THE WRITING IN THE PICTURE Jacqueline Pigeot What makes the pang opposite (Fg. 1) $o eye-catching is the ‘sumptuousness ofthe materal—goldae-sver—and the Baldness of the compsiton an enomous moon, reining in the aida of wid leaves (pumps gras usut), fs up the whole surface ofthe ret angle. On this background punting” (shite), which is possibly the work of the great Tavayara Sétasa (P1645), Honan Kdetsu (1558-1637 has inserted the aligrapy of elasical poem (waka) ‘by Fujiwara no Hideyoshi (1184-1240), which figures inthe section enti “Journey” of the famous New Collection of Ancient end ‘Moder Poems (Shiakokin sh}: ‘Saranu dani/ ahi no tabine wa /Ranasibi ni ‘Matsui feke nari Too-noyaa haze “byen without that, see, when travel sacoes, ‘Ando to the wind of Mount Toko canbe heard blowing throughs the pine tees” in the fl fils one with Inthe poem, there is ater moon nor pampas grass Could it be ‘hat. thereis some mismateh betwen the picture and the Wi? In fet, both conjure up the fa the war appears int oer, andthe ‘wo motifs presented in the pictre ae tattionally associated with ‘hat season in post. Moreover, the tormented lines of the grastes, and perhaps ls those ofthe caliph, ating to ne side, camey ‘he visible effec ofthe wind where the poem evokes the sound ofits ‘mooning, Pampas grass sao associated, throughout trating it erature, with deserted hospitable or even lgubious laces that to the traeler, convey a feeling of dscation. "Thus Kieu was looking fra eonpemertary Hk between the wos ofthe peture and the pie Nevertheless the rade s aware ofthe discrepancy between the Aitferent estetc prs the painting, éazaling and extremely decoa- tive onizat withthe poem, which confines ite tothe reiter of confides and discretion. Cos Hts have intended a chosing this ostentatious painting as backing for such a measured poem, to ipa through a rant son the anguish tare leone inthe night “Fi 2 show a pint sigod (tom right hand eam) by“ ‘otio,“an art who was ae inthe middie ft eget cea tu To girl are plying al on atti ol ofthe er’ ws under ilo te, Brenig inthe itr, wt its greenish Hue ‘ems combines terok a wor that young and fesse ees oF ‘here are onl just abd the gs are sot, he design fei ‘menos features pun Nvers and Amon aks (ae layed at Now Year, the ening of rig scading tothe 0 clea). ‘ne sul all hat te wil is, carling tothe Chinese poe a dion adopted by the Japansse, a extmon metaphor eniine _ gocher andthe we igure ar Inert ame, iniar unapstions ar fond in ther plas of ht period ‘Butabvie pena sn oka ons acros they: its dein esis at the top Fight ses tel anong te branches ofthe wile (Gh the faces ois on gil andthe eather) and respeas a the boon le. The vere contributes anther bamonzingleent to one hat ase on era associations: “The will threads te themasves to thoee ofthe Dall hat is thrown ‘The all (ari is infact made wp of cloed threads bound gly together, and in Japanese poetry the fine, delicate branches ofthe 1 Su Paling abel e Tamaya Ss wh eaipaly by ins est Cook Mesure| i i i | ‘2. ity Te Rie. Praecaion ‘Cvivon ere from the eariest times cae “treads.” is possi, th wl branches, the gis ame—all are hus in hamsony wth Toe, tal anther veal association is superimposed on the ene ater, fr: the verb Guna can mean "to kno fe tgeter (thus Verb stocations and pital combiatios, bh ets 0 8 belonging the networcf words associated with "tvet”,andalso ong tradto, comverge this modest prin. They ave it “tjnin” Does ian ee eroke he gesture eth te genwin- jana, each ofthe thes mai catg ateton back oe tng her ams wth hase of her companion? The threads of the bal, “ah as though ina game of ball,PICTURES IN WRITING Marianne Simon-Oikawa ‘Aang the many writing games (moj ab) recoded in Japan ion ed for bath is dstetion ané is longeity: the moje “Gietare To writing). Practiced especialy during the Edo period this gone consists figures compoted entirely oe par Jana or aaj. Most often the ar ‘work represents a figure whese autine ie made up of al the signs thot make up that person’ name, cunningly disguised as pat ofthe “doting. These pictures are typical of their period. Produced by born a time of peace and economic