Mudra
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A mudra is a symbolic or ritual gesture or pose in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers.
A 10th century Chola dynasty bronze sculpture of the Hindu god Nataraja (Shiva) posing various mudras
Indian Buddha Shakyamuni statue making the bhūmisparśa or "earth witness" mudra, c. 850
12th-century Japanese scroll showing different mudra gestures
Korea's National Treasure 119. The right hand shows abhayamudra while the left is in the varadamudra.
Chironomia
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Chironomia is the art of using gesticulations or hand gestures to good effect in traditional rhetoric or oratory. Effective use of the hands, with or without the use of the voice, is a practice of gre
Mudra
…For example the "knife hand" or shuto gesture is subtly concealed in some Koryu kata, and in Buddhist statues, representing the sword of enlightenment. Chironomia Gesticulation in Italian…
Hand gestures images. Austin, Gilbert. Chironomia, or a Treatise on Rhetorical Delivery. London: 1806. Ed. Mary Margaret Robb and Lester Thonssen. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois UP, 1966. Clasped, crossed, and folded hand positions. (Chironomia Plate 8, Figures 75, 76, 78)
Chirologia, 1644
Representations of Jesus often employ various rhetorical gestures, as seen on this statue in a shop window in Little Portugal, Toronto.