| The study of Tibetan Buddhist Art is a rather wide area. To study this area thoroughly requires one to possess basic knowledge over Tibetan Buddhism, read vast amount of related texts, observe archeology evidences, and conduct theme-oriented field trips. These works are both time and energy consuming. Therefore, at the early stage of doing Tibetan Art Studies, it may be easier and more efficient to do extensive study over a small subject. This thesis paper uses this idea to approach to the study of Mudras in Tibetan Buddhist Art. The author aims at having a discussion over the forming of Mudras in general, the developments of the Tibetan Buddhist Art, and most importantly, the symbolic meanings of Mudras in iconography context.In this thesis paper, mudrasrefer to the ones that are easily seen by the publics, mudras that do not involve any tantric studies, and mudras that are not portraited by rational deities. There are 11 mudras that appear frequently among others in Tibetan Buddhist Art. These 11 mudras all have different symbolic meanings. Only by fully understand their individual meaning can one apply mudras into iconographic studies.Although mudra might appear as an insignificant part of an image, the fact that it is the basic measurement when painting Buddhist images proves otherwise. In addition to the fact that each mudra has its unique meaning hasensured that the mudras would not be easily improvised in Tibetan Buddhist Art. This stability of mudra in art allows us to use mudra as a perfect standpoint when doing iconographic studies. In this thesis paper, by using concrete examples, the writer demonstrates how we can use mudras to recognize the figure of an artwork, understand the relationship between people, date the art piece and distinguish real artworks form fake ones.This thesis is composed of 6 chapters, which are listed below:The first chapter is the introduction. It states the purpose of this paper, current academic state of this topic and the methodology the author applied.In the second chapter the author defines the term "mudra" from both broad and narrow senses. The author also explains two functions of mudras in Tibetan Buddhism.The third chapter brieflydiscusses the origin of mudra in Buddhist Art. By presenting archeology evidence the writer states the very first mudra that appeared in Buddhist Art and the development of various mudras.In the fourth chapter, the author looks back at the emerging of Tibetan Buddhist Art and sorts of 11 mudras that are seen most frequently.The fifth chapter is the foremost important part of this thesis. By explaining the challenges people face when doing Tibetan Art Studies, the author suggests that using mudra as a basic standpoint could reduce the difficulty of this subject.The final chapter analyzes the unique artistic features of mudras in Tibetan Buddhist Art. |
