「瓔珞」Art Museum, CUHK

香港中文大學文物館 Art Museum, CUHK

【每週精選文物 Work of the Week】
<瓔珞前傳> (please scroll down for English version)

在「瓔珞」成為「天生脾氣暴、不好惹」的宮鬥劇女主角，威名傳遍大街小巷之前，這個雅緻的詞語其實是作為源於古印度文化的一種飾物而為人所識的。

瓔與珞都指似玉的美石。由各種珠玉連綴而成的瓔珞多作頸飾、胸飾，華貴非凡，本是古印度王公貴族熱愛的身分象徵，傳入中國後也廣受喜愛。坡公有「亭下佳人錦繡衣，滿身瓔珞綴明璣」之句；《紅樓夢》中黛玉初見鳳姐、寶玉二人時，兩人分別佩「赤金盤螭瓔珞圈」和繫着通靈寶玉的「金螭瓔珞」。唐朱揆《釵小志》又載宮中伶人戴上七寶瓔珞表演霓裳羽衣舞，舞罷「珠翠可掃」。種種記載都為瓔珞抹上一種既奢華又浪漫的感覺，就不知劇組是否因而選用瓔珞作為女主角的名字呢？

其實除了為凡塵男女妝點身體，增添貴氣之外，瓔珞更為人熟知的是其宗教意義，常用於裝飾神像，或由皇室成員、宗教儀式中的通神者佩戴，具有神聖象徵。這類瓔珞通常呈半月狀，中部裝飾瑞獸或杜爾迦、度母等神祇。下圖這件金嵌寶石瓔珞就是一例，中央由綠松石和金薄片組成綠度母（Syamatārā），綠度母左右兩側分別飾以綠松石和紅珊瑚鑲嵌而成的蓮花。半月形瓔珞之邊緣裝飾聯珠紋一周。

本品現正於文物館展出，快些來參觀展覽看實物吧！
展覽名稱：雪漠玲瓏：喜馬拉雅與蒙古珍品
展覽日期：由2018年9月30日至2019年2月24日
展覽地點：香港中文大學文物館展廳 II及III

本文節錄轉載自《中大通訊》第524期，全文請看：http://www.iso.cuhk.edu.hk/…/publ…/CUHKUPDates/article.aspx…

#瓔珞 #古印度文化 #煲劇與藝術
#尼泊爾 #金嵌寶石綠度母瓔珞 #喜瑪拉雅藝術
#雪漠玲瓏
#中大文物館 #承訓堂 #夢蝶軒
#每週精選文物
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文物資料 Information of the Work
金嵌寶石綠度母瓔珞 Breastplate necklace with Syamatārā
尼泊爾，20 世紀 Nepal, 20th century
通長L 33cm，寬W 28cm，厚TH1.3cm
夢蝶軒藏品Mengdiexuan collection
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Yingluo is the name of the protagonist of a Chinese historical drama very popular recently. In fact, before it comes to represent the charming royal concubine, yingluo is more commonly known for being a type of ornament originated from ancient India culture.

Both “ying” and “luo” means jade-like stones. Mostly used as necklace or breast ornaments, yingluo is a glamorous accessory made of joint beautiful stones. It was a symbol of status for the aristocrats in ancient India and when entered China together with the spread of Buddhism, it earned wide admiration and left traces in literary works. It was also recorded in a Tang dynasty document that entertainers in the Tang court performed the famous rainbow-dress dance wearing yingluo and afterwards a broom was needed to sweep the beautiful beads and feathers dropped all over the floor. Perhaps it is this feeling of luxury and romance that made the scriptwriter name his character as Yingluo?

Apart from adorning human bodies for the sake of beauty, yingluo also has a strong religious association. It is often used to adorn the divine either in their form as statues or select living persons-like the Kumari (a living goddess in the form of a pre-pubescent girl), a member of the royal family, or a spirit medium. Yingluo like this are usually wide flat gorgets featuring auspicious animals or goddesses like Durga and Tārā. The current piece is an example. At its center is a Syamatārā made of turquoise and gold foil, supported by lotuses made of turquoise and red coral on her two sides. The rim of the gorget is decorated in joint-bead pattern.

The gorgeous piece is currently on show in the Art Museum. Do come and visit it!
Exhibition title: Jewels of Transcendence: Himalayan and Mongolian Treasures
Exhibition Period: From 30 September 2018 to 24 February 2019
Venue: Gallery II & III, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

#yingluo #ancientindiaculture #historicaldrama
#Nepal #breastplatenecklace #HimalayanArt
#JewlsofTranscendence
#artmuseumcuhk #Chengxuntang #Mengdiexuan
#WorkoftheWeek

A full version of this article was originally published in No. 524, CUHK Newsletter (Chinese only): http://www.iso.cuhk.edu.hk/…/publ…/CUHKUPDates/article.aspx…