TangKa 

    Tangka,in Tibetan, is the scroll painting of Buddhism, decorated by the colored painting satin. It is the famous kind of religious painting artifact in Tibetan culture.

    The contents of TangKa is widely, including the figure of Buddha, the picture of preaching a sermon, the story of the Buddhist scripture and the Buddhists, the history of the society, thecustom , astronomy calendar, Tibetan doctor and medicine and the picture of autopsy.

    TangKa can be divided into two parts: painted TangKa, painted on the cloth, paper and leather, using and opaque mineral.

    The other is woven TangKa including embroidery , brocade, tapestry, clip and stack. The famous embroidery is stack embroidery and its technique is very peculiar, called the one of the ¡°Three Wonders Artifacts¡±.

    It is made by multi-colored silk and satin cut out the figures filled with cotton or sheep¡¯s wool. Thus, the protruded figures are sewn on the lining cloth and forming relief sculpture. The small clip and stack woven

    TangKa is only several centimeters , and the big is thirty to forty meters width, fifty to sixty meters height. For example, airing the Buddha image in Kumbum Monastery,the image covers the whole hillside.

    The drawing of TangKa according to the principles of Buddist Scripture of Painting Measurement strictly. The composition of a picture is well-knit, harmonious and abundant.

    The fine brush work should be used in drawing TangKa, strong color tones, applying color to the drawing layer upon layer.

    The drawing procedure is : outline, sketch, colored, apply different colors to the drawing, resketch, lay gold , sketch golden lines, prune, read Buddhist scripture for it and border the sides.

    And among them , laying gold and sketching the golden lines are the important techniques of expression.

    The pigments used in drawing TangKa are gold.,silver and other different kinds of natural minerals. Except for them, in drawing top grade TangKa, coral, agate, pearl, gam and saffron crocus are used and their qualities and color are more beautiful and bright, and unchanged for a long time.

    The usage of TangKa is widespread in the folk , especially in Tibetan region. We can find them in temples, monasteries and houses.

 Fresco Fresco

    Fresco Fresco is a painting form with long history. There are some kinds of fresco and they are indispensable in the Tibetan temple.

     Two kinds of fresco are used in Qinghai: one is wall fresco: painting directly on the tidy wall; the other is plaster fresco. The artists treat a long piece of painting cloth with soaking , pressing and brushing glue so that it becomes more softer and smoother .

    After that, they stretch the cloth on and embroidery frame made according to the right size of the wall. Then they use fine brush works with the techniques of strong color tones to draw the designs on the cloth.

    When the painting finished, it will be inlayed in the wall. The technique of drawing is the same as TangKa, excepting the expansive volume.



Butter Flower

    Butter flower is a kind of distinctive sculpture art made of butter. It is a beautiful wonder in Tibetan culture.  The butter flower in Ta¡¯er Monastery is well-known in Tibetan area, called the one of ¡°the Three Wonders¡±. Kumbum Monastery Butter flower Latern Festival is on the 15th of the first lunar month per year.

 An artist lama is making butter flower.

    Two flower frames are very high, appreciated by thousands and thousands of people. The manufacture of butter flower includes a complete series of organization and scientific procedure. 
                                                                                       
    The place made butter flower is called Flower Yard. There are two flower yards in Kumbum Monastery.   .

    In Qinghai-Tibet Plateau it is cool, especially in summer and it is good for the monks to make butter flower. The pure butter is washed, rubbed , modeled and etc. Then the splendid scene with the lively story formed.
                                                                      
    The butter flower artistry reflects not only flowers and plants , but also Buddhist story and the Eight Tibetan drama, and the contemporary subject, such as the Founding Ceremony and Cut the Mountain for a Road.

    The butter flower artistry carries on the characteristic of the Tibetan Buddhist artistry: ¡°exquisite, manifold and skillful¡±. 

     The design and manufacture of the butter flower are passed on from the master and the apprentice by the mouth and the  hand in close circumstances.

    The two Flower Yards are different from the subject and the manufacture. 

            Artist lamas are making butter flower.

    They keep their own techniques secret, and thus form the independent sects. They are developed in the competition and express to the people their achievement by the new techniques and new-look: mountain, river, building, pavilion, flower, tree, bird and beast. Among them there are hundreds of people.

     All these designs are interlock and jagged. The biggest one is two meters, and the smallest one is several centimeters.

    The people¡¯s figures are exquisite, coordinated, vivid and different. Some figures can walk back and forth like wooden images so that they look mystery and lively.

    The whole flower frame unfolds a historical picture scroll to people by its bright-colored, beautiful, well-knit, coherent and powerful.

    On the 15th day of the first lunar month, a special butter flower lantern festival lights up the Kumbum Monastery. As a mecca for Tibetan Buddhists, the temple has just finished preparation for the festival and will soon receive its first batch of visitors. Editem.