STUDIES IN THE WOODEN ART OBJECTS OF THE
BERLIN TURFAN COLLECTION
By Chhaya Bhattacharya, New Delhi
Aim :
The aim of this paper is to give a general background of the study of the
wooden art objects of the Berlin Turfan Collection - a collection which is
the result of four consecutive expeditions to Chinese Turkistan led by renowned
German archaeologists, viz. Prof. A. Grünwedel and Dr. A. von Le Coq,
between 1902 and 1914.
The Collection:
The Berlin Turfan Collection is one of the most important Central Asian
art collections in the world. The Collection is popularly known as Turfan
Collection because the first German archaeological expedition, under Prof.
A. Grünwedel and Dr. Huth, was led to Turfan, an oasis situated in the eastern
part of the Northern Silk Road. Other places from which objects of the Collect¬
ion were brought are Tumsuk, Kizil, Kumtura, SorSuk, Khocho, Murtuk, Sängim,
and Toyok. They are all situated on the Northern Silk Road. The CoUection com¬
prises mainly wall-paintings. Besides, it is enriched with sculptures made of
stucco, wood and metal, and also with manuscripts, terracottas, and paintings
on textile. The Collection is housed in the Museum of Indian Art, Berlin.
Scope of the work:
Very little research work has been done on Central Asian art all over the
world. First-hand information about the Berlin Turfan Collection can be found
in the seven enormous volumes written by Le Coq and Waldschmidt (l). Ad¬
ditionally, Le Coq and Grünwedel have written books on the findings from
Khocho (2) and Kucha (3), respectively. In these volumes, more emphasis
was laid on wall-paintings than on other art objects. Later on, most of the
research work done on Central Asian art included wall-paintings and manus¬
cripts. Up to now, art-historians have exclusively worked on wall-paintings
and only occasionally made side references to motifs, depicted on other
objects including sculptures. Now, for the first time, the wooden objects
of the Turfan Collection have been described minutely. While describing each
object in great detail , an attempt has also been made to compare particular
elements, wherever possible, with the elements found on objects other than
wood, i.e., stucco-sculptures, wall-paintings, paintings on textile. The
result is under publication.
The thesis:
The exact title of my thesis is "Studies in the wooden objects of the Berlin
Central Asian Art Collection", and consists of four sections. Section One is
the "Introduction" where an attempt has been made to give, in a nut shell,
an idea about the region, the sources, early explorations, archaeological
explorations and excavations, the collection, aim and scope of the work, the
date and the dress of the Buddha figures. Section Two deals with the "Gan-
dhära elements in the wooden art objects". Section Three concerns with the
"Typical stylistic features of Buddha figurines from different find places".
Section Four, a major part of the thesis, deals with the detailed description
of each object. Besides these four sections, a list of abbreviations, bibliography,
two concordance lists - one of which deals with the registration number of
each object arranged serially, while the other is arranged according to the
groups of objects with a serial number given to each of them, a list of figures,
photographes and the Curriculum Vitae are attached at the end of the thesis.
The wooden objects in the Turfan Collection are 696 in number (4). They
form a major part of the Collection. In order to make it convenient to compare
these objects with other art objects from Central Asia and Gandhära, and also
to study their stylistic development and to find out their typical characteristic
features, they have been divided into respective groups, e.g. Buddha figures
- both carved and painted, figurines (which include Bodhisattvas, gods,
goddesses, Lokapälas, musicians and dancers), animal figurines, house¬
hold objects (viz. box, lantern, comb, book-cover, bowl and furniture),
implements (e.g. pen, ink-pot, spatula, seal, fire-drill, mould, weaving
accessories, key and lock, block for print, axe, arrow, scale, dabber and
boot-tree), decorative art (i.e., objects and fragments bearing decorative
motifs and ornaments), architectural pieces, and a few unspecified objects.
The grouping of these objects was essential because on the one hand, it
helps to know about the type of objects the Collection possesses and, on the
other, it is easy to find out the individual characteristics of the objects and
to compare them with other art objects.
The integrating character of the art of Central Asia has been pointed out
by many scholars but they have never tried to discuss a specific theme in
detail. For instance, it has often been hypothetically mentioned that the
Central Asian art is influenced by Gandhära art elements, but never an at¬
tempt has really been made to take this up as a separate topic and compare
them with Gandhära art objects side by side in order to show how far this
hypothesis is true. Similarly, many have failed to observe that there was
a continuous process in the exchange of art elements among the Central Asian
sculptors and painters. Finally, up to now, no attempt has been made to find
out whether each place of Central Asia had an autochthonous style of its own
or not.
