Tibetan Thangka
01 · Historical Records
The Kangmensa thangka is one of the important schools of Tibetan thangka, created by Zhuba Pubu Zeren in the 18th century CE, with a history of more than 300 years to the present. It originated in Karuo District, Chamdo City, Tibet Autonomous Region, and is now distributed mainly in Chamdo City and Shigatse City in the Tibet Autonomous Region, in Baiyu, Dege and Xinlong counties of Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and in Regong County, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Its peaceful and wrathful Buddha images are clearly distinguished. The peaceful images are serene and delicate, while the wrathful ones are exaggerated and ferocious, the finest touch being the hair, eyebrows, beard and body hair of the wrathful figures rendered as flames. Its layout is distinctive: apart from the main Buddha and the surrounding figures, the composition includes treasures, celestial maidens, clouds, flowers, plants and divine beasts, all complementing one another in harmonious beauty. Thangkas of this school are finely painted, with exaggerated forms and strongly contrasting colors, mostly using flat washes of pure color and gold-line outlining. They are painted with colored mineral pigments and remain brilliantly colored even after a hundred years. Most Kangmensa thangkas are religious in theme, with rich subject matter including myths and legends, historical stories, ethnic customs and natural landscapes; they are a distinctive form of illustrated teaching text for Tibetan Buddhism. Representative works include the murals of the Great Lhakhang (assembly hall) of Kathok Monastery, Kathok Monastery's Eight Praises of the Lotus and Eight Great Practices, and the Twelve Great Deeds of Shakyamuni Buddha carved at the Derge Parkhang (scripture printing house). At present, the project is in good condition. With brilliant colors and exquisite production, it embodies the aesthetic inclinations of the Tibetan people and has high artistic value.
Drubpa Phuntsok Tsering and the eighteenth century
Created in the eighteenth century by Drubpa Phuntsok Tsering and over three hundred years old, the style arose in Karub district of Chamdo and now reaches Shigatse, Baiyü, Dêgê and Nyagrong in Ganzi and Rebkong in Qinghai.
Peaceful and wrathful images
Peaceful and wrathful images are sharply distinguished — the peaceful serene and refined, the wrathful exaggerated and fierce with hair and beard flaring as flame — and the layout sets treasures, goddesses, clouds and beasts around the main figures in harmony.
Fusing the strengths of three schools
The school combines the proportion system of Menthang, the ornament of Khyentse and the modelling of Karma Gardri, standing apart among Tibetan schools by its distinctive technique.
Kathok monastery and the Dêgê printing house
The murals of the main temple at Kathok, its Lotus Eight Epithets and Eight Practices, and the twelve deeds of Shakyamuni carved at the Dêgê printing house are counted among the school's representative works.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Kangmensa thangka combines the proportional system of the Mentang school, the beautifying decoration of the Khyenri school and the three-dimensional modeling methods of the Karma Gadri school, integrating the strengths of these three great schools; with its distinctive painting technique, it stands out among the many schools of Tibetan thangka. It has increased the incomes of farmers and herders, promoted local economic development, and made a positive contribution to building a harmonious society.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Kangmensa thangka is transmitted mainly through the master-apprentice method and oral instruction. In recent years, with the development of intangible cultural heritage conservation, traditional family transmission and apprenticeship at painting academies have become the two principal forms of transmission. The government attaches great importance to its conservation and transmission and has adopted a variety of measures: carrying out collation and archiving work to provide safeguards for transmission; strengthening theoretical research and encouraging inheritors to publish treatises, making transmission more standardized and accessible; helping inheritors to establish enterprises and found painting academies, cultivating successors while helping local people increase their incomes; and actively participating in exhibitions and displays to strengthen publicity and promotion. The Kangmensa thangka is a form of expression of Tibetan folk painting art and an important component of traditional ethnic culture; it meets the spiritual needs of the broad public and is an important vehicle for the study of Tibetan religious history, cultural history and art history.
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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