On the History of the Murals in the Medical College at Labrang Monastery

Abstract

In the inner courtyard of the medical college at Labrang Monastery the visitor finds 19 murals depicting the contents of the first two pans of the Four Tantras {Gyiisht), the well-known treatise on Tibetan medicine. The origins of these murals raise questions about a number of substantial differences in style and structure of the 'tree metaphor' that exist between them and the famous medical thangka illustrations based on the important commentary on the GyUshi, the Blue Beryl The physician and teacher Tsangmen Yéshé Zangpo was the first principal of the medical college at Labrang Monastery. But whether he also created this particular tree metaphor on the murals at Labrang is uncertain. A text written by the Lhasa-based scholar, Lozang Chödrak, explains the structure of the second part of the Gyiishi in such a similar way, that it can be concluded that his written instructions served as the template for the Labrang murals. This reveals that the design of the mural paintings, which have been repainted at least two times, can be dated back to the beginnings of the first medical college at Chakpori.'

Identifying plant species and their usage for landscape on the historical mural paintings of Nan, Thailand

“…Another article, Sylvanic trees institutionalized in ancient Northeast Asia: Cultural and environmental significance of Dantree and Sa-tree (Yi, 2012), studied and identified trees on murals in terms of belief and symbolic meaning by studying deeply into the narrative and history compared to the mural painting. The History of the Murals in the Medical College at Labrang Monastery (Sabernig, 2014) presented physical tree identification that supported the treatise on Tibetan medicine. The article, Brahma at the Ajapala Banyan Tree: Re-Examining Paintings at the Sulamani temple, Bagan (Bopearachchi, 2020), gives a study of tree identification compared with Lord Buddha literature.…”

“…Pächt (1950) determined plant species associated with the use of their fine arts. Sabernig (2014) researched plants and herbs in connection with ancient medical practices. Yi (2012) and Bopearachchi (2020) studied plant species to understand their relationship to cultural beliefs and religion, respectively.…”