前 言 

主要人物介绍

格萨尔唐卡图像解读

四川博物院藏《格萨尔画传》唐卡系列/024

吉美博物院藏《格萨尔画传》唐卡/150

四川大学博物馆藏《格萨尔》唐卡/154

论文

四川博物院馆藏《格萨尔画传》系列唐卡的历史与艺术史背景/158

岭·格萨尔：一位藏族的文化英雄 —— 岭·格萨尔艺术和图像的初步调查/174

《格萨尔画传》唐卡/198

附 录

1. 四川博物院藏《格萨尔画传》唐卡文物信息一览表/230

2. 四川博物院藏《格萨尔画传》唐卡中央及上方三位尊神名称对照表/230

3. 四川博物院藏《格萨尔画传》唐卡主要故事内容一览表/231

4. 岭国三十将领一览表/231

5. 译名对照表/232

6. 参考文献/237

后 记

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IntroductionIntroduction of Main Figures

Interpretation of the Thangkas of GesarThangkas of the Life of Gesar in the Sichuan Museum /024Thangkas of the Life of Gesar in the Musée Guimet, Paris /150Thangka of Gesar with Thirty Warriors in the Sichuan University Museum /154

EssaysThe Life of Gesar Thangka Series in the Sichuan Museum:Historical and Art Historical Context /159Ling Gesar: A Preliminary Survey of the Art and Iconography of Ling Gesar ---- A Tibetan Culture Hero /175Tibetan Paintings from the Life of Gesar /199

Appendix1. Information Chart of the Thangkas in the Sichuan Museum /2302. List of Names of the Central Deity and the Three Figures at the Upper Center of the Thangkas in the Sichuan Museum /2303. List of the Episodes of the Thangkas in the Sichuan Museum /2314. List of the Thirty Warriors of Ling /231 5. Glossary /232 6. References /237

Acknowledgements

目录 Contents

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众所周知，《格萨尔》是藏、蒙人民集体创作的一部伟大的英雄史诗，卷帙浩繁，内容丰富，至今仍在

藏、蒙人民中间广泛流传。2009年，《格萨尔》史诗被列为世界非物质文化遗产名录，有关格萨尔的研究更是

如雨后春笋，竞相破竹，但是这些研究领域主要集中于语言文学、社会历史、文本整理和说唱艺人等方面，对

于格萨尔的古代绘画和图像的研究则由于受到资料的限制，相对较少。可喜的是，这种情况正在改变。

四川博物院收藏的完整的一套11幅清代《格萨尔画传》唐卡，是目前所知唯一一套完整的《格萨尔画传》

系列唐卡，也是本书的主要研究对象。除此之外，只有吉美博物馆收藏有两幅《格萨尔画传》唐卡。早在1958

年，著名藏学家石泰安已经在国外发表了他关于这套《格萨尔画传》唐卡的深入研究，但是由于在国外发表，

并且原文为法文，① 因而国内少有学者注意到。国内对于这套精美完整的《格萨尔画传》唐卡，虽然有过许多

介绍，甚至有稍为详细的画面内容解读，② 但迄今仍无完整的资料公布和系统的研究，因此这本书力图来填补

这些空白。

2010年，四川博物院和四川大学博物馆联合成立的“科研规划与研发创新中心”，将四川博物院收藏的

《格萨尔画传》系列唐卡纳入第一批研究项目，由中外学者共同组成课题组进行整理研究。经过全体课题组成

员一年多时间的共同努力，终于将这本书呈现在读者面前。

本书主要内容

本书共收录唐卡14幅，其中四川博物院收藏的完整的《格萨尔画传》系列唐卡，共计11幅；在阿米·海勒

博士的帮助和吉美博物馆的支持下，对吉美博物馆收藏的两幅类似的《格萨尔画传》唐卡也进行了收录；此外

还收录了四川大学博物馆收藏的一幅格萨尔唐卡，描绘的是格萨尔及其三十大将。

本书共收录论文3篇。瑞士阿米·海勒博士（Dr. Amy Heller）的论文追溯了格萨尔图像的来源，并对其历

史和艺术史背景进行了探讨。美国纽约杰夫·瓦特先生（Mr. Jeff Watt）的论文主要从图像学的角度，对格萨

尔的图像学及其文本依据进行了分析，尤其是对四川博物院收藏的11幅《格萨尔画传》唐卡的图像内容进行了

辨识和分析。法国著名藏学泰斗石泰安先生是国外较早从事格萨尔研究的学者之一，其五十多年前的成名之

作（也是他的博士论文）《西藏史诗与说唱艺术的研究》③ 即是关于格萨尔的研究，代表了当时这一研究领域

张长虹

前言

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From the Treasury of Tibetan Pictorial A

rt: Painted Scrolls of the Life of Gesar

IntroductionZhang Changhong

It is well-known that the life and exploits of King Gesar of Ling form the subject matter of the great heroic epic that was created collectively by the Tibetan and later in part by the Mongol people. When written down, the epic consists of literally dozens of thick volumes and is still very popular among the Tibetans and Mongols. In 2009, King Gesar of Ling, as an epic phenomenon, was listed in the catalogue of the world’s intangible cultural heritages. This gave an additional impetus to further studies of this heroic epic. To be sure, most of the research that has been done on the Gesar epic has focused on literary studies, social history, texts, bards, and so on, but little research has so far been conducted on the thangkas, that is, painted scrolls and iconographies that are associated with King Gesar. This was largely due to a lack of materials. The situation has now happily changed.

The set of eleven thangkas on the life of King Gesar that is preserved in the Sichuan Museum is the only complete set of its kind so far as we know, and the present book is devoted to its detailed study. Two Thangkas of the same subject are only found in Musée Guimet, Paris. As early as 1958, R.A.Stein, published his profound research on this set of Gesar thangkas,① but because it was published abroad and in French, it captured the attention of very few scholars in China. Less than a handful of Chinese scholars who studied the set of Gesar thangkas of the Sichuan Museum offered only very brief remarks and sometimes subjoined a few interpretations.② There is to date no publication in which these thangkas are reproduced, documented, and interpreted in a systematic and thorough fashion. Thus the present publication seeks to fill this lacuna.

In 2010, the Center for Scientific Research Programming and Innovation, cooperatively established by the Sichuan Museum and the Sichuan University Museum, decided to initiate research in this set of thangkas as the first of a series of different projects. To this end, the Center organized a research team consisting of both Chinese and foreign scholars. The present volume is a result of the labors of the team over a one year period.