property, nd in search of stactions cat only atthe theatr oro places of enter ‘winment but als in the world of pratng and pictures More than sat years after Enatel Yoshiku'’s 185 Coecton of Pictares in Writing (Moje tutushi) was published, an anonymous sequel appeared tht took up the same theme—the small urban trades that were thriving a the time. testifies both tothe success ttt ak wth pl car (1), ape is Gemabey wea Gos sevens tc eet eC ‘rie form of mate, Avery clear visual herrchy is establiee beeen the mojée itself (a tabular competition of thickly write _haraciers, the tite ofthe picture (whic, on oe side of the image, ‘ales up in linear fashion the name of the trade in less heary strokes), andthe text (generally the wores uttered bythe parti ‘ants, whlch ae disposed around the ict in thinner stokes fil Hanasanjin (1790-1858), a disciple ofthe humorist and man of leurs Santo Kyben, gathered together a lite colton of eighty three vignetes in which the figures are entiely composed of the written charactérs that form their names, tothe excision of any iter characters or brush strokes, wit the occasional exception of Tig. 1.°The reves” Fram Shine alu (ew Clete Fe ‘Wig anoepanes 5-14 ena iy TeFig 8 taro Ei rh ew Yen 76, enorme pat ith eed ahve eden Ros Museumig. 2 ‘Me Nene and The Ol Wana” Pm tents (aes Drone nth Se Cotinns Bh See, Haran, BS-TBS eal OU. Uhre dato suggest eos and mouth, Pots historic igre, vin ties, dancers, and ghosts uta hag heron Gag), oan old woman (sir) pass before the eyes of the wale decodes, who Is bemasedby this unadulterated moje that hides its iaventveness behind a mask of nonchalant ease (ig. 2), Fr example, abve the heron the att has commented, "Anyone ean draw eon like this quite eas” Most, however, the figures ack the accessories that would make them realy ietifble, and they canbe truly under stood only after their acempanying text as heen deciphered. Wh reemurse to words Image show, that the pont at which ‘eached thei iit, ‘AL New Year, mercenls wou. pltures of good omen—ike the one repredced opposite (Fig. 3) decorate their Bouses. Gathered together round the go sy, the rine prtetr of com merce andthe hone, celection of ever! atonal New Year ‘symbols the pin, the rayish andthe sip of prayer paper At he ica a wg ae tot ofthe go lies an man indetingthedte ofthe prints pb Nealon The mos. spec lent ats pcs the gos sti, which cons at of plan nes bat of eg reding “An tuparaled provider of prospec, Bsus shop” kw mo rocitonye Bien dae), Te ilies, ner fo aga pl redce te dpa between he ig gure Chinese characters dhe nduting fw of the Jepsaese sabe igs Te etal erro reading Japanese characer—from opto ttion, nd fren "gio leh no ete) resect. The ners int ean tay pane at the side ofthe pict inate te sequence in wich the sins shoud be put together fom the pias. |. The ston ofthe sigs on th page andthe fo reed ) wernt the tx comes inte gals dts bg ro | suet te leg thee rns. Asafa ash how | ever, te artist has len the whole phrase legbiy bore the head of the god ke a cation. But such provision as probaby been inspired ‘as much bythe aftists desir to show off his virtuosity as by any ‘emcem tobe understood bythe reaer Ip fat the picture functions | 35. puzle:the vower must fin within the Figure the characters that fave ben given fom n advance, ands adie the ski with whieh | te arta as managed conceal ther. Biography ‘sa Cause: caeamoihar she to mej (itd Wingy ‘ten ues, ext aod imagen) Hakodate: Hla Museum, 198. Bm Cn: Ae ont te (Genel fae a Wetlag and lure Weng) (Tog: Sot Maceus, 18), Inc. Shinichi ro sae (Parl Pca ofthe Elo Paid) Tg: Tage Sosa 98 and 15), So, Maan" parte tangs qos ex image omer te de epee etn." xe Oat Erne Dc 20 (198) 1-1. Sor O1 Marine “Quis etemples de mje ane dae eal do pets mers esque C0 apa peri esd allogr 6 ft ‘Sei anaes jpoaies(ars Pipe Pie... 381-46 "ern du tear: ns epares et mages en etre as Spon (RUA sibs) Bu 28 Cogn) GpengSuacer 200: 57-5 “wn Shi Ve met et Tinage dans Tart penal" Lee du desig At nes psc tata, eit cog (Par: Nance acre dagen Ais 9). 