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- protection, which in turn was covered with two red ribbons, known as lung non or �wind holders.� Finally, the painting was consecrated by special religious rites. During a special ceremony the eyes of the deities were painted in. In principal this was done when the painting was completed. This act, known as �spyan-byed� or �the opening of the eyes� would bring special merit to the painter. In most cases an inscription in the form of magic life-giving formulas (mantras) would be added to the back of the painting, the most common being Om Ah Hum, not really translatable but roughly meaning Body, Speech and Mind. Occasionally, thankas were made of embroidered silk or silk applique [25].
A detailed study of the various major and lesser schools of thanka painting over different periods of time shows a constant influx of fresh and vigorous foreign influences coming from such places as India, Nepal and China. The miniature scenes and landscape backgrounds behind the central deity in later thankas of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries owe a great deal to the Chinese painting tradition.
The themes of thankas can be divided into five main groupings:
1) historical or legendary figures (e.g., Gautama Buddha and his disciples);
2) depictions of the founders of sects and their disciples;
3) pictures of meditative content;
4) depictions of yidams and guardians of the faith;
5) mandalas or cosmic diagrams.
Woodblock prints of religiously-inspired subjects have also been very common in Tibet since ancient times, and were printed either on cotton to serve as prayer flags to be hung on lines outside the home or on paperto serve as religious posters inside the home. These prints were sometimes used as �cheap� thankas for the general population. The monochrome woodcuts served magical purposes and had the same compositions and subjects as the thankas�such as biographical illustrations of the great teachers and saints, Buddha, Milarepa, Gesar, the eighty- four or -five Mahasiddhas, Tsong Khapa and successive incarnations of the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas. In addition, prayers, sutras, mandalas and the Wheel of Life were popular subjects for the woodcuts.
The Tibetans used woodblocks to print the numerous volumes of Buddhist scriptures. Although many books were translated from Indian or Chinese religious texts, there is an abundant number of books dealing with indigenous literature and medicine. The Tibetans have enormous respect for the written word and the long, narrow pages of Tibetan books were often placed between elegantly carved wooden bookcovers [31]. The paper contained an arsenical substance which prevented fungus and insect damage.
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