The Main Contents of the Book

This book focuses on fourteen different thangkas that deal with the life and exploits of King Gesar. As stated, a complete set of eleven such thangkas is from the Sichuan Museum; two thangkas belong to the collection of the Musée Guimet, Paris, to which we gained access with the assistance of Dr. Amy Heller and the ready cooperation of the Musée Guimet itself. Finally, we have also included in this book

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的最高水平，是权威之作，至今也少有人能够超越。该书早在1993年已由

耿昇先生译介给了中国读者，④ 而他于1958发表的《格萨尔画传》一文，是

首次对一套完整的唐卡的全面研究，但至今尚无译介。在该文中，他对每

一幅唐卡按中央主尊、顶部中央的尊神和传记场景三大内容板块进行逐幅

介绍，其图像辨识、故事阐释尽管今天看来有许多不当之处，但仍具有重

要参考价值，并且有几处模糊不清的题记可以从他的文章中得到复原，因

此我们也组织了学者分别将这篇论文翻译成了英文和中文，并收录在本书

中。⑤

本书的主要内容是对四川博物院收藏的11幅《格萨尔画传》唐卡进行

详细刊布，公布每一幅唐卡的细节及藏文题记，并对藏文题记逐条进行翻

译，对每个画面逐一进行解读。书末附有5个附表，方便读者查找。

《格萨尔画传》系列唐卡的收藏情况

尽管与格萨尔或者格萨尔英雄史诗相关的唐卡比较多，但是关于格萨

尔生平的唐卡，目前就我们所知，最完整的一套即是四川博物院收藏的11

幅，法国吉美博物馆收藏有另外一套中的两幅。此外，石泰安于1958年的

论文中也公布了一套完整的《格萨尔画传》系列唐卡。那么，就我们目前

所知，是不是有三套《格萨尔画传》系列唐卡存世呢？

从石泰安的研究中我们知道，一套完整的《格萨尔画传》系列唐卡于

20世纪初就已经出现在欧洲的拍卖会上。在1904年的一份巴黎特鲁奥酒店

拍卖物目录中（石泰安用该目录的作者命名，称之为邓尼克目录），就收

录了11幅《格萨尔画传》唐卡，编号为770-780，其中第773号、774号后来

被吉美博物馆收购，在吉美博物馆被编号为23081和21467，其余的9幅后来

去向不明。如果将吉美博物馆的两幅唐卡与四川博物院的唐卡进行比较，

我们发现他们几乎完全相同，仅有细节差异，显然遵循了同一模板。例

如，吉美博物馆的第23081号唐卡与四川博物院的第1幅唐卡（本书中编号

为SCM-I）几乎一模一样，并且两者都有藏文题记。但是如果仔细辨认，

还是能够发现两者之间有诸多细节上的差异，首先题记的字体不同，摆放

的位置也不尽相同，主尊上方的一座建筑物的位置也略有不同（比较图1和

图2）。还有一个重要的细节引人注意，即SCM-I的场景中4-2的下方，觉

如背后有六匹马，其中正在反向低头吃草的红马在吉美博物馆的第23081号

唐卡中则出现在了珠牡的背后，马的姿态一模一样，但是位置发生了变化

（图3）！由此推测，艺术家在进行艺术创作时，即使有固定的模板需要遵

守，但也还是有一定的自由空间。吉美博物馆的第21467号唐卡与四川博物

院的第7幅唐卡（本书中编号为SCM-VII）的画面内容几乎完全相同，也

是仅有细节差异（比较图4和图5），但是第21467号唐卡画面没有题记，背

面有汉字。在唐卡上部中央位置横写“第二”，下面竖写：“西番名子祭

图1，四川博物院第I幅唐卡

Fig.1, No. SCM-I of the Sichuan Museum

图2，法国吉美博物馆第23081号唐卡

Fig.2, No. 23081 of Musée Guimet, Paris（Credits: Thierry Ollivier/RMN (Musée Guimet, Paris) /东方IC）

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From the Treasury of Tibetan Pictorial A

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a single thangka depicting King Gesar with his thirty generals that belongs to the Sichuan University Museum.

Three separate papers form part of this volume. Dr. Amy Heller wrote an essay in which she traced the origins of the iconography of King Gesar and discussed its historical and art historical cultural background. Mr. Jeff Watt analyzed the iconography of Gesar together with some textual evidence that bears on it, especially with respect to the identification of the contents of the thangkas of the Sichuan Museum. Prof. Rolf A. Stein was one of the very few early scholars to have studied the Gesar epic in his monumental Recherches sur l'épopée et le barde au Tibet. This large work is still the best available study on the subject, even though it was published more than fifty years ago.③ It was translated into Chinese by Mr. Geng Sheng in 1993.④ Stein’s article Peintures tibétaines de la vie de Gesar was published in 1958. It was the first of its kind to provide detailed research on a complete set of thangkas of the life and exploits of King Gesar. He dealt with each individual thangka by dividing it into three parts: the tutelary divinity at the center of the thangka, the spiritual masters at the top of the thangka, and episodes from the life of Gesar around the center of the thangka. Although we discerned there were some spelling oversights, wrong identifications and interpretations, this article proved to be of immense value to our book. Because of its great value, we organized a few scholars to translate it into English and Chinese.⑤

The essential aim of our work is to make available the set of eleven thangkas collected by the Sichuan Museum together with the details of each thangka and their inscriptions. The inscriptions are written in Tibetan and translated into Chinese and interpreted in each case. We also hope that the appendices at the end of the book will be of use to the reader for easy and quick reference.

A Survey of the Set of Thangkas Depicting the Life and Exploits of Gesar

Although we know of the existence of many thangkas that in one way or another deal with King Gesar, we know only of one complete set of thangkas that in fact deal with the life and exploits of King Gesar as such. And this is the set of eleven thangkas that is the proper possession of the Sichuan Museum. It appears that the two thangkas of the Musée Guimet belong to another, yet similar set of unknown provenance. In addition, Stein published a complete set in his article of 1958. Should we then assume that there are so far at least three different sets of thangkas that depict the life and exploits of King Gesar?