The study of the wooden art objects in the Turfan Collection has led me to
three conclusions, and 1 have tentatively answered the above-mentioned pro¬
positions. They are:
a. With Buddhism spreading eastward, Gandhära tradition or
conventional style did likewise.
b. Internal exchange of art elements was frequent.
c. Each oasis had an autochthonous style of its own.
In the thesis, only the first part (5), or Section Two, has been dealt with in
great detail, while the third part (6), or Section Three, deals with the Buddha
figures only. The other objects and the second part (7) could not be included
due to the time-limit. However, these portions which are left out will be
treated elaborately in the revised and enlarged version of the same work later on.
In the first part, or Section Two, an attempt has been made to find out
elements from Gandhära art which are comparable to those found on the wooden
objects of the Turfan Collection, Berlin. At the outset, the Buddha figures have
been taken for discussion. It has been found that, in the case of the Buddhas,
the artists of Central Asia have practically copied the Gandhärans. Beginning
from posture to hair-style, facial features, and dress it seems that the Central
Asian sculptor had Gandhära Buddha figures in front of himself as models
(HI 7668 (8), III 7414 (9), III 7656 (lO) and 111 7591 (ll) . (l2)
In addition to the Buddha figures showing the Gandhära elements, there
are other figures, viz. Bodhisattvas, gods and goddesses, musicians who
also bear the conventional features. As for instance, crown (l3) (III 7650,
III 8147, II18131), hair-dress (14) (III 8136, III 6113), dress (15) (1116119,
III 4740, 111 7358), the folds and the tassels of waist-band (16) (III 4735) and
folds (17) (III 7364, III 8147).
Unfortunately, very few animal figurines are found from the Northern Silk
Road and, therefore, it is not possible to offer enough evidence to prove that
they were made more or less after the Gandhära style. However, among these
few examples, an elephant-head has been found which clearly shows that it was
modelled after the Gandhära elephant (l8) (ill 8139).
The study of the decorative art, found on the wooden objects of the Berlin
Turfan Collection, shows that there are a few motifs, e.g. acanthus leaf,
rhombuses and lotus petals, which are quite similar to those represented in
Gandhära art either as architectural decorations or just ornamental designs.
The acanthus leaves are frequently found from different places on the Northern
Silk Road, viz. Tumsuk, Kizil, Kumtura and Murtuk. Nos. Ill 7736 and III 7789
a are very similar to Gandhära acanthus leaves (19). The rhombus motif,
which is either found as an architectural or throne-decorating motif in Gan¬
dhära art, is frequently used by Central Asian artists as stylized curls of
hair, mane, throne-cover and landscape. Lotus, one of the most important
motifs, is found at places wherever Buddhist art has spread from time to
time. The representations of stylized lotus found at Kizil (III 8302, III 7423 a)
are very similar to those found in Gandhära art (20).
In the case of architecture, there are not many instances to quote. Only
three examples are found from Tumsuk and Kizil which are conspicuously
similar to those found in Gandhära. They are votive stüpas and balustrades
(III 8080 (21), III 7384 (22), III 7405 and III 7406). (23)
From the specific and parallel elements cited in the work, one tends to
think over such close resemblances and try to reach some solution. So many
congruous elements can be explained neither as accidental nor indigenous.
The other possibility that remains is to consider that the conventional or the
Gandhära art elements travelled along with the caravanners as Buddhism
spread eastward. The Gandhära tradition can be traced in the very conception
of the Buddha figures besides many other characteristic features found in
the wooden art objects of the Turfan Collection.
In the third part, or Section Three, an attempt was made to find out the
typical stylistic features of the Buddha figures from each oasis on the Northern
Silk Road. The Buddha figures are found from Tumsuk, situated on the western
part of the Northern Silk Road, Kizil, situated almost at the centre of the same
road, and Khocho, situated on the eastern part of it. Unfortunately, except
for Kizil, only a few Buddha figures have been found from Tumsuk and Khocho.
