Tibetan Thangka
01 · Historical Records
According to historical records, by the 17th century Lhasa already had both government-run and private workshops producing piled-embroidery (duixiu) thangkas.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Lhasa piled-embroidery thangka is a type of thangka made using the piled-embroidery technique; it has a long history, a distinctive craft and a style of its own. Lhasa piled-embroidery thangkas are very strict in the selection of materials: early works had to use pure silk fabrics from India and elsewhere, though other fabrics could be substituted according to the customer's needs. Pure silk has excellent dyeing properties and can meet all the color requirements of piled-embroidery thangka production; it also has an elegant, pearl-like soft luster and is more sumptuous than ordinary cloth, suiting the aristocratic demand for luxury in thangkas of the period. The subjects of Lhasa piled-embroidery thangkas are mostly Buddhist stories and religious life, but also include legendary tales such as the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, the Buddha with the Lion's Roar, the Peach Banquet and the Eighteen Arhats. Its technique is primarily piled applique, with embroidery in a supporting role; the colors are strongly contrasted and the forms simple. The production process of Lhasa piled-embroidery thangkas is complex, involving pattern design, cutting, piled applique, embroidery, coloring of individual pattern parts, hanging pearls and other steps. In production, the line-drawing master draft is first divided into different parts according to color, and these parts are then drawn with charcoal pencil or traced separately onto transparent paper. The tracing is laid over the required fabric, and a cloth bag filled with colored powder is lightly tapped to make small perforations that leave marks on the silk; the outlines are then completed and the pieces cut out. Two silk threads of the required length are twisted together into a single strand, and this thickened strand is used to wind the horsehair tightly into the finished cord required—a distinctive feature of Lhasa piled embroidery. The prepared cord is then used to bind the edges of the cut-out patterns. Next, the embroidered component parts are piled and assembled one by one into the image in accordance with the line-drawing master draft, and sewn onto the ground cloth. Embroidery technique is used for the fine details of the image—the Buddha's face, facial features, fingernails, jewels and ritual implements—and for the color gradations of the halo, the aureole (back light), background mountains and waters, flames and auspicious clouds, making the picture more refined and vivid. Sometimes piled-embroidery thangkas are adorned with real gems and pearls at the customer's request. Finally, the mounted piled-embroidery thangka is consecrated by a high lama and enshrined in a chapel or assembly hall. Lhasa piled-embroidery thangkas are transmitted through the master-apprentice method. The Lhasa piled-embroidery thangka is an important component of Tibetan culture and art; it records the culture, history and development of Tibet, embodies the faith and wisdom of the Tibetan people, and expresses their religious concepts and aesthetic consciousness, giving it high historical and cultural value. It is a handicraft unique to Tibet, finely made and dazzlingly bright; as an object of veneration indispensable to Tibetan Buddhist belief, it has high value for artistic appreciation and collection.
Thread made by wrapping silk around horsehair
The distinctive step of Lhasa appliqué: two lengths of silk are twisted into one strand, which then wraps horsehair tightly into the finished cord used to bind the cut shapes.
Design, cutting, appliqué, embroidery, colouring and beading
The working sequence: the outline draft is divided by colour, drawn in charcoal or traced on transparent paper, then powdered through a cloth bag onto the fabric and cut out.
Selecting Indian silk
Materials were strictly chosen: early appliqué scrolls required silk from India or elsewhere, though other cloths were used on request; silk takes dye well and has a soft pearly sheen finer than ordinary fabric.
Appliqué as principal, embroidery as auxiliary
Applied cloth dominates and embroidery assists, giving strong colour contrast and simple form; faces, features, nails, jewels and ritual objects as well as haloes, flames and clouds are embroidered, and real gems may be sewn in to order.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Its integration with tourism is of positive significance for exploring paths of culture-tourism integration and promoting local economic development.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Tibetan Thangka · Tibetan Thangka · Tibetan Thangka · Tibetan Thangka · Tibetan Thangka · Tibetan Thangka · Tibetan Thangka · Tibetan Thangka · Tibetan Thangka · Tibetan Thangka · Tibetan Thangka · Tibetan Thangka · Tibetan Thangka · Tibetan Thangka.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
After several hundred years of transmission and development, this project is now found mainly in Lhasa, Shigatse and Shannan in the Tibet Autonomous Region, and in Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. The government attaches great importance to its conservation and transmission, establishing transmission and learning bases and actively cultivating successors; it supports publicity and exhibition activities, combining thangka production with tourism and incorporating cultural and creative products, so that the craft is integrated into life and the times to the greatest extent possible. At present, the project is in a good state of survival; its inheritors actively carry out conservation and transmission work, effectively raising the incomes of local farmers and herders through culture-tourism integration and other channels.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Danbaraodan 01-0063
- Gesangcidan 01-0064
- Yandengzeren 04-1748
- Luobusida 04-1749
- Xirebu 04-1750
- Jiumai 04-1751
- Lameng 05-2581
- Cirenluobu 05-2582
- Zhaxi 05-2583
- Gade 05-2584
- Mimaciren 05-2585
- Jiaobajiabu 05-2586
- Qujiu
- Gesang
- Nima
- Tudengweise
- Gamadanzeng
- Luozhubasong
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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