Common thangka classifications and content differentiation

Thangkas range from colorful Buddha statues to images reflecting Tibetan history and ethnic customs. The composition of Tibetan thangka is rigorous, balanced, plump and changeable, and the painting methods are mainly heavy colors and white paintings.

There are many varieties of thangkas, in addition to painted thangkas and printed thangkas, there are embroidery, brocade (pile embroidery), silk, appliqués and pearl thangkas. Embroidered thangkas are embroidered with various colors of silk thread, and all landscapes, figures, flowers, feathers, pavilions, pavilions, etc. can be embroidered. Brocade thangka is made of satin pattern, with several colors of silk as the weft, inter-fault jacquard and woven, pasted on the fabric, so it is also called "pile embroidery". The decal thangka is made of satin of various colors, cut into various figures and figures, and pasted on the fabric. Silk thangka is a method of "through the warp and weft", using various colored weft lines only for strong decoration. Some also put pearls and jade gemstones on the colorful patterns, and the pearls and jade stones are decorated with gold wire, and the beads are combined and the gold colors shine brightly, which is particularly brilliant and dazzling. Silk reeling is a special handicraft unique to the mainland that transplants paintings onto silk fabrics. These fabric thangkas are tight and thick in texture, rigorous in composition, exquisite in pattern and brilliant in color. Tibetan fabric thangka is specially made in the interior, especially in the Ming Dynasty Yongle and Chenghua years to Tibet, and later Tibet can also produce embroidery and decal fabric thangka. There are two kinds of printed thangkas, one is framed after printing in full chromatic color, and the other is to first engrave the painted image into a carved board, print it on thin silk or muslin cloth with ink, and then color it and frame it. This kind of thangka, the stroke is slender, the knife technique is vigorous, the color is mostly ink dyed outside, and the Zhu painting is inside, the layers are clear and unique. The pattern needs to be intertwined with the warp silk everywhere, and it is regarded as an image of carving, with elegant style and three-dimensional decorative effect. At present, most of the sales on the market are printed thangkas and drawn thangkas.

Classification of thangkas

The most common size of thangka is a banner shape, the bottom edge leaves a large blank, the size is generally 75 cm long, 50 cm wide, in addition to the banner thangka, you can also see the banner-shaped thangka: this thangka is a large length of 1.10 meters, the width of the bar is about 3.5 meters.

According to the materials used to make thangkas, thangkas can be divided into two main categories. One type of thangka made of silk is called "Guotang", and the other is called "Stop Tang".

1. Guo Tang (Silk Thangka)

According to the different silk materials, "Guo Tang" also has the following five types:

(1) Embroidery like "Guo Tang": This is a kind of thangka that is hand-embroidered with a variety of different silk threads.

(2) Silk surface "National Tang": The production of this kind of thangka is to cut various colors of silk into various shapes of cloth blocks, and then use needles to stitch together the various colored pieces of cloth that are put together into a picture.

(3) Silk paste "Guo Tang": This kind of thangka is similar to (2), except that various colored cloth pieces cut into pieces are glued to the canvas to form a picture.

(4) Hand-woven "Guo Tang": a kind of thangka woven by hand with silk thread.

(5) Printing "Guo Tang": This kind of thangka is printed directly on silk silk with ink or cinnabar as pigment, and the cover plate is mainly wood plate, and occasionally also uses copper plate or iron plate.

The largest size in the "Guo Tang" is called "Guogu". Because it is too big, it cannot be hung out casually, in fact, this kind of thangka is only used on some special occasions, and the "Guogu" Tang Card is hung on the outer wall of the temple, or hung on the Sunbathing Buddha Platform specially built for hanging the "Guogu" Thangka. The Potala Palace is the largest "Guogu" thangka, 55.80 meters high and 46.81 meters wide. This thangka was produced by regent Sangye Gyatso after the death of the Fifth Dalai Lama. Thangka depicts the Buddha of immeasurable light.