Stein informs us in his article that a complete set of thangkas appeared at an auction in the Hotel Druout, in Paris, France, in 1904. In the sale’s catalogue, the author M.J. Deniker (Stein called it the

图3，四川博物院SCM-I

（左）和法国吉美博物

馆第23081号唐卡（右）

的同一场景细节对比

Fig.3, Compared the details from the same scence be tween No . SCM-I of the Sichuan Museum and No. 23081 of Musée Guimet, Paris

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喇八掃西 印度釋迦佛源流”（图6）。解释这些题词并不是件容易的事，

似乎当时收藏该幅唐卡的人将之用于汉文化节日中的祭祀，将格萨尔称为

“西番名子”也暗示该唐卡的曾经拥有者可能是汉族。通过以上比较，我

们可以很清楚地知道，法国吉美博物馆的两幅唐卡与四川博物院的11幅唐

卡，尽管看起来十分相似，可能来自同一模板，但是是属于两套独立存在

的《格萨尔画传》唐卡。

那么我们再来看石泰安1958年刊布的11幅《格萨尔画传》唐卡。⑥ 石泰

安先生在他的著作《西藏史诗与说唱艺术的研究》第一卷第二章中，对吉

美博物馆和打箭炉的绘画进行过简要介绍。他写道：“一次幸运的机会使我

在打箭炉弭药（木雅）人的原土司府上发现了一整套甚至在具体细节上也

完全相同的绘画。它共由10幅组成，大部分都在背部编了号码。第1幅付诸

阙如，它恰恰就是吉美博物馆中带有释文的那一幅。”⑦ 在他的论文中，他

提到这10幅唐卡曾经是木雅土司甲联升（rgya mtsho rnam rgyal）的收藏。

我们知道甲联升是当时康区有名的四大土司之一：明正土司。显然，这10

幅唐卡来自康区。

究竟有几套《格萨尔画传》的唐卡呢？杨嘉铭先生提到石泰安先生书

中记述的唐卡是法国吉美博物馆和康定明正土司府邸所藏，而国内保存最

完整的当属四川博物院收藏的11幅组画。⑧ 似乎杨先生认为有三套《格萨尔

画传》唐卡存世。石泰安文中的第1幅唐卡，用的是吉美博物馆收藏的第

23081号唐卡，也是他论文中使用的唯一的一幅彩版图片，其余10幅均为

黑白图片，由此凑成了一整套完整的11幅《格萨尔画传》系列唐卡。事实

上，石泰安看到的这10幅唐卡就是今天四川博物院收藏的这一套唐卡中

的后10幅。

四川博物院收藏的这套唐卡据称在20世纪四五十年代由华西边疆研究

所和刘文辉（1895-1976年）收藏，后者是西南地区1949年以前最有实力的

人物。⑨ 既然石泰安在20世纪40年代曾经在明正土司府邸看到过这套唐卡，

因此这种说法有待进一步考证。另外一种说法是，20世纪50年代，中央代

表团慰问甘孜地区，当地人士将它们捐献给代表团，代表团将其留在四

川。⑩ 对于四川博物院的这套《格萨尔画传》唐卡在进入其馆藏之前的流传

情况，我们只能大致了解到这么多。1961年，该套唐卡才进入四川省博物

馆（四川博物院前身）， 并保存至今。石泰安在文中描述的打箭炉的10幅

绘画在诸多细节上都与今天四川博物院的这套唐卡相同。经过仔细比较，

我们发现的确如此。尽管石泰安刊布的黑白照片质量不高，但我们仍然可

以看出两者之间在画面内容、人物姿态、题记位置乃至提行的情况都完全

一样，找不出四川博物院唐卡与吉美博物馆唐卡之间那样的细节差异。更

具说服力的是，一些有污损的地方或破损之处，两者也完全相同。比如，

四川博物院的第2幅唐卡（SCM-II）画面右侧有几处污点，这几处污点在

石泰安文中的第772号唐卡中也能发现（比较图7和图8）；四川博物院的第

图4, 四川博物院第VII幅唐卡

Fig4, No.SCM-VII of the Sichuan Museum

图5，法国吉美博物馆第21467号唐卡（

Fig.5, No. 21467 of Musée Guimet, ParisCredits: Ravaux/RMN (Musée Guimet, Paris) /东方IC

）

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From the Treasury of Tibetan Pictorial A

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Deniker Catalogue) described eleven thangkas of the life of King Gesar which were numbered 770 to 780. Nos.773 and 774 were later purchased by the Musée Guimet and renumbered 23081 and 21467. We do not know the whereabouts of the other nine thangkas. If we compare the two thangkas of the Musée Guimet with those of the Sichuan Musuem, we notice that these are almost identical. Even if they are not completely identical, it is quite obvious that they were painted following the same model. The same holds for the inscriptions that accompany and describe the individual scenes. Take for example, no.23081 of the Musée Guimet and no.SCM-I–this is our and not the Museum's numbering of the thangkas–of the Sichuan Museum. In the first place, we notice immediately that the location and the calligraphy of the inscriptions are not exactly the same. Further, the building above the central figure is also slightly differently represented (compare fig.1 with fig.2). Of great interest is that of the six horses behind Joru in the scene 4-2 of no.SCM-I, a red horse is eating grass facing away from the other horses. However in no.23081, the red horse is located behind Brug mo and is also eating grass in the same posture while facing towards the other horses (fig.3)! Thus we can presume that the artists had some freedom of choice even when we can discern that there was some kind of standard according to which the thangka was to be painted. Furthermore, no.21467 of the Musée Guimet and no.SCM-VII of the Sichuan Museum are also almost identical (compare fig.4 and fig.5). While no.21467 has no Tibetan inscription, it does have a Chinese inscription at the back, in the upper center position. There written horizontally from right to left is 第二(di er), that is, “no.2.” Below that, in two vertical columns, there is written (fig.6):

西番名子祭喇八掃西

印度釋迦佛源流

The interpretation of this inscription is not altogether easy. It would seem that the owner of the thangka used it for the Chinese offering festival. The phrase “西番名子” (xi fan ming zi), “the famous son of Tibet” seems to point to King Gesar himself, and the entire inscription might indicate that the owner was possibly a Han Chinese. From the above, the inescapable conclusion is that, although the thangkas look very much alike, they belong to two different sets of thangkas that depicted the stories of King Gesar.