17BUDDHIST WRITINGS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA Catherine and Frangois Bizot _s & MPN Like the indian writing from which they are derived, the Scripts of Southeast Asia, which arrived io the region inthe list eens ofthe common era, are based on a phonetic analysis of the language that classifies the consonants in five vag according to ai order stritly defined in relation to their points of articulation Diagram A), Each consonant 's pronounced with an inherent vowel. The basic unity of the writing is thus the syllable, Vowels per se do not, siriely speaking, exist (except a9 inlal vowels); vowel signs appear only as appendages to consonants, placed in front, above, below, orto the right of them, asa vowel may consist of a combination of several signs arranged around the consonantal backing ‘which the phoneme is considered to be both a divine repre- sentation and a cosa principle, and they transposed this representation nto their writing. With go 50 far a8 to develop a Bucdhist waction of caigraphy Ike that of the inese and Japanese, who weed te ndlan Sida’ writing uch the sive spt as they treated ideograms, the Ind Chinese placed letters atthe center of rtal and SmEOTS ‘anipalations, making them appear to be the primordal factor ofall creation Myths ascribe the origin of the word {0 knots of consonants al phenomena ae ieee ung monk ie the dy ofthe alphabet, with its multiple combinations of 1 2 5 4 3s 6 7 PeomeeG ee he: nen ~ SO Bs Bao tal OLR OnOaas tas fel St 629 Www eaviw - a = oe Ree ety Sclin —- . D022 <= BA QHIG Pagan A. Consonants of the first vaggy (yutturals): 1 Fatava (South C) Diagram B. Letters of the(primordial manda, NA MO BU DHA YA. Segre itemise mae nme cm Ota 8c em wo om vk Sutton (alan), Sao aos) 7. Saene ental Thalnd). > anus = q / Sten ee cna ot care pne: | sn nd vn actin te coin ei retgon and magic on the spoken wordt vas onthe sy | “ess that writing i the most precious manifestation ofthe je Her that the Soutien Aslan courses projected \ "eichag- Treen Te Isa eens i ard ke Wiose mynie values, which AEE ICS" waafenation ot | CHGS eich the stent conte out retecio eae / “supreme reality in this respect they inherited the Vedic de conventional salutatory formula: namo Buddhaya siddham, ‘ology, developed in particular by the Tantric philosophies, in “Homage to the Buddha, Perfection” (Fig. 2), which recalls oY O poder goeurirete joa Srronded. du CorBar Ce Site de) 4 av) Tun Be plewnre wD fedonTo ob Arie (avdgghre)Fi. Solenn oa tent tracing back one of the former Indeon et = rovdd congregation at Wat Ong Tou Vitae (Vazeans, othe es ot “Bo Pro Vit” ‘The manuscript engraved oe Latanl eaves, Use tng marace most wisely se a edo hines penta ‘The monks perched on a eny decorated pulpit designed to provdo shade during Ue radg ol searing,"2A sre pursuing the Ian tration of engraving manuscripts one leaves of ho Lata tree (Corp LecoméeD) tp of pa. "es srroundad by taciioral wring struments the *Sidaham” alphabet of the Chinese. In Southeast Asta, {his Kind of writing spread at frst among the population as_ ‘a way of transcribing Pali, the liturgical language of the / Theravada communities, which was considered to have ‘valid line with tradition, ~We'was not until around the fifth and siath centuries ‘when they were begining to form themselves into organ ined states, that indigenous populations like the Mons and the Khmers found it necessary to modi Indian writing to adapt it tothe phoneties of their “Tnerests ofthe Buddhist religion, they undertook a whole- scale vulgarization of the literature s0 that It could be used to instruct village communities and to publish com ‘mentaries in the vernacular languages. To be sure, they constantly refer to the Pali canon through systems of refer- fences and quotations, but thesé are combined with an abundance of legends and narratives from the local mythol ‘ogy, which had been handed down orally for centuries. Whereas the first writings of an Indian type imported into the region by the Brahmans could not have enjoyed a wide circulation outside the elites directly concerned (the hhymns and prayers are addressed only to the gods, and the Inscriptions on monuments only to posterity), it Is likelythat by this time