Publication: Bon Painting & Iconography (Sothebys)
Bon Painting & Iconography (Sothebys) | Collection of Richard R. & Magdalena Ernst | 中文页 Chinese Home PageBon Painting and Iconography:
An Overview of Subjects with an Introduction to Special Symbols and Characteristics
苯教繪畫與圖像：獨有符號及特徵概述
By Jeff Watt
文 傑夫瓦特
Himalayan art styles cover both a very broad geographic area containing many different cultures and over one thousand years of production. Within the regions and period of time there were, and still are, three main religious groups being served; Buddhist, Bon and Hindu.
縱觀喜馬拉雅藝術，風格氣象萬千，地域分佈廣泛，文化脈絡紛繁，創作傳承已逾千年。古往今來，該秘境內主奉三大宗教：佛教、苯教、印度教。
The Bon religion is often referred to as the indigenous religion of Tibet existing before the spread of Buddhism into Central Tibet in the 8th century. Early Bon artwork, be it painting or sculpture, is hard to identify or even find. Pictographs from the 1st millennium and earlier etched onto rock faces in Western Tibet are considered the earliest examples of Bon symbolic art.
苯教乃西藏本土宗教，八世紀佛教傳入藏中之前，業已存在。初期苯教藝術，無論繪畫雕塑，皆不易辨識，杳然難尋。藏西有岩刻圖符，可溯至十世紀前，當屬苯教象徵藝術最早範例。
Bon painting is studied in the same manner as the Buddhist art of the Himalayan and Central Asian regions. The Three trainings of (1) art history, (2) religious studies and (3) iconography are essential. The art history in general applies equally to both, however there can be small differences in overall composition and the asymmetrical placement of figures and groupings of figures in Bon compositions while Buddhists tend to create symmetrical compositions in almost all cases. The religious studies training is different from other religions and traditions of the region because the subjects of the art originate from a completely different corpus of religious literature with its own unique terminology and original mother language. The iconography of Bon can be similar to Buddhism in general appearance and look, however in specific detail it is differentiated and distinguished from Buddhism by the use of unique symbols, attributes and choice of animal attendants and mounts.
苯教繪畫之研究與喜馬拉雅及中亞地區佛教藝術觸類旁通，必考藝術史、宗教及圖像，此三者不可偏廢。論藝術史，苯教與佛教並行不悖，然苯教人物構圖不求對稱，佛教人物構圖以對稱者居多，是為小異。論宗教考索，苯教與同地域內諸宗教、傳統大相徑庭；藝術主體源出經典，然苯教經典以其原生母語寫就，語彙自成一家 ，故而有別。論圖像形象，苯教與佛教大抵相似，於細節處可憑符號、法器及相伴神獸與坐騎予以分辨。
Like Vajrayana Buddhism, Bon employs the use of many different forms of deities. The deities are best understood by the different types of iconography - their visual appearance, and by their religious, narrative or ritual function which is by nature more abstract. For iconographic appearance in Bon there are seven types: (1) Buddha-like, (2) monastic person, (3) lay person, (4) peaceful deity, (5) wrathful deity, (6) animal featured and (7) warrior. Himalayan Buddhist iconography has a few more forms totaling eleven figurative forms. The term Buddha-like is used with reference to Bon art and Tonpa Shenrab specifically because although the similar Buddha image is borrowed by the Bon from Indian Buddhism the subject figures depicted within the Bon context are not true Buddhas from the Buddhist point of view. This is a similar situation with the Jain religion of India where the principal figures have Buddha-like appearance and are each referred to with the title of ‘Jina’ rather than Buddha.
如金剛乘佛教，苯教尊神亦有諸多變化相。解悟尊神根據有二，其一為不同圖像，即視覺形象，其二為各自宗教、敘事職能。然，後者更為抽象。苯教尊神形象有此七類：（1）類佛陀形象；（2）僧侶形象；（3）俗家形象；（4）平和相；（5）忿怒相；（6）動物形象；（7）武士形象。喜馬拉雅佛教圖像另添四類，共計十一類。「類佛陀形象」一語專用於苯教藝術，與敦巴辛饒（Tonpa Shenrab）相關，蓋因苯教類似佛陀之形象汲取自印度佛教，然依佛教教義，苯教描繪之主體形象實非佛陀。印度耆那教亦復如是，其主要形象皆與佛陀相仿，然名號各作「耆那」，不稱佛陀。
Deity figures are different in nature from the persons, be they lay or monastic. People are real, had real lives and historical events, either well or poorly recorded. Deities are not real in most senses of the word. Deities are constructs. They are tools to codify abstract concepts and systems of meditation. They have metaphors to help explain their appearance and symbolic content. There are four important and original Bon gods known as the Four Transcendent Lords. The four are Satrig Ersang, Shenlha Okar, Sangpo Bumtri, and Tonpa Shenrab. Almost all, if not all, the enlightened Bon deities are regarded as emanations of these four gods. The terms ‘god’ and ‘deity’ are used interchangeably here because the Four Transcendent Lords play a major role in the various Bon creation myths. In that role they are much more like traditional gods as understood in modern religious studies. Aside from the Four and the deities that are regarded as emanations of them, there is a class of subjugated worldly gods that are made up of local village, mountain or lake gods of the Himalayan regions and Tibet.