Now let us take a look at the eleven thangkas that Stein published in his article of 1958⑥ and which he also briefly alluded to in the second chapter of part I of his book on the epic as such. There he gave a brief introduction to the thangkas of the Musée Guimet and Dartsedo (Dajianlu). He wrote in his book:

“Good luck made me discover an entire series that is completely identical even in the details with one of the

old ‘king’ or tusi of Mi nyag in Dajianlu. It consists of ten thangkas of which the majority is numbered at the back.

The first one is missing. It is precisely the one of the Musée Guimet that has the inscriptions.”⑦

In his article, he mentioned that these ten thangkas belonged to the collection of Mi nyag (Mu ya) tusi Jia Liansheng. We know that Jia Liansheng was a Ming zheng tusi, one of the four famous tusi in Khams at the time. It is obvious that these ten thangkas came from Khams.

How many sets are known to exist? Prof. Yang Jiaming noted that the thangkas published in Stein's article were from the Musée Guimet and the Ming zheng tusi of Khams, and that the set of eleven thangkas preserved in the Sichuan Musuem, the most complete set so far, suggests the existence of a total of three sets of thangkas depicting the life story of King Gesar.⑧ The first thangka Stein described was no.23081

图6, 法国吉美博物馆第21467号唐卡背面(拍照：阿米·海勒)

Fig.6, Back of No. 21467 of Musée Guimet, Paris (photoed by Amy Heller)

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7幅唐卡（SCM-VII）下方绘制的帐篷有一处细微的裂痕，在石泰安文中的第774号中亦能辨识出来（比较图

9和图10）！因此，我们认为，石泰安文中提到的10幅打箭炉的绘画就是今天收藏于四川博物院的《格萨尔画

传》系列唐卡中的后10幅，我们不清楚当时他为何只看到了10幅，但幸运的是，他用与今天四川博物院的第1

幅唐卡十分相似的吉美博物馆的第23041号唐卡来凑足了一套完整的11幅《格萨尔画传》唐卡！我们知道石泰

安先生于1946年至1949年间曾经到过昆明、成都和北京，期间也去过四川西部的藏区考察，因此很有可能他在

当时看到了这套唐卡，但为何只看到11幅中的10幅，仍然是个谜。

由此我们可以知道，目前我们所知的《格萨尔画传》系列唐卡仅有两套！一套为四川博物院收藏的完整

的11幅《格萨尔画传》系列唐卡，另外一套中的两幅现收藏于吉美博物馆，其中一幅有藏文题记，另一幅则没

有，其余的9幅曾经出现在1904年的巴黎拍卖会上，但至今下落不明。

为了使读者一目了然，在石泰安研究的基础上，我们将《格萨尔画传》系列唐卡的不同编号对应列表如

下：

顺序号 四川博物院 吉美博物馆 邓尼克目录

第一幅 SCM-I 23081 773

第二幅 SCM-II 772

第三幅 SCM-III 780

第四幅 SCM-IV 776

第五幅 SCM-V 779

第六幅 SCM-VI 777

第七幅 SCM-VII 21467 774

第八幅 SCM-VIII 778

第九幅 SCM-IX 771

第十幅 SCM-X 775

第十一幅 SCM-XI 770

图7, 四川博物院第II幅唐卡细部

Fig.7, Details of no.SCM-II of the Sichuan Museum

图8, 石泰安文中的第772号唐卡细部

Fig.8, Details of no.772 of Stein’s article

图9, 四川博物院第VII幅唐卡细部

Fig.9, Details of no.SCM-VII of the Sichuan Museum

图10, 石泰安文中的第774号唐卡细部

Fig.10, Details of no. 774 of Stein’s article

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From the Treasury of Tibetan Pictorial A

rt: Painted Scrolls of the Life of Gesar

of the Musée Guimet. It is the only color plate in his article and the other 10 thangkas are reproduced in black and white plates. He thus published a complete set comprising 11 thangkas. It turns out that these ten thangkas are part of the very same set that is now owned by the Sichuan Museum.

The set of the Sichuan Museum is said to have been at one time in the 1940s and 1950s in the possession of the Huaxi Border Study Institute, Chengdu, and Liu Wenhui (1895-1976), who was arguably the most powerful man in Southwest China before 1949.⑨ Since Stein saw these in the 1950s, this account seems unlikely. It is also said that when a delegation of the central government visited the Ganzi area in the 1950s, they were gifted the set, which they left behind in Sichuan.⑩ This is what we know so far about the history of the collection of this set of thangkas before it became part of the collection of the Sichuan Museum. In 1961, this set went into the collection of the Sichuan Museum where it is now securely kept. There is no doubt that ten of Stein's thangkas are identical in each way to the set of the Sichuan Museum. A close comparison shows that this is the case, even though the quality of the black and white photographs that he published is quite poor. But there is no doubt that the content, the figures, the placement of the inscriptions, and the inscriptions themselves are completely identical. Equally persuasively, even the damage and the smudges are exactly the same. For example, the smudges on the right side of the thangka of no.SCM-II are identical to those of no.772 in Stein's article (compare fig.7 and fig.8). The slight crack in no.SCM-VII is identical to the one in Stein’s no.774 (compare fig.9 and fig.10). Therefore, we must conclude that the ten thangkas from Dartsedo mentioned by Stein are exactly those that are now part of the Sichuan Museum's collection. We do not know why Stein was only able to see ten thangkas. But he was quite lucky to find no. 23041 of the Musée Guimet-it is quite similar but not identical with no.SCM-I-to have a complete set at his disposal. We know that Stein was in Kunming, Chengdu, and Beijing from 1946 to 1949. During that time he traveled among other places to the Tibetan areas of Western Sichuan. It is therefore likely that he saw this set of thangkas in Dartsedo, but why he was only able to see ten of the eleven thangkas remains a mystery.

To sum up, so far, only two sets of thangkas of the life of Gesar are known exist! One set of eleven thangkas belongs to the Sichuan Museum. Part of the other set is now found in the Musée Guimet. The Musée Guimet only has two Gesar thangkas. One has Tibetan inscriptions, the other does not. Nine other thangkas appeared in an auction in Paris, in 1904, but we do not know their current whereabouts and no information is available on them so far.

For purposes of clarification, I have made the following chart with the serial numbers of Musée Guimet and Deniker's Catalogue as provided by Stein's chart in his article of 1958.