the use of the alphabet was becoming ‘more common and the tradition of the copyists had made considerable progress. For centuries in Southeast Asia, copyists ratsed in sionasteries Have been engraving—on latania leaves, and according to strict rales—manuscripts faithfully repro- duced from earlier copies, which serve as models (Figs. 2 and 9), Sometimes they cannot understand the meaning, concentrating their efforts on each letter, b That they are performing a supremely pious act: the engrav- ing of a text from the Buddhist canon, In enacting this ritval, not only are they, as the colophots almost always “say, “perpetuating the religion” according to an unbroken succession which guarantess its validity, bt they are also siving plsical substance to the dhamma (the "teaching" ), h sylable of which is concelved as an image, and eveh a manifestation, ofthe Buddha Doctrinal texts are treated a relics. As such they are ‘Stapa, and other Fepresentations af the Buddha, Hence there isa series of analogies between t ing a. manuscript and the body of the person meditating, rodeled on the archetypal image of ie womb (the Believer creaies @ new, pure body within himself, a Buddha body, on the basis ofthe IReral elements of the doctrine). The different parts of the manuscript (haracters, leaves, strings, materials) are compared tothe ‘organs of the fetus (primordial constituent parts, limbs, ‘umbilieal cord, skin}. This is why the supreme merit for a Buddhist consists in presenting the monastery with “the offering of a dharia," ‘8 manuscript that itself, alone, represents the whole of the Buddhist doctrine. This ofering generally consists cof a copy of a text or an order for one from a specialist, Fg. 2, or even the reading ofa text during 3 ceremony or a festival (Fig. 1). 7 ‘An examination of ancient texts dating from before the modern reforms of wtingxeveal thatthe prevailing ten dency among copyists was to concentrate signs in com- bined graphic units (the tinal consonant of ammonoeylale, ‘ar the second syllable of a word, being grated elther onto or underneath the initia] consonant). This leads to ambigae Wes in the reading that oblige Western readers, used as ‘they are to linear alphabetic writing, to periorm constant trey tue to Say that one ‘reads from left to right, as those who have described these scripts have too readily asserted. From a letter there ‘stays emerges a syllable, which itself can produce a word. ‘Moreover, because of the symbolic nature of syllables whole phrase may be b singe {rom a mantra (lor example, Rotanamala). This eiflores- Fig 3. Manuscript on alata lea The lotr are wus engraved over Ave lines wit metal pointed sys, ad coated wth Imac The Drndls are planed perc wt two o thee hae, ad one ogee ith a tng tat pares trough alter tee hand or he ca le {olor volume ofa varabs umber ols, ieedigle atm onan weet, crngs 0 8 BER Ts te noah iets Cesare, Tot vc center cha an Yuri ang tre parry sre ‘ood tal pabeaiat rials ae cae 2a eyed sips Ha aot be pled ss ie ne inate mec / rane g is et ase cei ‘The division of Pall formulas Info simpliied graphic nits le, in the same way a the tend concentrate sylabes, manifold Mi the letter was Incorporated Into the composition of tables and coded combinations of sigs that conferred invuinera- bility and Supernatural powers. These same compesitions were used ia protecUve dlagramns—or yarra Pg. #)—tat combined letters and figures, and were composed not for reading but for their magical power, wife WaS Base on Ae sacred nature of the letter? Such dagrams might be “drawn on shirts orheadscarves, engraved on metal abl for use a8 amulets, or tattooed on the skin, They became ‘very popular throughout Southeast Asia, Whereas in China the whole of wetten art focused on calligraphy, nthe Indo- ‘Chinese peninsula It seems to have found expression more ‘n ngenious pattern and inthe stylistic arrangement ofits compositions? Wht emerges a particular from the photographs shown here is that the peoples of Indo-China, proceeding from a conception of writing asa scholarly instrument reserved {or the grammarians and priests ofthe elite—in exactly the same way as the canonical Ianguage—were led by tir to isolate and \— i ongNeriheraPageds of Angkor Wat, Cambor pragmatism and by their own cultural past to develop mys- tical practices that implied not so much a knowledge of the sacred language as a recognition ofthe elements of those ‘omibinations of letters on which they relied in thelr rituals, their prayers, thelr meditation exercises, their healing operations, and thelr magic. 