人物形象不論僧俗，悉與神佛相異。人物乃真實之軀，生平或豐或簡，終有事蹟可尋；神佛，就字面論，則多為虛幻，屬形而上。神佛可構築抽象意念及觀想體系，借助譬喻闡釋形貌及象徵意義。苯教有四尊本初主神，稱四部如來，即薩智艾桑（Satrig Ersang）、辛拉哦噶（Shenlha Okar）、桑波奔赤（Sangpo Bumtri）及敦巴辛饒（Tonpa Shenrab）。苯教眾神多為四部如來化身。苯教神話林林總總，概以四部如來為核心，是故此語境中，英文「god」、「deity」二字可互用。以是身份，苯教眾神趨近現代宗教學傳統神靈之概念。四部如來及各化身之外另有一類世間神，集合喜馬拉雅及西藏一帶受降伏之村神、山神、湖神。
Unlike with Buddhist Iconography, a peaceful Bon deity will always have a wrathful form and a wrathful Bon deity will always have a peaceful form. This can however become very confusing because the peaceful and wrathful names are unrelated and give no clues to the relationships between different forms of deities. The different names and deities have to be learned either textually or from oral instruction from a Bon teacher.
有別於佛教圖像，苯教尊神凡平和相者多兼有忿怒相化身，反之亦然。然平和、忿怒二相之名號互不相關，個中聯繫無從得知，難以考辨。不同尊神及對應名號須依文本斟酌，或由苯教上師口傳心授。
The founder of Bon is known as Tonpa Shenrab, ‘teacher, great priest.’ He is typically depicted, from the iconographic seven types of appearance, as either a peaceful deity or in Buddha-like appearance. His earliest depictions in art portray him in peaceful appearance. Only later is he found depicted in a buddha-like appearance. The general narrative works of Bon art visually convey the life story and previous life stories of Tonpa along with the stories of later Lay or monastic teachers, both mythical and real.
敦巴辛饒為苯教創始人，即「祖師」之意。苯教七類尊神形象中，敦巴辛饒以平和相或類佛陀形象為典型。初期刻畫將其呈現為平和相，後乃以類佛陀形象描繪。通常，苯教敘事藝術以圖像示現敦巴辛饒生平及前世，亦附後代上師事蹟；上師有俗家、出家之分，事蹟有神化、真實二類。
The special symbols of the Bon that are not generally shared with forms of Buddhism found in the Himalayan regions and Tibet are the ‘yungdrung’ (svastika), five pointed star, nine-crossed swords, umbrella, butter lamp, bird crown and a bird wing, just to mention the more common and easily recognized. The garments of deities can be clouds, water, fire or rainbows. There is also the use of Tibetan letters placed on the hands with the palms open and facing out, or on the chest of different deity figures such as Kunzang Gyalwa Dupa and Kunzang Akhor.
其象徵符號，如「雍仲」（即卐字）、五角星、九寶劍法輪、傘蓋、酥油燈、鳥冠、羽翼等，頗為常見，易於識別，為苯教獨有，不與佛教通用。雲、水、火、虹皆可作尊神衣裳。不同尊神，如貢桑嘉瓦堆巴（Kunzang Gyalwa Dupa）及辛拉哦噶（Kunzang Akhor），掌心或胸口亦見藏文字。
A set of wrathful deities are known as the ‘Five Fortress Deities’ and they are employed as principal meditational practices of the Bon. The chief protector deity of Bon is Sipai Gyalmo, a female, the wrathful form of Satrig Ersang of the Four Transcendent Lords. She is typically depicted as wrathful in appearance, with three faces and six arms, riding a dre’u. There are many different forms of this protector. There is even a form that depicts a thousand faces and a thousand hands.
五忿怒相乃苯教五大本尊，獲稱「城堡五聖」（Five Fortress Deities）。苯教主要護法女神思巴嘉摩為四部如來之一薩智艾桑之忿怒相，容貌怖畏猙獰，三面六臂，坐騎黑騾（dre’u），是為典型。該護法有諸般化身，可比一例，有千面千手。
Animals are depicted in the iconography and art in several different ways. Some deities are placed standing on a square throne. Animals are depicted as decorating or supporting the front of the throne. With Bon art the animals are generally indigenous to the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau. Whereas Buddhism almost exclusively depicts animals that are native to greater India such as lions, elephants, horses, peacocks and the like. The Bon depict the otter, yak, tarpin, leopard, monkey and other native animals. The animals are different, but so is the abstract meaning. Beneath the Bon throne the animals represent negative mental characteristics that are being subdued and conquered. For the Buddhists the animals are positive characteristics related to the deity above and the worldly human condition being transformed.
苯教圖像及藝術中，動物形象以若干方式呈現。尊神立於方形座上，動物則居寶座前方，作支撐或裝飾。佛教僅描繪印度地區本土物種，如獅、象、馬、孔雀等，相形之下，苯教刻劃喜馬拉雅山脈及西藏高原之特有，如獺、豹、猿、犛牛等。動物種類相異，寓意隨之不同。佛教中，動物形象由神佛或世人幻化而來，然苯教座下，動物喻指受降伏之意念。
The reasons for creating Bon art is the same as for other religious groups of the Himalayas. Generally there are seven reasons for the creation of art. Some works are used purely for devotional reasons, others are narrative and meant to convey a story, some are didactic which is instructional in nature, for ritual use, memorial, as a commodity, or simply decorative. Those are the seven. Artworks can also have over-lapping reasons for their creation and over time they can be repurposed for other uses.
究其創作緣由，苯教藝術與喜馬拉雅地區其他宗教別無二致。總括而言，功用有七：供奉、敘事、傳法、禮拜、紀念、法物流通、裝飾。此類物品可身兼數項功用，且日久之後，同一物品功用亦可轉變。
The general painting styles of the Bon follow the different regional art styles across the Himalayas which are also employed by the Buddhists. There is no unique or identifiable Bon art style. Art styles are regional. Identification of Bon art is based solely on iconography and unique symbols.
苯教繪畫風格集喜馬拉雅各地區藝術之大成，此與佛教相類。苯教藝術頗具地域性，然其藝術風格並不惟一、典型，惟有通過圖像及獨有象徵符號方可辨識。
[Added 3-2018]