Order Sichuan Museum Musée Guimet Deniker

First SCM-I 23081 773

Second SCM-II 772

Third SCM-III 780

Fourth SCM-IV 776

Fifth SCM-V 779

Sixth SCM-VI 777

Seventh SCM-VII 21467 774

Eighth SCM-VIII 778

Ninth SCM-IX 771

Tenth SCM-X 775

Eleventh SCM-XI 770

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四川博物院《格萨尔画传》系列唐卡的概况

四川博物院收藏的11幅《格萨尔画传》唐卡，尺寸大小相差不大，整个

唐卡高148-153厘米，宽73-75.5厘米；画心高82-84厘米，宽59-60厘米。 11

幅唐卡正面均用中国传统的蓝色“寿”字纹织锦装裱（图11），背面用麻布

装裱，上面有以红褐色为主的植物纹饰，仅装裱四周，中间画心部分露出（图

12）。唐卡背面上方标有阿拉伯数字和藏文数字，表明唐卡的顺序号。只有

第1幅（SCM-I）和第4幅（SCM-IV）两幅唐卡的背部上方中央写有汉字“格

萨尔画传”的字样，其左侧（观者左侧）是阿拉伯数字，分别为“124之1”

和“124之4”。所有唐卡右上角有一块小补丁（姑且称之为“老补丁”），

素面白色麻布，藏文数字即书写在此白麻布上面，但是书写方向完全相反，

必须将唐卡颠倒过来进行识读，比如，第一幅唐卡标有“拜爸︽冲︽翟稗︽”即“第

一”，依次类推。所有唐卡背部左上角均有一块新补丁，亦为白色素麻布，

上面标注的是如今的博物馆的藏品编号。由此看来，该套唐卡经过了至少两

次修补。除了上方两角的补丁，唐卡背面的其它地方也不时有补丁出现。第

SCM-II、SCM-IX、SCM-X号唐卡仅标出“124之□”，后面的一位数字

未被标出，因此原来不知其应为第几幅，但通过本书对题记和画面内容的识

读，可以对其原来应处的位置给予确认，分别应该为第2幅、第9幅、第10幅；

其中第8幅的“124之8”是写在新补丁上；SCM-II、SCM-III、SCM-VI、

SCM-IX、SCM-X的藏文数字被新补丁遮盖（图13，亦见附表1）。

从构图上看，11幅唐卡的构图相同，均可分为三大板块，中央主尊、

顶部中央尊神和格萨尔生平事迹，第三部分格萨尔的生平事迹绘在顶部中央

尊神的下方，围绕中央主尊布局，描绘了藏族英雄格萨尔的一生。对第三部

分画面的藏文题记进行翻译，并在此基础上对画面内容进行辨识是本书的重

点，亦是难点。我们结合画面场景、题记和文献，对画面内容分细部进行了

尽可能全面详尽的阐释，但是由于《格萨尔》版本众多，因此很难甚至不

可能找到本套唐卡绘制所依据的确切版本，加上唐卡本身画面的顺序比较混

乱，无规律可循，所以有些画面的辨识也许不一定完全正确。

成套唐卡的排列顺序一般有两种：第一种为从左向右或从右向左一字

排开；第二种方法是将第1幅挂在中间，其余各幅在其左右两侧对称排列。

四川博物院的11幅《格萨尔画传》唐卡，从内容上看，应该为第一种排列方

法，英雄格萨尔的诞生绘于第SCM-I号唐卡，应为第一幅，背面题记也标明

有“第一”；英雄格萨尔完成降妖伏魔任务后返回天界绘于第SCM-XI号唐

卡，应为最后一幅，背面题记也标明“第十一”。位于中间的第6幅（SCM-

VI）的中央主尊恰恰是格萨尔本人的形象，是他登上王位后着戎装的形象，

也是他最为常见的形象。因此，本书在对每幅唐卡进行逐幅介绍时，即采

用唐卡原来实际的排列顺序，也即每幅唐卡背面上方标出的顺序号。总体上

看，11幅唐卡的排列顺序是与史诗中记载的故事情节的进展相吻合的，前5

图11, 四川博物院第I幅唐卡正面

Fig.11, Front of No. SCM-I of the Sichuan Museum

图12, 四川博物院第I幅唐卡背面

Fig.12, Back of no. SCM-I of the Sichuan Museum

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From the Treasury of Tibetan Pictorial A

rt: Painted Scrolls of the Life of Gesar

The Set of Thangkas of the Life of Gesar of the Sichuan Museum

All eleven thangkas of the Sichuan Museum are similar though not identical in size. The lengths of the thangkas, including the frames, measure 148 to 153cm; the widths, including the frames, measure 73 to 75.5cm. The thangkas themselves, measure 82 to 84cm in length and 59 to 60cm in width. They are mounted on Chinese silk brocade that has the Chinese character 壽 shou (“longevity”) (fig.11). The backing consists of gunny cloth and has a floral decoration, whereas the back of the thangka itself is not decorated (fig.12). At the center top of the back of the thangkas, there are Tibetan and Chinese numerals that indicate the place of each thangka in the series. Only two of them, nos.SCM-I and SCM-IV, have the Chinese characters 格萨尔画传 ge sa er hua zhuan, “Thangkas of the Life of Gesar” in the top center. To the left (the viewer's left), there are markings of “1 of 124” for no.SCM-I, and “4 of 124” for no.SCM-IV. At the right top corner, there is a patch (an old patch) that may have been sewed later on which Tibetan markings are written upside down. Thus, for no.SCM-I, we read “is the first” (拜爸︽冲︽翟稗︽) the remainder is given in simple ordinal numbers. At the left top corner, there is a slightly newer patch which contains the serial numbers of the Sichuan Museum. These patches suggest that the thangkas were sewed at least twice. Patches can also be found occasionally at other places. Nos. SCM-II, SCM-IX, SCM-X only have “? of 124,” whereby the first number is absent; we do not know the sequence of these thangkas from the numbering. However, we can recover their order from the subject matter and inscriptions of the thangkas in question. It thus turns out that they should be arranged as the second, ninth, and tenth thangkas from a total of one hundred and twenty-four items. No.SCM-VIII has “8 of 124” written on the new patch. The Tibetan numbering of nos. SCM-II, SCM-III, SCM-VI, SCM-IX, SCM-X is covered by new patches (fig.13, See also Appendix One).