II. "Stop Tang Dynasty" (Painting Thangka)

Due to the variety of painting methods of thangkas, there are also many kinds of "stop Tang". People mainly distinguish the types of "Stop Tang" according to the different colors of the pigments used in the background:

(1) Cai Tang: A kind of thangka painted with various colors of pigment as a background.

(2) Golden Tang: A kind of thangka that draws a background with golden paint.

(3) Vermilion Tang: A kind of thangka that draws a background with scarlet paint.

(4) Black Tang: Only use ink color to draw the background of the thangka.

(5) Printing "Stop Tang": The production method of this kind of thangka is the same as that of making the print "Guo Tang". The only difference is that "Guo Tang" is printed on canvas made of silk, while "Stop Tang" is printed on canvas made of cotton.

The largest "Stop Tang" is 3 meters long and 2 meters wide; the smallest "Stop Tang" is only 30 cm long and 20 cm wide

Other paintings

I. Mandala Painting Similar to thangka, there are also mandala paintings. This is a circular painting painted on a square canvas. If the mandala painting is decorated with brocade on the side, this sometimes occurs, and the painter paints the mandala on a strip-shaped canvas. The mandala paintings come in various sizes, the largest one is 1 meter square, the larger one is larger, and of course it can be painted on the ceiling.

Zigley painting Zioli painting is a kind of pocket painting, because of its size, it can not be decorated with brocade at all, and its largest size is 15×20 cm. The most common format is the banner shape, which depicts various gods, and sometimes paints artifacts such as stupas.

Third, the head god painting The head god painting is a pocket painting that is often used as a book illustration, and when used as a book illustration, it is called a head god painting. This kind of painting is usually sandwiched in the middle of the book or placed on the edge of the page.

This game uses a game board called "Sara Nanxia", and this "chessboard" with images can reach up to 2×1. 5 meters. Sara Nanxia games are a bit like Western snake array games or trapezoidal games, except that Sara Nanxia is a game with religious purposes. The "chessboard" has six different areas, each of which can be "resurrected", and the different chess paths representing the life of the Buddha are depicted in the form of paintings. When playing this type of game, everyone who plays the game places their "chess pieces" (small stones, wooden sticks, coins, etc.) in the center of the chessboard, which represents the South Zhanbu Continent. The player can then roll the dice, which are not painted with figures but written with six letters, one on each side, and each letter has a corresponding Buddhist meaning. The letters contain content are written below the six areas of the board. When playing. Move each person's "chess pieces" in turn according to the letters rolled by the dice.

Fresco murals are a very popular form of painting. Because the painting is on the wall, it is called a mural. Murals depict mainly religious themes, depicting gods and other spirits, religious stories, etc., in monasteries, temple characters, palaces, private residences, sheds, caravanserais and various guest houses can be seen, sometimes outdoor painting murals, the ceiling of the temple hall is often painted murals, occasionally painted on the beams and pillars of the prayer hall.

The forms of painting already mentioned above are mainly used to express religious themes. Paintings may depict portraits of lamas and gods, or they may depict offerings or the life deeds of Buddhist disciples; depict the heavenly court where buddhists live in fantasies, depict the bunsen stories of Buddhas or great monks, and also depict the architectural scenes of monasteries. Some depict only offerings or six reincarnations, and there is a painting "Spartahorn" that prevents disasters in all directions.

In addition, there are paintings with non-religious themes. Some of these paintings depict historical themes, and some depict the epic hero King Gesar.

There is also a section of painting that has no religious overtones. Depict the past, present, and future of secular society; depict objects of legends, flowers, plants, and other secular content.

Some of these secular paintings contain symbolism of blessings, the most famous of which are the following nine:

(1) Eight auspicious.

(2) Eight mascots.

(3) Seven royal treasures.

(4) Seven treasures.

(5) Discord Battle Chart.

(6) Harmony four brothers figure.

(7) Mongol Guide Tiger Chart.

(8) Image drawing by the nose.

(9) Six longevity charts.

Next, please enjoy a group of Matou Ming Wang Thangka numbered 138-290283: