Regong Thangka
In Tibetan-inhabited areas, when people talk about thangkas, they invariably think of Regong thangkas and Regong artists. In this golden river valley, thangkas are the ultimate pursuit of the men in the villages. For generations, their joys and sorrows, their life fates—all have been closely intertwined with thangka painting.
According to age-old traditions, the art of thangka painting is passed down only to men, not women. Villagers in Regong would send their brightest sons to monasteries at an early age to become "Akha" (a respectful term for monks in Tibetan areas), where they learn Buddhist scriptures and painting, in the hope that the boys will grow into outstanding thangka artists. Not every boy gets the chance to learn thangka painting, though—it depends on whether the child’s hands are "soft." The so-called "soft hands" refer to flexible fingers, a quality crucial for the ultra-fine brushwork that defines thangka art.
Regong thangka creation involves several key steps: "stretching the cloth," "applying glue," "sketching the draft," "adding colors," and "outlining with lines." Renowned for its exquisite detail and complexity, mastering Regong thangka requires an arduous and lengthy learning process. Even a naturally gifted learner must undergo at least eight years of rigorous basic training before they can paint independently.
On days when they paint thangkas, artists wait for bright light, then light an incense stick indoors. They carefully observe the curling smoke from the incense until it rises straight upward—a sign that the dust stirred up by people’s movements (including the artist’s own) has settled, and all is calm. Only then does the artist pick up their brush, hold their breath, and begin painting on the cloth.
In the minds of artists, painting thangkas is a process of spiritual cultivation. A meticulous artist typically needs about a year to complete a single thangka. Devotion and piety are essential during the process: apart from "weisang" (a Tibetan ritual of burning juniper to honor deities) and reciting scriptures, artists must bathe regularly, eat a vegetarian diet, avoid green onions and garlic, and abstain from smoking and drinking. These restrictions exist because such substances can cause hand tremors, making it impossible to create fine, precise brushwork.
Free expression is not allowed in thangka painting—artists must strictly adhere to the proportional rules specified in Buddhist scriptures. Regong thangkas use "suo’er" as a unit of measurement, where one suo’er is roughly the width of a finger. The proportions of a Buddha’s head and body are clearly defined in various painting scriptures, leaving no room for deviation.
When outlining lines, artists must not only be energetic and focused but also maintain a state of mental clarity, handling the brush with effortless precision. To adjust the thickness and saturation of the lines, artists moisten the brush with their own saliva instead of water. The most critical part of outlining is "drawing the eyes and eyebrows": a single eye of a Buddha requires over 500 brushstrokes, while the eye of a Dharma protector (Vajra) needs more than 1,000 strokes! For this reason, when apprentices paint thangkas, they always leave the eyes of the figures unfinished—waiting for their master to complete them. When a master feels confident enough to let an apprentice "draw the eyes," it marks the apprentice’s formal mastery of the art, allowing them to paint independently from then on.
Most Regong artists make their own brushes. High-quality brushes use hair from a cat’s neck to its spine—this hair, uncompressed, has good elasticity and water absorption. The finest brushes, however, use hair from a weasel’s ears or tail; some of these brushes are no thicker than a few strands of hair.
Regong thangka is known as the "Ando thangka as fiery as flame." A genuine Regong thangka retains its vivid colors for at least a hundred years, looking as fresh as the day it was painted. Superior thangkas stay bright for centuries. The secret lies in the pigments: most pigments used in Regong thangkas are precious minerals sourced from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, such as turquoise, sapphires, and bala stones. Among these, the most important pigment—white—is made by grinding deer antlers found in forests. This special white pigment ensures that Regong thangkas remain pure, soft, and luminous even after decades.