Regong art, also called Tongren art or Wutun art, is based in the area in and around Tongren County, center of Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, some 110 km south of Xining.

As an influential school in Tibetan Buddhist arts, it can be dated back to about the 14th century. According to preliminary investigations, the artists in the Regong area are the descendants of local Tibetans married to Han settlers who had come from South China in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Take Wutun for example, the language used there today is Chinese with a modified pronunciation mingled with many Tibetan expressions.

They still use their Han family names, as Bao, Li, Hou, Mu, etc.

Long years of life among the local Tibetans led to the merging of their habits, customs and religious beliefs into those of the Tibetans. Over the centuries, their techniques were handed down from generation to generation, continually renovated and gradually reached maturity, with the enlargement of the artists’ community.

With the flourishing of Gelug Sect (Yellow Sect ) after the mid-17th century, a large number of temples appeared in the Huangnan area, giving an impetus to the development of Regong art, which became so thriving as to turn Wutun into an art town where everybody was an artist and every household engaged in art.

Over the years, Regong artists have traveled across Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, as well as India and Mongolia where there are large number of devotees of Buddhism.

They produced large numbers of precious art objects, winning warm acclaim everywhere. In their art practice they came into contact with Tibetan painting and sculpture, Ganzi (in northwestern Sichuan) products of Buddha images and Dunhuang murals.

By critically assimilating these outside nutrients they have succeeded in gradually establishing their own school in the Tibetan art with both Qinghai and Tibetan folk characteristics, a sparking pearl in the Tibetan art treasure.

In Regong art are included painting, sculpture, patterns, silk figures on cloth base and architectural decorations. Regong painting comprises mainly murals and scroll paintings, with a small number of woodcuts of Buddha image.

Its techniques are similar to those of the Chinese Gongbihua, a traditional Chinese realistic painting characterized by fine brushwork and more stress on details, the rich and different colors being applied evenly in their own respective places with little attention to light and shade.

The themes are Buddha images and Buddhist stories. The murals decorating the Great Scripture Hall of the Lower Temple and the Lesser Scripture Hal of the Nianduhu Temple at Wutun are productions of this kind.

Here the artists ascribe different characters to deities with different status, some amiable, some ferocious, some sitting, some standing, or walking , or dancing, in a thousand postures, all true to life.
And the animals in the pictures, be it a deer or horse, a lion or an elephant, are all lively in their varied poses.

Paintings of the late Regong school are characterized by decorative purposes, florid style, fine lines, gay colors and a unique ingenuity in the use of the golden color.

Excessive persuit of elaboration and decorative effect sometimes lead to trivial and stereotyped productions. But its high-level fitness for decorative purposes well compensates for its deficiency in modeling, giving it a unique style not usually found in similar arts.

Regong sculpture includes clay sculpture, wood carving, brick carving, stone carving and yak butter figures. Wood carving refers to the decorative carvings on column heads, and a small number of wooden Buddha figures.

Brick carvings are generally used in building, as trimmings on roof ridges, animal heads on the corners of upturned eaves, as well as bas-relief on walls.

Stone carvings are less frequently seen. Yak butter figures are made in the same way as at Kumbum Monastery near Xining, but on a smaller scale.

Clay sculpture, which is divided into single-color and multi-color molding, is the most prominent of all varieties of sculpture, with some temples dominated by clay Buddha figures.

Like its painting, the Regong sculpture enjoyed its climax from the mid-17th to early 19th centuries. Moldings of this period were marked by lively shapes, vivacious postures and flowing folding on the figures elegant clothes.

The decorative designs on hallow and pedestals were both delicate and tasteful. The Buddha figures in the Lesser Scripture Hall of the Upper Temple at Wutun were products of this period, but, unfortunately, were destroyed during the ten years of tumult from 1966 to 1976.

Even more colorful are the decorative patterns made by the Regong artists. Almost every part of the Great Scripture Hall of the Upper Temple and the Lesser Scripture Hall of the Lower Temple at Wutun, from lintels to crossbeams and column heads, is painted or carved with elaborate patterns curling grass, revolving flowers, rings of clouds, water ripples , interspersed with lively animals, as deer, cranes, phoenixes and dragons, all contributing to a wonderful world.

There is also a superb use, vessels for daily life, carpets and textiles. All these art objects have a rich flavor of life as well as practical value.

As it belongs to religion, Regong art is not lacking in realistic element, especially in a number of genre paintings that have nothing to do with Buddhism.

A mural in a shabby room in the Lower Temple at Wutun portrays grassland with cattle and sheep and a woman with water on her back, and also a lofty mansion in which reveling nobles are waited on by girl slaves.

Presenting a sharp contrast between the wanton debauchery of the upper circles and the abject poverty of the slaves at the bottom of society, the piece is a touching production of realism. Editem.
Regong art-blending aesthetics and religion

Regong art--blending aesthetics and religion

Tibetan Buddhism is centered around an impressive range of culture and art. Regong Art, in particular, has evolved over the centuries from a simple reflection of the times, to the present, more elaborate, influences from the artists' surroundings.

Originating in the 15th century, Regong Art is named after its birth place, Tongren County in northwest China's Qinghai Province. The area is known as Regong in Tibetan.

Regong art is evident in murals, cloth scrolls, sculpture, embroidery, silk cuttings and architecture. The art works are based on legends, folklore and religious tales and feature divine beings as well as their lives in heaven. But telling more worldly stories, including local practices and customs, has become the latest trend. It's given the ancient genre some fresher life.

The early works of Regong art are characterized by simplicity. The influence of Indian and Nepalese painting is evident in the coarse strokes and plain colors. The later stages of its development saw a maturity of technique and more elaborate decoration. The 19th century was the heyday of Regong art, when gold, silver, pearl, agate and other precious stones found their way into the works.

Over the last few centuries, Regong artists have travelled far and wide, from Gansu and Sichuan provinces to Thailand and Mongolia. They put the word out that Regong art has something to offer the world. (Form: CCTV)