Regong means "golden valley" in Tibetan, and geographically refers to the Longwu River basin in Tongren County, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. Located in the transition zone between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Loess Plateau, its center Longwu River Valley on both sides of the agriculture and animal husbandry are very developed, the unique geographical environment for the prosperity of Regong art to provide good material conditions, Regong art is an important school of Tibetan Buddhist art in the mainland, mainly including thangka, pile embroidery, sculpture, architectural painting, pattern, butter flowers and other art forms, is the product of the interplay between different regions of the Tibetan nationality and the culture of the Tibetan and Han ethnic groups.
In the Tibetan and Turkish villages of Wutun, Nianduhu, Guomari and Gashari in the Regong area, for hundreds of years, nine out of ten men in the village have inherited the folk Buddhist painting art that came out of the monastery.
Niandhu Monastery is a typical Tibetan Buddhist temple, it is the Tibetan word "Nian Du Hu Gar Tashi Dajilin", which means "Nian Du is auspicious and prosperous". It is located 1 km north of Tongren County, at the foot of Beishan Mountain, the seat of the Nianduhu Township Government. Built by Dan Zhiqin at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the temple has a history of nearly 400 years. During the third summer period of Kuronetun Chilie (1740-1794 AD), it became a temple of Longwu Temple, and in addition to the large-scale and exquisite murals and embroidery that dominated the world, there are many religious relics that are precious.
We were granted permission to shoot without flash, and finally we can see the mystery of Tibetan Buddhist temples.
The Qing dynasty murals of Nianduhu Temple now exist in the Sazen Lakang Hall (also known as the Mauran Jiang Hall) and the Maitreya Hall. According to research, the author of the murals of the temple of Satzen Rakang was the famous painter of the late 17th and mid-18th centuries, Kari Panzhi Dhara Zangshi Rao, and there is no doubt that the murals should have been painted in 1732 when the temple was built. The murals of the Maitreya Hall were mainly painted by the masters and apprentices of Vitang Huadan and Tserang Duanzhi, dating from the mid-eighteenth century. Among them, the eight frescoes in the temple of Sazen Lakang are the earliest and most representative works of Regong art in existence. The murals are written for Bunsen, Tsongkhapa, Vajra, Vajra, Vajra, etc., and the Burning Lamp Buddha. The mural "Legend of the Sixteen Arhats" (3.80 meters× 40.05 meters) in Maitreya Hall is the largest surviving mural work in the Regong area, and the whole picture occupies the left, middle and right walls of the hall.
The murals of the Sazenrakang Hall are mainly distributed on the four walls inside and outside the hall. Due to wind erosion and man-made damage, it is difficult to recognize the images of the 9 murals outside the hall. Among them, the murals on both sides of the door have disappeared, but according to the characteristics of the layout of the temple murals in the Regong area, they should be the two mountain gods Amimaqin and Amishaqiong. The murals in the hall are basically well preserved, and the layout is completely symmetrical to the outer wall, but because the middle of the back wall occupies the position of a fresco due to the statue of Maitreya, only 8 murals are painted. On both sides of the door are the fearful Vajra and the sheep riding tool to swear the Vajra; On the left and right walls is the biography of Shakyamuni; On the back wall are the Burning Lamp Buddha and Tsongkhapa.
Photos are no substitute for any scenery and artwork, only being there is king.
Regong art takes many forms and even permeates every aspect of life, and even the rooms at the Zambala Youth Hostel are decorated in a strong Tibetan style.
Fine art decorations can be found in all corners of the temple.
Even the girls' costumes can be found with traces of Regong culture.
Due to the high heat wave of Regong's hand-painted thangka, not only collectors and Buddhist believers buy them, but also ordinary tourists who visit Tibetan areas to buy thangkas as souvenirs. In the streets of Tongren County and Wutun Village, there are many shops selling Thangka, and many monks of temples have partnered with others to open shops, forming a one-stop industrial chain.
We visited a huge Regong Cultural Palace outside the city.
The exhibits inside are not only huge, but also extremely exquisite, but unfortunately I don't know much and can only look at the flowers.
The young owner of the Cultural Palace, Qi Yuxuan has the feeling of a character in a play.
There are many painters in the Palace of Culture who paint on the spot, and the selection of canvases is the first procedure of thangka painting, and the canvases are mostly made of thick white cotton, cut and stretched on the easel. On sunny days, a layer of wood glue is applied to the canvas, another layer of plaster is applied, and after drying, the cloth is repeatedly milled with fine stones until it is smooth and flat, without subtle holes. Now it's time to lay the draft. The pen for the base is charcoal made from the sharpened point of birch sticks, and the lattice is first drawn according to the Sutra of Measurement, and then the sketch of the statue is sketched in the grid.
Traditional Regong Thangka artists, the craft is passed on only to relatives or apprentices, not to girls; Now Thangka artists not only bring female apprentices, but also not only Tibetans, but also many children from all over the world.
I climbed to the top floor to meet the pair of apprentices, which was their dormitory.
The welcoming host offered me a small ceremony, but in the end I didn't understand what it meant.
Colorful gates and cool janitors, a bit of a South American feel.
In the village of Regon, there is a painting shop a few steps away, either a studio, a painting academy, an art company. There are more than 360 "Chinese Arts and Crafts Masters" in the country, 4 in Qinghai Province, and 4 masters are all in Wutun. The pedestrians in the village, a farmer carrying a hoe to the field, a monk twisting a rosary in his hand, may be the famous Thangka painter. These artistic villages in the Longwu River Valley exude a refined temperament, and everyone is as quiet as water, but the still water is deep and unfathomable.
We were fortunate enough to walk into the home of a national master of arts and crafts whose children and apprentices were painting thangkas.
Master of Xihe Dao, he studied with the Thangka painter Gaizang in the Tibetan area since childhood. On the basis of inheriting and carrying forward traditional techniques, Saihe Do's persistent pursuit, faith appraisal, tireless and rich achievements, on the basis of inheriting and carrying forward traditional techniques, absorbing the strengths of hundreds of schools, forming a gorgeous and generous work, fine and complex picture composition, rigorous and delicate. It's a pity that we didn't see the master's work in a hurry, it is said to be worth a lot, from 3 million.
The friends were attracted by the painter and were really dumbfounded
Is it easy for big friends to take a good photo?
The traditional pigments for drawing Thangka include natural mineral pigments such as gold, silver, pearl, agate, coral, turquoise, malachite, cinnabar and natural plant pigments such as saffron, rhubarb, and indigo, and the basic colors are red, yellow, blue, green and white, which can be concocted into dozens and hundreds of colors. Coloring is followed by gold tracing, that is, drawing the image again with gold juice. The use of gold is one of the important features of Regong Thangka, and it is used in gold tracing and in the final processes such as paving gold, polishing and opening the eyes.
We walked around the master's house, and this Tibetan-style stove was very distinctive for the first time.
And good food.
These large and even huge ones can only be seen during festivals.
The development of Regong art has also brought many influences and changes to local culture and life, and this Guomari stupa is very different from the white pagoda of most Tibetan Buddhism, and the colorful costume is reflected.
Although the trip was short, the charm of the Golden Valley was unforgettable.
(Text data from the Internet)