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Chinese Culture – Regong Art of Qinghai Province(1)

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Originating in the Wuhe River Valley of Qinghai Province (Tongren County of the Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture), Regong art is a successful mix of religious art by Tibetan and Tu ethnic minorities and local folk arts. To better protect the art, it was included in the second phase of the National Folk Culture Protection Project in April 2004.

Regong art includes paintings (murals and scrolls called “thangka ” in Tibetan), clay and wooden sculptures, barbola, color paintings on buildings, patterns, butter sculptures , and so on. Among these, the paintings, sculptures and designs are most famous.

The contents of Regong art ranges from the story of the Sakyamuni, Bodhisattvas, Buddhist guardians and fairies, to Buddhist stories.

The art — an important genre in Tibetan Buddhism — has a history of more than 700 years. It is called ” the flower on the Tibetan Plateau” and “a magnifient pearl of Chinese art”.

Tongren: Birthplace of Regong art

Along the Yellow River to the southeast of Qinghai Province, Tongren County is reputed as the “Home of Tibetan Culture and Art”. Tongren, also called “Regong” in Tibetan, is where the art form sprang up along with the rise of Lamaism and the construction of lamaseries, mainly reflecting the Tibetan Buddhist culture.

By the mid-17th century, Regong had become a village where nearly everyone could paint, and every family was engaged in the art. The people of Regong handed down the art from generation to generation, and now almost everyone there is an artisan.

（Source: chinaculture.org）

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Chinese Culture – Brick and stone reliefs: Chinese paintings in 3-D(5)

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
A red colored rubbing of an Eastern Han stone showing a Lord on an excursion, accompanied by his servants. The rubbing scholar has added a poem.
Even the architecture of the Han Dynasty can be reconstructed because a brick and its rubbing of a city gate have survived. The gate is flanked by two mighty towers with watching platforms at its top. On the roof of the gate we see a phoenix, a symbol of happiness, luck and longevity. We also find models of towers, palaces and farms in the tombs of the Han nobility that are scattered all over China.
An item that is found in tombs and can be seen in pictorial art, is the one horse chariot of the Han dynasty. It was used by an aristocrat and the chariot leader. A halfmoon shaped axes indicates the rank of the owner of this chariot. Brick and rubbing are both conserved.
We see not only the life of the nobility but also the daily work the peasants had to do. This rubbing of an Eastern Han brick shows two men shooting ducks and harvesting peasants.
A further example of a picture that shows a scene in daily life is this rubbing of an Eastern Han brick, demonstrating the work in a butcher’s shop, where we see meet being chopped, hanged up, dried and boiled.
As a source of Han social history, this picture of a store can be used as an ideal illustrative material. The trader sells sheep and a kind of wine.
The period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties was dominated by warriors of Chinese and Non-Chinese origin. This brick shows a cavalry soldier with his heavily armored horse.
Southern Dynasties court ladies. On this brick we can admire the costumes, hair fashion and the large shoes of the 5th century dam

（Source: chinaculture.org）

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Chinese Culture – Brick and stone reliefs: Chinese paintings in 3-D(4)

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
An imprint of an Eastern Han Dynasty brick depicting two mythical creators of the world, Fuxi, and his sister Nuwa. The figures have snake-shaped bodies and are holding geometrical instruments, with the sun and moon on their heads.
Dragons and lions had already developed during the Warring States period. During the Han Dynasty they became a very popular motif. These two examples are playing with a jade disk, a symbol of heavenly contact with the owner of the disk.
Another picture that shows mythical tradition is this rubbing of a brick from the Eastern Han Dynasty. These two birds with a man’s head symbolize the moon and the sun. On the moon lives a toad, on the sun a crow.
This rubbing of an Eastern Han Dynasty stone has a special religious background. Especially during the Han dynasty, the veneration of the so-called Mother Queen of the West was very popular among many social groups, peasantry as well as upper class. In this picture, we see the mythical animals toad, crow and hare and people making chariot wheels.

（Source: chinaculture.org）

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