1 ect nd an 8, Bechet ond Be 198, ‘Bibliography ‘Beciarn,C, Le Mtire dans fe etree Bangkoke Bation des (Cablets de France, 19). ne ncienne traction da manuscrit au Cambodge” ‘Recherches nowelles sur le Cambodge, publiched under the “ection of Blot, Endesthémetqwos no, Ecole Pangaea ‘ctatremeOrent (Pars, 199), —Gincottaboration with Biz). “Une éerture code des roms du Boudaha." Liar du nom prope, aces du collie (CHaemaran, 1998), But, Fes Troon de fa pabbajo en Aste du Sus, ‘Recherches care bouddhuse her, 1 (Gotingen, 1868), ‘Abhandungen der Akadeiie der Wissensehatten in Gottingen, Pilolgistitistoriche Lasse, Folge 3. Ne 163, Ralanamala La Guiriande de foyaux” Texts bouddhiques ‘da Combodgen"2,Pubiteation du Fonds pour Yéltion des ‘manuserits Ecole rangalse d'ctrémeOrent (Pris Ching Mal Phnom Pen, 1990). Boru, JG. Indlan Palenography”In 1 let, The dion Antigury, vol 33,1904 (prew publ. Ingen Strassburg 1896] ‘iuubsa BC. Expansion of Ido aryan eure daring Pallava rale (as evidenced by inscriptions) (Behl, 1968). (ants, History of Toi Waving (anglkoke, 1924 Qn Thal). Daas, LC. "Les Ecritures orgie indienne en Indoncae et ans lo Suds asiatique continents” ASE, vol. XXX, 4, 1955, 385382 Fins, “Les crconstances de Vintroducton de Falphabet than lana." First rancoshal symposium on ancient Thai story fom Is origins tothe itecrth century Bunghole Sporn Univer, 1820 July 1988), “Langues et ertures en Ast du Suds le Gert onigineindenne et leur adaptation ain langues de Ase ch Sudst continental: les consonnes)~ The 2st International Cenferenee on Sino Tibetan Languages and Linguists, University cf Lund, Sweden, 79 october 1885 own 1 More de (crue (Pare, 1995). SUITS. Fuze classique (Paris, 1959), p, 665702, Brot, L. "Recherches su la itérstrelaotienne.”BEPEO, ol XV 5, 1517 ‘Chon, P.M “Sur un mode particule acquisition de meses ‘dans le Laos ancien: Tnseription es images du Bouddha (doe ‘es égraphiquos)." ASEM, vol. Vi 1,197, p. 9-102. "Tes Gettres ao et lure Evolutions du ve au xixe siete" ASEM, vol. 12, 1988, . 7586. aces, C. Argo Pars, 1980, Ken Kio Viaraicuv. Seven hundred years of Thal uniting, (Gangkek: Spakorn Univers, 188), 8D pages ave, PB Les Sertures tay di Lads REPEO, vol, L 2, 1967, 357335 ses eertures pil dy Looe” REFEO, wo. 2, 1951, 39405, ‘Sncastis S. "Note onthe posible relationship of King Rama ‘Khamhaeng’ Suthodhaya sript of Thaland to Grantha sri of South ila" 8S, vl LV, 1 1959, ‘Sov, 1. Sacred Callgraphy of he East, new ed. (Boston & ‘Shaftesbury, 198). Vinouasen, K-Lcriure “tt Bhan” dans tes inscrntins cord (Ganghok Spakora Uiversity, 1965) a Tha). ——Lspansion de Teriue Fatham, Advanced Studios Diploma thesis (EME, 1982)a senremammnes eats maa RlaREA ne vumieed Beam : wge Bighuundinm gan agemosrnegin : oes | Roepe Bias Segiaggmmemiee friam . qadisbenin -avigynen ¥ oa. BBadpss ae somo on aun Bie eNeydes wnrcin mpasuesimeneS masrimsOp: semangacst mi Coble pening, ater eain wig taser) forest bereninetnl carey 4 zi ett ayy tiers. dog ely Say Soe ptm rentpisdidamnn ae cf tong aeons retonrtingond Yohey eee yor pert: ee Siren oPeactimcber emopciansion ety [iS er manuscript on paper, called Arann lhe ark of Seb apr) ded tke an acordon This ype a mean less forma than tana leaves, as often been used as notebook by the spell of heel (ac) tor recor extracts 0 the Murda covcaring ceremonies, ‘ull onto practices (es, medtatons, et) or mage (Aviation, meen, ee). The double page a this manaacrie reveals peste ‘wring which ext side by side na space tat was og stander near text Bt Mas been invaded Uy exter combate, The agra composed otters and figures enciined oa fre, tae hotles. Two syle af wins spp in ths te the OUNd wig (a 2a Serie the Pal and te carve wring (on) forthe alone.