On the one hand, it is a great risk to draw any concrete conclusion from the
study of only a few figures, on the other hand, it is difficult to abstain from
thinking that each place had an autochthonous style of its own, if one finds
such a striking similarity between these few figures. Besides trying to find
out the stylistic congruency between the wooden Buddha figures, an attempt
has also been made to compare these figures with sculptures - made of
material other than wood, in order to substantiate the idea. For instance,
the hair-lines of 111 8035 - a Buddha figure found from Tumsuk, which are
shown by alternate elliptical lines. That this alternate elliptical hair-line is
an autochthonous element of Tumsuk, could only be proved by the figures made
of stucco which have similar hair-lines (24). The same is the case with facial
features. A number of faces, made of stucco, were found from Toqquz-Sarai,
near Tumsuk, which bear the same features as those found on the wooden
Buddha head (ill 7656). It seems that they were all made from one and the
same mould. Likewise, the 'transparent effect' of the garment emphasizing
part of the body of the Buddha, e.g. abdomen and muscles on the chest and
shoulders, is typical of Tumsuk (III 8031, III 8035). The strong muscles and
conspicuous abdomen are not only found on these three standing wooden Buddha
figures, but also on other figures made of stucco originating from the same
region.
Since the Buddha figures from Kizil are more in number thsin those from
Tumsuk and Khocho, it is easy to find out from these very figures, whether
Kizil artists and sculptors had an autochthonous style of their own or not.
It has been found that though the art of Kizil is influenced by Gandhära art
mainly and by Chinese art secondarily, it exerts an autochthonous style of
its own, as can be seen in the way of bending the bodies, mask-like face
which is drawn with typical bottle-necked eyes, and the nose, the way of
delineating the palms and the fingers and toes. Further, an attempt has been
made to trace similar feature on stucco-sculptures and wall-paintings from
the same place in order to strengthen the idea that Kizil really has an autoch¬
thonous style of its own.
The study of the Khocho Buddhas reveals a very important fact. It clearly
shows that two styles, viz. Chinese and Indo-Iranian, existed simultaneously.
Since Khocho is situated on the westernmost point of the Great Chinese Wall, it
is obvious that the place was continuously influenced by politics and art
elements of China. At the same time, this region could not totally forget the
Indo-Iranian style as, "at the beginning, the people of the Turfan oasis to¬
gether with their language belonged to the Indo-Iranian cultural-circle of
Western Turkistan" (25).
Conclusion:
Due to the limited time. Section Three could not be treated here, in the
thesis, in its entirety. The section, together with the remaining part, will
be added in the revised and enlarged volume.
In Section Three, only Buddha figures are treated. The other figures, e.g.
Bodhisattvas, gods and goddesses, animals, decorative art objects and
architectural fragments, which also show the autochthonous characteristic
features of the place, will be included along with those of the Buddhas.
Finally, while studying the entire wooden collection, it has been observed
that various art elements had been transmitted between places along the
Northern Silk Road, which can be seen in the delineation of eyes, hands,
dress and in decorative motifs. Objects showing the elements adopted from
different places along the Northern Silk Road, will be elaborately presented
in the forthcoming publication (26 ).
Notes
1. Le Coq, A. von: Die Buddhistische Spätantike in Mittelasien , Bde. 1-V,
Berlin, 1922-1924 und 1926; Le Coq, A. von und Waldschmidt, E.:
Ibid. . Bde. VI-VII, Berlin, 1928 und 1933.
2. Le Coq, A. von: Chotscho . Berlin, 1913. Grünwedel, A. : Bericht über
archäologische Arbeiten in Idikutschari und Umgebung im Winter 1902 -
1903 , München, 1905.
3. Ibid.: Altkutscha . Berlin, 1920.
4. Out of these 696 objects, 144 are not included in the thesis. Of these
144 objects 15 could not be included due to some technical difficulties
and the rest of the 129 objects are excluded because they deal with
manuscripts, written in various scripts, viz. Uigur, Tibetan and Central
Asian Brähmi, which should be worked upon by the specialists in these
fields.
5. See a.
6. See c.
7. See b.
8. Ingholt, H.: Gandhära Art in Pakistan, New York, 1957, figs. 202, 212
to 214, 217 and 218.
9. Ibid. . fig. 246.
10. Ibid. . fig. 272.
11. Ibid. . pl. XXII 1 and fig. 125.
12. These are the registration numbers of respective objects.
13. Ingholt, H . : op. cit., figs 8, 284, 316 and 319.
14. Ibid. , figs. 210, 214 and 245.
15. Ibid. , figs. 126, 427, 429 and 436.
16. Ibid. , fig. 32 5 and Grünwedel, A. : Bericht über archäologische Arbeiten
in Idikutschari und Umgebung im Winter 1902-1903 , München, 1905, p.
