A Portrait of State Preceptor Xibi Baoyuan: Case Study of Identification

Abstract

This article is a case study of the engraving in the Tangut Buddhist text Xibi State Preceptor's Compendium of Admonitions to the World 推旃随鬱翩饒毒 written by the Buddhist monk of high rank, State Preceptor Xibi Baoyuan. For a long period of time left and right parts of this illustration existed separately in two editions of this book. For this reason, this text’s author in the illustration was identified incorrectly. The study of this engraving’s fragments allowed to join two engraving parts in their original form and helped to identify the genuine portrait of Xibi.