DRANGSONG MANUSCRIPTS
| 1. Text number | Drangsong 195 |
| 2. Text title (where present) in Tibetan |
༄༅།།ཡབ་སྲས་༣གྱིས[གྱི]བཅུད་དྲིལ་ཕྱག་བཤགས་པ་བཞུགསྷོ།། བཀྲ་ཤིས། |
| 3. Text title (where present) in Wylie transliteration | Yab sras 3 gyis [gyi] bcud dril phyag bshags pa bzhugs+ho/ bkra shis/ |
| 4. A brief summary of the item’s contents | Performance of prostrations and confessions to the triad of Dran pa nam mkha’ and his two sons, Padma mthong grol and Tshe dbang rig ’dzin |
| 5. Number of folios | 4 |
| 6. Scribe’s name | |
| 7. Translation of title | A collection of praises and confession to the Father and [two] Sons, Three [in all] |
| 8. Transcription of colophon | Ces mnan no/ bcud dril cha lag ma tshang pa rnams/ dad ldan slob mas drang srong dpon la yang yang skul ba’i ngor/ yab sras rnams [rnam] sprul nam mkha’ rgyal mtshan gyis sbyar ba’o/ bkra shis ban [bon] ’phel bstan pa dar par [bar] shog/ tre bston [ston] nam mkha’ rgyal mtshan la/ |
| 9. Translation of colophon | For the essence of the incomplete sTag la text, due to the repeated encouragement of the disciples who have deep faith, composed by Nam mkha’ rgyal mtshan, the manifestation of the three great masters, the master and his two sons. May the auspicious Bon doctrine flourish. To Tre ston Nam mkha’ rgyal mtshan… |
| 10. General remarks | Written by Tre ston nam mkha’ rgyal mtshan (17th –18th century), a member of the Tre ston family from mTsho, in lower Dolpo. |
| 11. Remarks on script | ’bru tsha,’khyug ma tshugs |
| 12. Format | Loose leaves |
| 13. Size | 8 × 31.1 cm |
| 14. Layout | |
| 15. Illustrations and decorations | The first two pages of this manuscript are beautifully ornamented.The title folio possesses an elaborate double frame traced with double red lines and painted green, black, yellow, and blue. The title of the text is written at the centre of a green rectangular frame with two side compartments patterned with circular wave designs alternatively traced with black and red inks. Above and below this frame are painted black bands ornamented in the negative with radiating leaf designs at the centre of which are traced clusters of lines and curves resembling gram shad in lieu of the plants’ veins. On the sides of the central green frame and those black bands are further painted green columns patterned with wave designs, wide unpainted columns adorned with simple vegetal scrolls, and thin yellow and blue columns. One may also observe isolated intricate scrollwork on the top right corner of the folio, either unfinished or drawn as an exercise.
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. Both these ornamental features are repeated on this and the next two folios. Overall, the ornamentation of this manuscript recalls that of manuscripts Ds 112, 113, and 215 and may be attributed to the same scribe. |
| 16. Paper type | Woven, 2-3 layers, white pain layer on the surface, polishing traces |
| 17. Paper thickness | 0.15–0.32 mm |
| 18. Nos of folio sampled | f. 2 and f. 4 |
| 19. Fibre analysis | Daphne sp. with single fibres of cotton and other fibres (impurities) |
| 20. AMS 14C dating | |
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XRF Analysis |
Main elements : Ca, S, K, Fe, Cl, Si |
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RTI Images |
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Fibre Compositionf2 |
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Fibre Compositionf4 |
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