Texture and Variety of Tibet Thangka

Texture of Tibet Thangka

The texture features of performance of Tibet Thangka determined its category. In early period, the pigments of Tibet Thangka most are mineral substance and plant pigments, like golden, silver, coral, agate, pearl, vermilion, turquoise, lapis lazuli and so on, as well as saffron, gamene, rhubarb and so other plant pigments. Hence, the color of Tibet Thangka is very pure and thick, strong and bright, and it will not fade even after thousands years. Tibet Thangka has distinctive unique color language with special meaning, which is very complex and strict. There is a fixed color pedigree which regarded red, blue, green, yellow, white, golden and black as keynote, while golden and black mainly used to draw lines and decoration. Each main color has a specific religious meaning in different subject. At the same time, it can make the picture beautiful and pleasant to eyes. This kind of color relationship was extracted by Buddhism artists after repeatedly trial and continuous generalization in thousand years. It is not the work of one painting school just in a short time.

Variety of Tibet Thangka

There are several varieties of Tibet Thangka. Based on its performance methods, Tibet Thangka can be divided into Painting Thangka, Printed Thangka, Brocade Thangka, Embroidery Thangka, Tapestry Thangka, Appliqué Thangka, Collage Thangka, and Pearl Thangka and so on. About the Painting Thangka, the texture includes canvas, silk, damask, paper, leather and wooden and so on. Among various Tibet Thangkas, the Thangka which painted with pigments was named "Chi-Thang' or "Zhi-Thang"; while other Thangkas which made by embroidery, tapestry, appliqué, print and so on are named "Gui-Thang", "Guo-Thang" or "Gui-Thang". Based on the usage of color, the "Chi-Thang" can be divided into Golden Thangka, Red Thangka, Colored Thangka, and Black Thangka and so on.

The "Gul-Thang" has several forms as bellow:

Silk Embroidery Gul-Thang is embroidered with colored sewing silk.

Applique Gul-Thang is a kind of Thangka which pieced by cutting and pasting colorful silk.

The Tapestry Gul-Thang is a kind of Thangka which knit by hand with various colorful sewing silk. There is a Thangka which made by thousands pearls in the Trundruk Monastery in Shannan. It is very precious, and regarded as the treasure of the monastery.

Silk Printed Gul-Thang has wooden plate, copper plate and iron plate and some other printing technology.

Based on the usage of pigments, the "Zhi–Thang" can be divided into Golden Thangka, Red Thangka, colored Thangka and Black Thangka and so on.

Colored Thangka, also named "Cui-Thang", is a kind of Thangka which painted with several kinds of color. It is the most common style in Tibet Thangka.

Golden Thangka, also named 'Sai-Thang", is a kind of Thangka which use golden pigments or pure gold to be ground color, and use red and black line to draw the image. The Golden Thangka is more precious among Tibet Thangka.

Red Thangka is a kind of Thangka use red as ground color, use golden, black or white to draw the image.

Black Thangka refers to the Thangka use black as ground color, use red, white or golden to drew the statue.