the first chapel.
27. The inscriptions of Chos-blos and the foundation of the temple.
28. The mudra of Rnam-par-snan-mdzad/Vairocana.
29. Scheme of the mandalas of Rnan-par-snan-mdzad/Vairocana described in the preceding volumes.
30. Vajradhatu-mandala and Mahakarunagarbha mandala.
31. Why the Mandalas of a single cycle can be many. Mandalas:
32. From Rtsa Rgyud : Tattvasangraha/De-nid-bsdus. 33. From Vajrasekhara (Toh. 480).
34. From Sri-Paramadya-tantra (Toh. 487).
35. From Nama-sangiti (Toh. 360).
36. From Vairocanabhisambodhi (Toh, 494) and affiliated texts.
37. From Sri-vajramandal-alankara (Toh. 490).
38. From Sarvadurgati-parisodhana (Toh. 483).
39. The Mandala of Samada represents the Vajradhatu-mandala.
40. The cycle of Mon-bu putra in the temple of Dregun (Samada).

VI. Salu, Iwang, shonang and Gnas-rnin: Salu: 41. The chapel of Iwang embellished in the Indian manner. 42. The chapel embellished in the Khotanese manner Shonang. 43. The foundation of the monastery of Gnas-rnin.

VII. Gyantse and its main temple:
44. The three chapels on the first floor.
45. The chapel of Lam-bras.
46. The chapel of Mandalas.

VIII. Kumbum:
47. General symbolism of the Kumbum.
48. The first floor of the Kumbum.
49. The second floor of the Kumbum.
50. The third floor of the Kumbum.
51. The fourth floor, the dome and the campana of the Kumbum.

Part II: Inscriptions: Texts and translations: Preface/Lokesh Chandra. Texts of inscriptions: 1. Samada. 2. Iwang. 3. The great temple of Gyantse. 4. Sku-hbum/Kumbum. Translations: 1. Samada. 2. Iwang. 3. The great temple of Gyantse. 4. Sku-hbum/Kumbum. Appendices. Index.

Giuseppe Tucci
Macerata 1894 - San Paolo dei Cavalieri (Tivoli) 1984

Tucci è considerato il più grande orientalista italiano del Novecento, e fra i massimi tibetologi a livello internazionale. Fu giornalista, scrittore, archeologo, antropologo, esploratore, Accademico d'Italia, presidente onorario di numerose istituzioni di grande prestigio in tutto il mondo, vincitore del "Premio Nehru", e ha meritato ben cinque lauree honoris causa. Concittadino del gesuita e sinologo Padre Matteo Ricci, Giuseppe Tucci nasce a Macerata il 5 giugno 1894 e muore a San Polo dei Cavalieri, vicino a Tivoli, il 5 aprile 1984. Dotato di eccezionali qualità naturali e di un'ottima preparazione classica, giovanissimo conosce già una decina di lingue europee. Nel 1915 parte per la Grande Guerra, congedandosi col grado di tenente. Nel 1919 si laurea in Lettere e Filosofia.
Lavora prima come bibliotecario della Camera dei deputati, ma già tra il 1925 e il 1930 insegna italiano, cinese e tibetano presso le Università indiane di Calcutta e Shantiniketan, dove fra l'altro incontra il poeta Tagore e Gandhi. Dal 1930 diviene docente di lingua e letteratura cinese all'Università di Napoli, e dal 1932 insegna religione e filosofia dell'Estremo Oriente all'Ateneo di Roma. Nel 1933 fonda assieme a Giovanni Gentile, che ne è il primo presidente, l'Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (Is.M.E.O.), con lo scopo di "promuovere e sviluppare i rapporti culturali fra l'Italia e i paesi dell'Asia Centrale, Meridionale ed Orientale ed altresì di attendere all'esame dei problemi economici interessanti i Paesi medesimi". L'attenzione rivolta anche agli aspetti politico-economici è documentata, oltre che dalle numerose pubblicazioni dell'Istituto come i periodici Bollettino dell'Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (1935) e Asiatica (1936-1943), dallo specifico interesse di Tucci per la geopolitica dell'Asia in un periodo cruciale della sua storia, e dalla sua amicizia personale con Karl Haushofer, che invita a tenere importanti conferenze su questa materia.
Tucci concentra i suoi viaggi di ricerca nella vasta regione himalayana, quale naturale crocevia storico fra tutte le diverse culture dell'Asia, raccogliendo sistematicamente materiale archeologico, artistico, letterario, di documentazione storica e altro. Risultati eccezionali vengono così ottenuti dalle sue lunghe spedizioni in Tibet fra il 1929 e il 1948, anno in cui l'Is.M.E.O. riprende in pieno la sua attività postbellica sotto la sua diretta presidenza, destinata a durare fino al 1978. Tra il 1950 e il 1955 egli organizza nuove spedizioni in Nepal, seguite dalle campagne archeologiche in Pakistan ('56), in Afghanistan nel ('57) ed in Iran ('59). Sempre nel 1950 avvia il prestigioso periodico in lingua inglese East and West, e nel 1957 fonda il Museo Nazionale di Arte Orientale di Roma.
Tra i suoi numerosi ed importanti scritti ricorderemo solamente, sia i sette volumi di Indo-tibetica (Accademia d'Italia, 1932-1942) che i due di Tibetan Painted Scrolls (Libreria dello Stato, 1949) per la loro ampiezza documentaria, e la Storia della filosofia indiana (Laterza, 1957) per la sua portata innovativa, specie per quanto riguarda la logica indiana.