Hell Lives: Material and Social Worlds of a Mongolian Buddhist Manuscript
Hell Lives: Material and Social Worlds of a Mongolian Buddhist Manuscript

Summary/Abstract: The Ernst Collection of Tibetan and Mongolian manuscripts and xylographs includes an incomplete Mongolian manuscript titled ‘Various great hells’ (eldeb ǰüil-ün yeke tam-nuγud orsibai). It consists of thirteen folios on which various Buddhist hells are depicted. The accompanying text is written all around the illustrations. On the basis of a detailed description of the manuscript and its classification in the Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhist hell literature I will analyse the interplay between text and image of this manuscript. The analysis takes a fresh look at the creation of the Mongolian ǰiruγ-tu nom, the ‘picture-books’ and provides new insights into their social use.

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