102.
17. Ingholt, H. : Ibid. , pl. XXll 1 and 125.
18. Ibid. . fig. 450.
19. Ibid. , figs. 28 and 476.
20. Ibid. , figs. 8, 45, 140, 243, 317 and 471.
21. Ibid., fig. 15.
22. Ibid. . fig. 149.
23. Ibid. , fig. 470.
24. Hambis, L. : Toumchouq , Planches, Paris, 1961, pls. L 120 CHI 276
and CV 281, CXXIX 353.
25. Rowland, B.: Zentral asien . Baden-Baden, 1970, p. 188.
26. The book is already in the Press now, and it is expected to be released
by february 1977.
i L
ZUR METHODIK PRAKTISCHER SOZIALFORSCHUNG
UNTER TIBETISCHEN GRUPPEN
Von Eva Dargyay, München
Die Sozialforschung begann in Europa gleichzeitig mit der Industrialisierung
im 18. Jh. Die ersten Ansätze waren philosophischer Natur und gingen von den
frsinzösischen Enzyklopädisten aus. Diese Verbindung zur Philosophie behielt
die europäische Sozialforschung bis in unsere Zeit bei. Die neue Frankfurter
Schule mit Adorno, Horkheimer usw. legt davon ein beredtes Zeugnis ab.
Die auf den philosophischen Ansätzen Europas basierende Sozialforschung
wandelte sich in den Vereinigten Staaten sehr schnell zu einer stark empirisch
gefärbten Soziologie und Sozialwissenschaft, die überdies durch einen betont
sozialpsychologischen Hintergrund gekennzeichnet ist (l). Schon in den zwan¬
ziger Jahren wandte sich die amerikanische Soziologie relativ kleinen, über¬
schaubaren Gebilden des amerikanischen sozialen Lebens zu. Sie wurden mög¬
lichst genau sinalysiert, ihr Funktionieren beschrieben und daraus erwuchs
ein neues Verstehen des sozialen Lebens. Ein klassisches Beispiel hierfür ist
die Studie "Middletown" von Robert S. Lynd und Helen M. Lynd, erschienen
in New York 1929. In dieser Studie wird das soziale Leben einer mittleren
Stadt des amerikanischen Mittelwestens analysiert, indem die einzelnen Grup¬
pen festgestellt werden und deren Verhalten - sowohl innerhalb der eigenen
Gruppe, wie auch zwischen den einzelnen Gruppen - untersucht wird. Aus
dieser ersten Untersuchung gewann man gleichsam eine Momentaufnahme des
sozialen Lebens der untersuchten Stadt, die eine schnell vorübergehende Phase
ihres sozialen Werdens festhielt. In den dreißiger Jahren folgte eine zweite
Untersuchung derselben Stadt, sodaß nun mit Hilfe dieser zweiten Moment¬
aufnahme ein Wandel sichtbar gemacht wurde. - Ein wesentlicher Zweig der
amerikanischen Sozialforschung bildet ferner die ' Meinungsforschung' . Durch
ihre Erfahrung in der Untersuchung von Gemeinden als geschlossene Organis¬
men des sozialen Lebens und in der Erforschung der Meinungen und Haltungen
größerer Bevölkerungsanteile entwickelte sich in den USA eine spezielle Un¬
tersuchungsmethodik: Im Interview erfuhr man die Meinung der Untersuchungs¬
personen; durch die Erzählung ihrer. Lebensgeschichten gewann man Einblicke
in das soziale Werden der Einzelpersönlichkeit; die Beobachtung der Unter¬
suchungspersonen im Prozess ihres sozialen Rollenvollzuges wie auch die Aus¬
wertung von Archivmaterial und ähnlichem ergänzten die von den Untersuchungs¬
personen erhaltenen Informationen. Uber den Wert und Unwert dieser Metho¬
den wurde viel geschrieben. Dem Interview gegenüber blieb man in Europa
häufig skeptisch. Diese Methode der direkten Befragung mit ihrer stark sub¬
jektiven Färbung, ihrer Einmaligkeit der menschlichen Begegnung widersprach
allzusehr der vertrauten philologisch-historischen Methode Europas. Hier ist
nicht der Ort, um die Details aus diesem Ringen um die rechte Methode zu re¬
sümieren. Es mag genügen, die Kriterien eines korrekten Interviews aufzu¬
führen: Grundlage eines Interviews ist der Interview-Leitfaden, der alle zu
