Handiworks in Qinghai

Qinghai, located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in northwest China, is a cultural melting pot. The area is home to many ethnicities: Han, Tibetan, Hui, Tu, Sala, and Mongolian, to name a few. Meanwhile, Qinghai is also a holy land for Tibetan Buddhism. The religious and folk art that stems from Tibetan Buddhism has become an important part of Chinese culture and adds brilliance to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Now, let's follow our reporter Ning Yan to reach deep into the amazing artistic roots of Qinghai.

Reporter:

Lying in the southeast of Qinghai Province, Tongren County is the birthplace of Regong Art, an important genre of Tibetan Buddhist art. Regong means "golden valley", and is the Tibetan name for the Tongren area.

With a long history spanning more than 700 years, Regong art includes yak butter sculptures; clay and wooden sculptures; barbola, a technique that uses cutting and piling to portray images; and paintings on murals and scrolls called "Tangka" in Tibetan. These unique art forms have reached deep into the everyday life of the local people and can be found almost everywhere in Tongren -- on the walls, bricks, stones, clothes and buildings.

The Tangka, barbola and sculptures of Regong Art feature refined craftsmanship and regal colors. This art is famous around the world, yet most Regong art in Tibetan areas is created locally.

The increasing popularity of Regong art has brought economic prosperity to the local people. Qiao Yingju knows about the marketability of these handcrafts. She is skilled at barbola embroidery, a special Tibetan brocade, and sells her works. The Chinese name of this art form, Dui Xiu, highlights the cutting and piling technique employed in barbola.

"The business is going well. I've made more than 10 thousand yuan selling my embroidery works. I believe the market demand will increase. So I'm planning to get some helping hands. "

Qiao Yingju acquired her exquisite barbola skills from her mother. She says it takes a lot of effort to make a beautiful piece of embroidery. The artisan needs to select silks and satins of different colors according to their artistic vision, cut them into human, animal, flower and bird shapes of a certain size, and then fill the cloth with cotton or wool. Finally the convex pieces are stitched and pieced together on a larger piece of cloth to depict a vivid story or phenomenal scene.

The work of barbola embroidery produces a strong three-dimensional effect that looks like a colored embossment made of silk.

Barbola subjects generally come from Buddhist stories, and most of them focus on people. The art works give prominence to their major subjects and employ vivid colors and exquisite details to create strong contrasts.

Dawa is also trying to make money from the ethnic handcrafts. He is currently developing the market share of Tangka, an artistic form of the Regong lineage. Tangka works are painted or embroidered images rendered on cloth, silk or paper, which is then mounted on a cloth backing and may be rolled up like a scroll when not hung.

"These artworks signify the creativity, talents and time resources of their creators. But not many people have the chance to appreciate their art values. So we need to bring our artistic pieces to more people; what I'm doing now is introducing these traditional handicrafts to the market, which helps not only improve the popularity of the Regong arts but also develop an outlet for the local economy. "

As a unique art form in the Tibetan culture, Tangka's origin can be traced back to the 7th century. Mainly focusing on religious themes, some Tangkas also illustrate various subjects such as history, literature, biography and local customs.

Cotton canvas and linen cloth are commonly used fabrics for Tangka scenes, while silk cloth is reserved for the scene's most important subjects. Before painting begins, the fabrics are stitched along the edges with flax thread and stretched on a specially made wooden frame. Then a paste made of animal glue mixed with talcum powder is spread over the surface to block up the holes. After the paste is scraped off and the cloth gets thoroughly dried, the artist sketches the images with charcoal sticks. Filling in color comes last. The pigments are mixed with animal glue and ox bile to make the shades stay. The whole process usually lasts a month or more.

In the old days, Tangka used to convey more religious meaning and was a sacred object for worship in monasteries. These days, the art form has been introduced to ordinary people and home settings and has become a unique decoration style. As people explore the economic value of Tangka, the art form is also embracing more modern elements. Dawa is planning to diversify his Tangka products by introducing wood carving Tangka, and home furniture with Tangka decoration.

An Chunlan and her sister An Chunxiu are two quite inventive promoters of the revival of Tangka,. They introduced Chinese traditional cloisonne techniques into Tangka production.

The cloisonne craft is a well-respected Chinese handiwork. Its production process starts by casting bronze into various shapes and affixing copper wire to the bronze-ware in decorative patterns. Enamels of various colors are then applied to fill in the "cloisons," or hollows, and then the piece is fired three times. After refined polishing, the final piece achieves a delicate luster and smooth surface.

By borrowing the cloisonne techniques, Tangka made by An Chunlan and her sister offers a longer-lasting color that has attracted more buyers.

"A businessman from Xi'an came to us for a big order. He wants a hundred pieces of our products. The whole volume is worth more than 200 thousand yuan. "

Apart from Tangka and Duixiu, sculpture is also important in Regong Art. Regong sculpture mainly includes clay forms, woodcarving and brick engraving. The art of clay sculpture has matured from the mid-17th century to the early 19th century. Regong sculptured figurines are exquisitely carved and lifelike, with smooth lines, a sense of reality and strong colors.

In addition, woodcarving and brick engraving can also be found in many places. Woodcarving is mainly employed to make decorative patterns on door frames and other wooden beams on a house. Brick carving is mainly used to depict decorative patterns, dragons and phoenixes and pairs of lions on the ridge of a house, beasts on flying roofs and basso reliefs on walls.
As the cultural and economic values of Regong Art are widely realized, more people from Qinghai are getting involved to promote their ethnic handworks. The local government also runs a training program to guarantee the craftsmanship and promote innovation of those ancient art pieces. Lei Yilin, who works with the training workshops, explains.

"We have vocational training programs on Tangka, barbola embroidery and other handcrafts. These training programs are quite popular; and we now have more and more applicants who want to sharpen their skills to reach greater results with these ethnic artworks."