The compositional structure of all eleven thangkas is identical. The structure can be divided into three parts: a central figure, spiritual masters above the central figure at the top of the thangka, and episodes from the life of King Gesar around the center of the thangka. The translation and interpretation of the episodes are the main focus of this book which also present us with some difficulties. We tried our best to provide as detailed as possible interpretation of the episodes by means of an analysis of a complex involving the thangka itself, its inscriptions and the texts on which these inscriptions are based. Nonetheless, truth to be told, we must reckon with rather wide margins of uncertainty. Because there exists many different versions of the life stories of King Gesar, it is sometimes quite difficult, even impossible, to identify exactly which thangka represents a certain narrative found in one or the other stories. Furthermore,any rule that could be used to determine the order of the thangkas has yet to be discovered. Therefore, it is certain that our interpretations may not always be correct.

A set of thangkas can generally be arranged in two ways. The first is to place them in sequence from left to right or from right to left. The second is to place the first of the sequence at the center, and horizontally arrange the others adjacent to it symmetrically. The arrangement of the eleven thangkas of the Sichuan Museum is quite possible the first of these two. This is clear from their contents. King Gesar’s birth is depicted in no.SCM-I, and thus should be the first one; the inscription at the back of the thangka also certifies this. King Gesar’s return to heaven after having subdued a substantial number of enemies is represented in no.SCM-XI, and thus should be the last one. The inscription at the back also states that it is the eleventh of the series. The central figure of the middle thangka, no.6, is exactly King Gesar, the warrior hero. With his armor and helmet, this is also his most common representation. Thus, when we introduce the set of thangkas of the Sichuan Museum in this book, we indicate each thangka individually according to their proper order. Generally, the order of the eleven thangkas coincides with that of the stories of the epic itself. The exploits before he reached the age of thirteen, that is, before he mounted the throne, are depicted in the first five thangkas and his exploits after he had become king are depicted in the last five. But exceptions do exist. For example, the seventh (no.SCM-VII) and the eighth

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幅描绘格萨尔13岁称王之前的功绩，后5幅描绘格萨尔称王后几次大的降魔功绩。但是在一些具体的事件中，

也有例外。比如第7幅（SCM-VII）和第8幅（SCM-VIII），两者均描绘霍岭大战这一故事，但第8幅绘制的

故事发生在第7幅之前，并且最后一幅，即第11幅唐卡也描绘有霍岭大战前期的一些场景。这些场景在绘图上

的安排让人难以捉摸。具体到每幅唐卡之中，要对画面场景排序则更为困难。以第1幅（SCM-I）为例，左侧

（观者左侧）描绘格萨尔诞生前七天的事迹，中央一顶帐篷内是他诞生的情景，出生后第一天、第二天、第四

天的降魔场景描绘在诞生地的下方，第三天的场景则在其左侧和上方，第六天的场景则在其上方，十分混乱。

若无题记帮助，很难依靠画面布局的顺序来一一识别。其它各幅唐卡也常有类似情况，甚至在一个故事单元内

穿插有其它故事片段，似乎画家在绘制时还要考虑画面的整体空间布局和美观效果，因此并未完全按照故事发

生的时间顺序进行绘制。

本书在对每幅唐卡进行分细部逐一介绍时，为了方便叙述和清楚明了，对唐卡中的众多场景大体按内容进

行了编号，中央主尊编号为A，顶部中央尊神分别编号为B、C、D，故事场景部分则用1、2、3等进行编号，

有时候又将一个大的故事单元中的局部场景，用1-1、1-2等等来表示。每个编号再加上唐卡的顺序号，则为

A1、B1、C1、D1、I-1、II-1、I-1-1、I-1-2……A1表示第1幅唐卡的中央主尊，那么第2幅的中央主尊则为

A2，依次类推；B1、C1、D1分别表示第1幅唐卡上方中央左侧、中间和右侧的尊神；I-1表示第1幅唐卡的第

一个故事场景，如果下面还有小的故事场景，则为I-1-1、I-1-2；II-1表示第2幅唐卡的第一个场景等等，依

次类推。但正如前面谈到的，由于给画面场景排序比较困难，因此这些序号并不完全代表故事发生的先后顺

序。读者在阅读本书的图版、论文和附表之后对此会有更为清晰的理解。

几点说明

作为世界上最长的史诗，《格萨尔》篇幅巨大，故事复杂，涉及到的人物有数百个。四川博物院收藏的

《格萨尔画传》系列唐卡中出现的人物就有三百多名。为了更好地阅读唐卡，理解画面，因此本书在开篇将

《格萨尔画传》系列唐卡中出现的主要人物分类列出，对其不同的名字或名字的不同拼写也一并列出，并对人

物作简要的介绍，配以人物形象的图片，这些图片均来自四川博物院的唐卡本身。

本书收录的格萨尔唐卡的题记中出现了数百个人名、地名，对这些藏文名字的翻译实非易事，因为由于有

不同的藏语方言的存在，目前还没有一个统一的翻译标准，有的采取音译，有的意译，还有的则音译和意译相

结合。尽管许多史诗故事已经被翻译成汉语，但是这里我们仍然遇到一些问题，即依据藏语哪种方言的发音习

惯来译成汉语。译者们常根据自己熟悉的方言的发音来将藏语转译成汉语，对于这一复杂问题，本书也无法提

图13， 四川博物院唐

卡背面上方

Fig.13, The Top of the Back of the Thangkas of the Sichuan Museum

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(no.SCM-VIII) thangkas both depict the war between Ling and Hor. Yet the narratives of the eighth occurred before those of the seventh. Further, some of the earlier stories concerning this very war are also depicted in the last and eleventh thangka. We do not know why this is so and, what is more, we are thus at a loss to explain it. A close look at each individual thangka makes it almost impossible to find the order in the purported sequence of the narrative stories. Let us take the first thangka (no.SCM-I) as an example. The left side (the viewer's left) of the thangka depicts the tales concerning the first seven days after his birth. His birth in a tent is painted in the center and the narratives of his first, second and fourth days are painted below his place of birth, while his third day is placed to his birth place’s upper left side, and his sixth day is depicted right above it. What a mess! Without the inscriptions, it is virtually impossible to identify each story that is based on the thangka itself. And the same holds also for the other thangkas. It appears that some episodes from one story make their appearance in another. It thus seems that when artists designed the thangkas, they thought not only about the order of the stories, but also about the entire composition and its aesthetics. Sometimes aesthetics and compositional concerns trump consistency.

