Tangut Text Decoration

A curious feature of Tangut woodblock printed texts is that space unused for text is often filled with pictures and decorative marks. This is particularly the case for Buddhist texts, but little pictures of people or animals may also be found in some secular texts. This contrasts with Chinese woodblock printed texts of the same period (11th through 14th centuries), where incidental decoration is much more unusual. This page showcases a few examples of Tangut incidental decoration that I have noticed.



Animals

Woodblock edition of Homophones 同音

Homophones D edition folio 1b (tiger)


Woodblock edition of Homophones 同音

Homophones D edition folio 2a (tiger)


Woodblock edition of Homophones 同音

Homophones D edition folio 28a (lion)



People

Woodblock edition of Homophones 同音

Homophones D edition folio 1a


Woodblock edition of Homophones 同音

Homophones D edition folio 19a


Woodblock edition of Homophones 同音

Homophones D edition folio 20b


Woodblock edition of Miscellaneous Characters 雜字

Miscellaneous Characters folio 9a



Flowers

Woodblock edition of the Flower Garland Sutra 大方廣佛華嚴經 (Avataṁsaka)

Tangut Tripitaka v. 4 p. 732


Woodblock edition of a Buddhist text

Tangut Tripitaka v. 9 p. ?



Stupas

Woodblock edition of the Flower Garland Sutra 大方廣佛華嚴經 (Avataṁsaka)

Tangut Tripitaka v. 2 p. 259


Woodblock edition of the Names of the Buddhas Sutra 佛名經 (Buddhanāma)

Tangut Tripitaka v. 4 p. 913


Woodblock edition of the Names of the Buddhas Sutra 佛名經 (Buddhanāma)

Tangut Tripitaka v. 4 p. 915



Swastikas

Woodblock edition of the Names of the Buddhas Sutra 佛名經 (Buddhanāma)

Tangut Tripitaka v. 4 p. 906

Woodblock edition of a Buddhist text 大悲

Tangut Tripitaka v. 6 p. 1222

Woodblock edition of a Buddhist text (Mahā-sāhasra-pramardana)

Tangut Tripitaka v. 9 p. 2138

Woodblock edition of the Peacock Wisdom King Dharani 孔雀明王陀羅尼 (Mahāmāyuri)

Tangut Tripitaka v. 9 p. 2153



Vajras

Woodblock edition of the Peacock Wisdom King Dharani 孔雀明王陀羅尼 (Mahāmāyuri)

Tangut Tripitaka v. 9 p. 2090



Miscellaneous

Woodblock edition of a Buddhist text 大悲

Tangut Tripitaka v. 6 p. 1222


Woodblock edition of a Buddhist text (Mahā-sāhasra-pramardana)

Tangut Tripitaka v. 9 p. 2142



Siddham Seed Syllables

Woodblock edition of a Buddhist text 慈悲道場懺法

hūṃ 𑖮𑖳𑖼

Tangut Tripitaka v. 5 p. 1104


Woodblock edition of a Buddhist text 慈悲道場懺法

oṃ 𑖌𑖼

Tangut Tripitaka v. 5 p. 1165



Sources



BabelStone Home Page