1. Text number

Drangsong 113

2. Text title (where present) in Tibetan

༄༅།།ཤ་བོ་རུ་རྒྱས་བཞུགས་སོ།།

3. Text title (where present) in Wylie transliteration

Sha bo ru rgyas bzhugs so//

4. A brief summary of the item’s contents

A mdos ritual text about the use of the supernatural deer to acquire good fortune.

5. Number of folios

12

6. Scribe’s name

None

7. Translation of title

The deer with the spreading antlers

8. Transcription of colophon

bkra gshis[shis] sarba mangga laṃ/

9. Translation of colophon

Blessings. May all be auspicious

10. General remarks

This ritual is the object of a study by Anne-Marie Blondeau and Samten Karmay (1988)

11. Remarks on script

dpe tshugs

12. Format

Loose leaves

13. Size

9.2 × 32.8 cm

14. Layout

15. Illustrations and decorations

The first page of this manuscript is beautifully ornamented.

The title folio possesses an elaborate double frame traced with double red lines and painted green and yellow. The title of the text is written at the centre of a green rectangular frame with two side compartments. The latter is itself included in a second, wider yellow frame patterned with circular wave designs at the bottom, vegetal scrollwork on the sides, and leaf designs on top.

On the verso of this folio, the text opens with a yig mgo consisting of four curls painted in the negative on a black trapezoidal background, and a wide ornate rgya gram shad that develops organically on the sides into six scrolls modelled with red ink.

Overall, the ornamentation of this manuscript compares well to that of manuscripts Ds 112, 195, and 215 and may be attributed to the same scribe.

16. Paper type

Woven, 2 layers, polishing traces

17. Paper thickness

0.17–0.19 mm

18. Nos of folio sampled

f. 5

19. Fibre analysis

Daphne sp.

20. AMS ¹⁴C dating

21. XRF analysis

Main elements: Ca, K, S, Fe, Cl

Trace elements: Si, P, Ti, Mn, Cu

22. RTI

A)    Rendering mode:  Default                      B) Rendering mode: Diffuse Gain

23. GCMS