When describing each individual thangka, we numbered the different scenes and the narratives to facilitate description and allow the reader to follow our arguments with the least amount of difficulty. The central figure is numbered A, the spiritual masters at the top are numbered B, C and D, and the episodes are numbered 1, 2, 3…... On occasion, we also needed to identify different scenes of one and the same story with I-1, I-2, I-3……. Thus, A1 indicates the central figure of the first thangka, that is, no.SCM-I. B1, C1, and D1 refer to the three figures from left to right, at the top of this first thangka and I-1 refers to the first story of the first thangka. Should there be some additional details, then these are marked I-1-1, I-1-2….... Since, as we said above, it is difficult to identify the order of the stories, the tags do not always represent the practical order of the narratives. The plates, the essays and the appendices of this book will aid the reader in further understanding and appreciating this set of thangkas.

A Few Additional Notes

The epic of King Gesar of Ling is the largest of its kind in the world. It consists of an enormous number of different narratives and different versions of these narratives, all of which are populated by hundreds of minor and major figures. More than three hundred of these minor and major figures appear in the eleven thangkas of the Sichuan Museum. To facilitate the reading of these thangkas and understand their narratives better, a list of the main figures that are introduced in these narratives is provided at the beginning of the book, together with the various spellings of their names, a brief introduction and their pictures. All these images are from the thangkas of the Sichuan Museum.

As stated, hundreds of Tibetan proper names appear in the thangkas. The transcription of these names is not easy because there is really no standard spoken Tibetan and because there is no standard according to which various Tibetan dialects can be transcribed. Some of these proper names are transcribed into Chinese more or less according to their pronunciation. However, others are translated into Chinese and others again are transcribed as well as translated. Many narratives of the epic have been translated into Chinese. But here we are confronted with some major problems. In the first place, there is no standard way which Tibetan is transcribed into Chinese, and the translators often transcribe Tibetan into Chinese in accordance with the phonologies of the dialects which they are familiar. We have sidestepped this complicated issue, since it is our aim to make the Chinese transcriptions and translations easily understood and to retain their standardized form throughout the book. Let us take as an example the name of the central figure of no. SCM-XI. The museum has named her Qing Sheng jiang ti le ma 清生姜提列玛. Here, Qing refers to the Qing dynasty and reflects the rough dating of the thangka. The Chinese characters sheng jiang ti le ma are meaningless, in that they are simply transcriptions of the

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︶︹﹀﹀ 捶

拜︽地

罢︽罢

稗邦︽宝

︽惩半︽吹

︽厂︽舶

爸︽败

爸︽鼻

半︽卞

︽得搬︽伴

苍罢

出一个统一的标准。本书对这些藏文名字进行翻译时，以易于读者理解为目的，并做到在本书中出现的译名的

统一。比如，四川博物院第11幅唐卡（SCM-XI）的中央主尊，原来定名为“清生姜提列玛”，“清”是表明

唐卡的大致时代，汉字“生姜提列玛”（sring lcam tig leg ma）只是对主尊名字的音译，并无实际意义。实际

上，藏语“生姜”（sring lcam）意为姐姐，鉴于用意译的方法更有助于读者理解，因此本书采用意译和音译相

结合的办法，统一译为“姐姐提列玛”。由于方言发音的不同，有的也译为“姐姐特列玛”，是格萨尔在天界

的姐姐。一些学者早已注意到这个问题， 但迄今仍然比较混乱。

在本书中，对人名、地名的翻译一般采取音译的办法。音译时，以拉萨方言的发音为准，如果名字有实际

意义，则以括号的形式在后面注出；对于一些已经约定俗成的译名，本书则继续沿用。书末的附表5《译名对

照表》将藏语的名字、拉丁转写、汉语翻译、简单解释和所在页码一并列出，可供参照。

四川博物院的11幅《格萨尔画传》系列唐卡和吉美博物馆第23081号唐卡的画面中有众多的藏文题记，在

对藏文题记进行抄录、翻译时，我们发现藏文的拼写和语法十分不规范、甚至错误的情况时有发生。对于错误

的拼写，我们用[ ]在后面注出正确的拼写，如凋邦︽霸半［扳霸半］。有些藏文名字用的是缩略形式，我们亦用[ ]符

号对其进行复原，如题记中是：地程︽伴春爸︽忱稗︽，地程︽是地稗︽惭稗︽的缩略语，我们则在后面用[ ]注出其原形，即地程

［地稗︽惭稗］伴春爸︽忱稗︽。语法的错误主要是作格助词（椿拜︽伯）经常不用或用错，我们在第一次出现时用[ ]予以更

正，由于此类情况在题记中出现得极为频繁，因此以后则不再注出。有时藏文题记仅有关键词，缺少主语或其

它句子成分，不是完整的一句话，在翻译时，为了意思的完整，有时增补了句子成分，使之成为一个完整的句

子，增补的部分用（）标出。

由于时间仓促，编者学识有限，书中定有许多不完善甚至不当之处，敬请专家批评指正。

Stein, 1958. 英文和中文译文见本书。

对这十一幅唐卡的进行介绍的有：王平贞，1985年，1990年；降边嘉措，2002年；降边嘉措、周爱明，2003年；天津人民美术出版社编，2004

年；陈志学、周爱明；2004年；刘舜尧，2011年，等等。

Stein, 1959.

[法]石泰安著，耿昇译，陈庆英校订，1993年。

石泰安先生论文中的题记识读、画面阐述有许多不正确的地方，但为保持原文的原貌，在翻译过程中并未进行修改，读者可以通过阅读本书公

布的图版中的题记并参见题记翻译和画面简介来进行鉴别。

Stein, 1958: 243-271, 图1-10。

Stein, 1959:97-98; [法]石泰安著，耿昇译，陈庆英校订，1993:125。

杨嘉铭、目雅·丁增、杨艺，2010：6-7。

http://www.china.org.cn/english/2003/Dec/81902.htm。

陈志学、周爱明，2004：36。

该信息由四川博物院典藏部江佳英老师告知。

每幅唐卡的具体尺寸见本书附录1。

角巴东主，1993：77-78。

参考文献：

陈志学、周爱明：《稀世珍宝〈格萨尔〉唐卡》，《中国西藏》2004年1期，第36-39页。

降边嘉措：《唐卡与〈格萨尔〉仲唐》，《中国西藏》2002年6期，第18-19页。

降边嘉措、周爱明：《藏族英雄史诗〈格萨尔〉唐卡》，北京：中国画报出版社，2003年12月。

角巴东主：《略论〈格萨尔王传〉中有关专用名词的翻译问题》，《青海民族研究》（社会科学版），1993年第3期，第77-78页。

刘舜尧：《四川博物院藏唐卡》，《收藏家》2011年6期，第53-58页。

Stein, R.A.,“Peintures tibétaines de la vie de Gesar,”Arts asiatiques, vol. 4, 1958:243-271.

