The Eighteen Arhats(18 Luohan) ,Gandhanra Tibetan Thangka,Woodblock Buddhist Printing Art From Derge newest Sutra Printing Temple
❤This thangka comes from the Derge Sutra Printing Temple (a famous cultural heritage).
The theme is The Eighteen Arhats(Luohan,18 disciples of Shakyamuni),Its base plate was carved about 100 years ago and has been restored by craftsmen in the past.
It is made on traditional Tibetan hand-made drawing paper using ancient engraving and printing techniques. (Please see the introduction below)
It still being made in the same way as they have been for almost three hundred years: handprinted from hand-carved wooden blocks.
You can see the exquisite plant lines on the drawing paper, because the paper is handmade from pure natural plant materials, such as Pennisetum.
The hand-made seal at the bottom of the painting contains: carved Tibetan paper by Derge Sutra Printing Temple（德格印经院雕刻藏纸）------For beauty, the stamp is hidden under the thangka frame
❤Details
Material: Tibetan paper,cloth, silk
The front is covered with silk to protect Thangka
With exquisite wooden painting shaft and lanyard
❤Core Size
40cm(Width) *55 cm(Height) (about 15.75" * 21.65")
❤Frame Size
According to the core size, the size of the frame will be larger
Top width:55cm / 21.65"
Bottom width:69 cm / 27.16"
Height:100cm / 39.37"
❤Frame Color:
There are a total of 9 different colors for you to choose, please select the color number when you purshace.
Frames of different colors may vary in size, please understand.
❤DESCRIPTION
The Eighteen Arhats (or Luohan) (Chinese: 十八羅漢; pinyin: Shíbā Luóhàn; Wade–Giles: Shih-pa Lo-han) are depicted in Chinese Buddhism as the original followers of Gautama Buddha (arhat) who have followed the Noble Eightfold Path and attained the four stages of enlightenment. They have reached the state of Nirvana and are free of worldly cravings. They are charged to protect the Buddhist faith and to wait on earth for the coming of Maitreya, an enlightened Buddha prophesied to arrive on earth many millennia after Gautama Buddha's death (parinirvana). In China, the eighteen arhats are also a popular subject in Buddhist art, such as the famous Chinese group of glazed pottery luohans from Yixian from about 1000 CE.
In China,Ink rubbing of the stele commissioned by Qianlong depicting Asita. The upper right shows the inscriptions of the eulogy given by Qianlong.
Originally, the arhats were composed of only 10 disciples of Gautama Buddha, although the earliest Indian sutras indicate that only 4 of them, Pindola, Kundadhana, Panthaka and Nakula, were instructed to await the coming of Maitreya.Earliest Chinese representations of the arhats can be traced back to as early as the fourth century,and mainly focused on Pindola who was popularized in art by the book Method for Inviting Pindola.
Later this number increased to sixteen to include patriarchs and other spiritual adepts. Teachings about the Arhats eventually made their way to China where they were called Luohan (羅漢, shortened from a-luo-han a Chinese transcription for Arhat), but it wasn't until 654 AD when the Nandimitrāvadāna (Chinese: 法住記; pinyin: Fǎzhùjì), Record on the Duration of the Law, spoken by the Great arhat Nadimitra, was translated by Xuanzang into Chinese that the names of these arhats were known. For some reason Kundadhana was dropped from this list.
Somewhere between the late Tang Dynasty and early Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of China two other Luohans were added to the roster increasing the number to 18.But this depiction of 18 Luohans only gained a foothold in China, whereas other areas like Japan continued to revere only sixteen and their roster differs somewhat. This depiction of having 18 instead of 16 Luohans continues into modern Chinese Buddhist traditions. A cult built around the Luohans as guardians of Buddhist faith gained momentum amongst Chinese Buddhists at the end of the ninth century for they had just been through a period a great persecution under the reign of Emperor Tang Wuzong. In newest fact the last two additions to this roster, Taming Dragon and Taming Tiger, are thinly veiled swipes against Taoism.
❤ABOUT DERGE SUTRA PRINTING TEMPLE
The Dêrgê Barkang (pronunciation "Dehr-gheh", alternative names Derge Parkhang, Dege Parkhang, Derge Sutra Printing Temple, Dege Yinjing Yuan, Derge Barkhang, Dege Barkhang, Barkhang, Parkhang, Bakong Scripture Printing Press and Monastery) is the barkang (printing house) associated to the Goinqên Monastery. It is one of the foremost cultural treasures of Tibet. Derge is a county seat in a high valley in Kham, an eastern district of traditional Tibet which is now part of China's Sichuan Province. The Derge Parkhang is a living institution devoted to the printing and preservation of Tibetan literature, a printing temple that holds the greatest number of Tibetan woodblocks in the world.
The Derge Sutra Printing Temple (Parkhang in Tibetan) is one of the most important cultural, social, religious and historical institutions in Tibet. Founded in 1729 by Demba Tsering, the fortieth King of Derge (1678–1739) with the spiritual and literature assistance of the 8th Tai Situ Panchen Chokyi Jungne, the Derge Parkhang is an active center for publication of Tibetan Buddhist sutra, commentaries, and thangka as well as works of history, technology, biography, medicine and literature. Books are still being made in the same way as they have been for almost three hundred years: handprinted from hand-carved wooden blocks. Cinnabar is used to colour the text red,in which workers can print eight to fifteen pages manually a minute,2500 in a day,from wooden blocks that have already been engraved with text.Thirty printers are in working condition where printers work in pairs, one puts ink on wooden press, later cleaned in a trough, while the other rolls a piece of paper using a roller which is imprinted red with sayings of Buddha.
❤NOTICE
1.This thangka is made to order, it will takes about 3-5 days to complete and ship.
2.Please allow 1-2cm error due to manual measurement.
3.The color may have different as the difference display.
Please make sure you do not mind before you bid.