A Study On Tsongkhapa Statuary Art In Leipzig Museum Of Ethnology Of Germany

Leipzig Museum of Ethnology is one of the biggest museums of ethnology in Germany.The famous diplomat Hermann Speck von Sternburg has more than 500 collections from China,including 160 statues,40 Buddhist ritual implements,78 Thangka paintings and 7 other religious paintings.These 160 collections are mainly Tibetan Buddhist statues.53 of them are from Qing Dynasty,with 10 made of wood and the other 43 bronze,mostly gilt bronze.Tibetan Buddhism is a branch of Buddhism.Its relevant religious art have attracted great attention in recently years.Tibetan Buddhism statuary art reached its peak in Qing Dynasty.In the mid-18th century,which was during Qianlong Period,on the basis of mutual influence and integration among Tibetan Buddhism statuary art,Mongolian Tibetan Buddhism statues and Han Buddhism statues carving,it combined the major aesthetic taste at that time and sought more exquisite and complex ornamentation.All these finally resulted in colorful Buddhism statuary art.Master Tsongkhapa,who found Gelu Sector of Tibetan Buddhism,was one of the most important pioneers of Tibetan Buddhism.Leipzig Museum of Ethnology has two bronze statues of Tsongkhapa,one of which is Tibetan style and the other Han-Tibetan style.This thesis studies these two bronze status,and analyzes stylistic changes of Tsongkhapa statues from the 14th century to the 18th century combining the research results of Tsongkhapa bronze and gilt bronze statues at different times from National Museum,Capital Museum,Palace Museum and Lama Temple.It focuses on analyzing the statuary art,ornamentation and fingerprint to explore reasons and meanings behind the fusion and changes of the carving style.Stylistic fusion and changes of Tibetan Buddhism is discussed based on the study of Tsongkhapa statues and the supporting evidence provided by Leipzig Museum of Ethnology's Tibetan Buddhism statues of Qing Dynasty.The thesis explores the profound reasons and influences of Tibetan Buddhism statuary art's great prosperity in Qing Dynasty when Tibetan Buddhism was widely believed and became the mainstream religion.