Stein, R.A., Recherches sur l'épopée et le barde au Tibet, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1959.

[法]石泰安著，耿昇译，陈庆英校订，《西藏史诗与说唱艺人的研究》，拉萨：西藏人民出版社，1993年10月。

天津人民美术出版社编，《中国唐卡艺术》，天津人民美术出版社，2004年1月。

王平贞：《略谈藏族绘画<格萨尔王传>》，《四川文物》1985年第3期，第7-8页。

王平贞：《四川省博物馆藏〈格萨尔王传〉唐卡的初步研究》，《格萨尔研究》第3辑。

杨嘉铭、目雅·丁增、杨艺：《康巴唐卡——藏传绘画艺术吉祥瑰宝》，北京：中国旅游出版社，2010年1月。

http://www.china.org.cn/english/2003/Dec/81902.htm.

注 释

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From the Treasury of Tibetan Pictorial A

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Chen Zhixue and Zhou Aiming, “Rare Treasures of Gesar Thangkas,” China's Tibet, vol.1, 2004:36-39.Gcod pa don grub, “A Brief Discussion on the Issue of Translating Tibetan Terms in the Life of King Gesar,” Nationalities Research in Qinghai, vol.3, 1993:77-78.'Jam dpal rgya mtsho, “Thangkas and Thangkas of Gesar Epic,” China's Tibet, vol.6, 2002:18-19. 'Jam dpal rgya mtsho and Zhou Aiming, Thangkas of the Tibetan Heroic Epic----Gesar, Beijing: Zhongguo Huabao Publishing House, 2003. Liu Shunyao, “Thangkas Preserved in the Sichuan Museum,” Collectors, vol. 6, 2011:53-58. Stein, R.A.,“Peintures tibétaines de la vie de Gesar,”Arts asiatiques, vol. 4, 1958:243-271.Stein, R.A., Recherches sur l'épopée et le barde au Tibet, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1959.Stein, R.A., Recherches sur l'épopée et le barde au Tibet, Chinese translation by Geng Sheng, ed. Chen Qingying, Lhasa: Tibet People’s Publishing House, 1993. Ed. Tianjin People's Art Publishing House, Thangka Art of China, Tianjin: Tianjin People's Art Publishing House, 2004.Wang Pingzhen, “Brief Introduction of Tibetan Paintings of the Life of King Gesar,” Sichuan Cultural Relics, vol.3, 1985:7-8. Wang Pingzhen, “A Preliminary Study of the Thangkas of the Life of Gesar that Preserved in the Sichuan Provincial Museum,” Gesar Studies, vol.3. 1990.Yang Jiaming, Mi nyag Bstan 'dzin, Yang Yi, Thangkas of Khams----Auspicious Treasures of Tibetan Paintings, Beijing: China Tourism Publishing House, 2010. http://www.china.org.cn/english/2003/Dec/81902.htm.

Tibetan proper name. Chinese sheng jiang reflects Tibetan sring lcam, which means sister. Because Ti le ma reflects Tibetan Tig leg ma, which is her proper name, the phrase should rendered “sister Tig leg ma.” The lady in question is Gesar's sister in heaven. Again, because of different pronunciations in the different Tibetan regions, she is sometimes also referred to as “sister Te le ma 姐姐特列玛.” Long ago, a few scholars have noticed this kind of a problem, but so far, it has not been resolved.

In this book, we generally translate the proper Tibetan names based on the Lhasa dialect and we have tried to use the most generally accepted Chinese equivalents. In the event that we are concerned their meaning, we have added translations in brackets. In the appendix, the reader will find a list of proper names in Tibetan, in Wylie transcription, in Chinese transcription and in Chinese translation.

To be sure, the inscriptions that accompany the various scenes of the thangkas contain numerous spellings and grammatical errors. We have used the [ ] to mark the correct spelling after the original one; for example, 凋邦︽霸半 [扳霸半]. Some Tibetan expressions occur in their abbreviated form. We also use [ ] after the abbreviated form to indicate its full form; for example, 地程 [地稗︽惭稗] 伴春爸︽忱稗︽. In terms of grammar, we noticed that on occasion a wrong agent marker (椿拜︽伯︽) is used, and sometimes there is no 椿拜︽伯︽ at all. Such problems are also marked with [ ], but only once because these errors occur too frequently in the inscriptions. Sometimes an inscription contains just a few key words and not a complete sentence. To complete the sentence, we use ( ) in which the additional required expressions are given.

Finally, for the errors that remain in this book, I beg the forbearance of the reader.

Stein, 1958. The English and Chinese translations are also included in this book. A few articles introduced this set of thangkas of the Sichuan Museum; see Wang Pingzhen, 1985, 1990; ’Jam dpal rgya mtsho and Zhou Aiming, 2003; ed. Tianjin People’s Art Publishing House, 2004; Chen Zhixue and Zhou Aiming, 2004; and Liu Shunyao, 2011 etc.

Stein, 1959. Geng Sheng, 1993. Although Stein's article contains a few mistakes, wrong spellings and interpretations, the Chinese and English translations are faithful translations of his essay. The reader is invited to check the details of the Tibetan inscriptions and the interpretations offered in this book.

Stein, 1958: 243-271, fig.1-10. Stein, 1959: 97-98 and Geng Sheng, 1993:125. Yang Jiaming, Mi nyag Bstan ’dzin, Yang Yi, 2010:6-7. http://www.china.org.cn/english/2003/Dec/81902.htm. Chen Zhixue and Zhou Aiming, 2004:36. This information was given by Ms. Jiang Jiaying from the Sichuan Museum.

For further information, see Appendix One of the book. Gcod pa don grub, 1993:77-78.

Note Bibliography