The Rock Carving of Tibet

The rock carving of Tibet is the rarity of ancient cultural legacy of Tibet, an important part of Chinese caring art, which has unique style and is widespread. Therefore, people call it the rock carving exhibition hall and rock library without fence. The rock carving of Tibet includes grotto sculpture, inscriptions on precipices, Mani stone carvings. About forty million years ago, Eurasian plates dashed against each other, and the great power of making mountains marvelously turned the Te Disi ancient sea into the polar region of ridge in the world. There are Kuo rocks and chad with a great variety of shapes, which is the most generous gift given by God to the well-cultivated plateau in the world. The ancestors of Tibetans sharpened the stone axe to hunt, and cut stone pot to cook for their stomach, and built stone house to escape from cold, and also wore stone pendant to exorcise. And they keep believing in nimbus stones, which lasts for ever. Mani stone carvings, sporadically appearing in Tibet, are the specific embodiment of this ancient custom of belief.

Mani Stone Carving of Tibet

If some one has been to Tibet, he must have seen many altars made by stones - Mani Dui at the local mountain pass, gate, river bank, village, meadow, town and holy places.

Generally speaking, there are two direct meaning of stone worshipping, the firs one means praying for happiness or removing disasters, and the other means that it is used for people to worship so that they can correct their thoughts and behaviors at random. Especially at the hometown and stockated village far from the town and temple, Mani Pile is necessary for people's spiritual life. So when people are at Tibet plateau which has vast land and sparse people, the Mani Pile existing everywhere naturally has the function of scripture hall and Buddhist rite for the dead. With the expanding and spreading of Mani Pile, the art of Mani Pile came into being.

The early Mani stones were mostly the maxim to describe the Buddhist, but later the Duoduo( the stone carving manson) artists were gradually enlightened by foreign Buddhist ancient books and illustrations. In order to educate and enlighten most of the illiterate adoptionists, they created pictures and words, and Mani stone carving combing pictures, and they made the content of pictures exceed the range of Bodhisattva.

The Classification of Mani Stone Carving

The Tibet Mani stone carving can be divided into 6 types according to the religious meaning:

Bodhisattva and the statue of eminent monk

Benzun God (the main God in the altar)

regretting and making a vow

aphorisms of spell

the whole unite or passage of the sacred book

the godly things

According to years' research and comparison, I think the quantity and good condition of Mani stone carving in the east of Tibet is best in Tibet, such as some famous Mani Lakang in the counties such as Dingqin, Changdou and Lei Wuqi. In the Mani Pile with several hundred circumference, there lays countless stones. Their layouts and carving styles are different; the Mani Pile, whose pictures and words set off each other, stands among the blue sky and white snow, very glorious. The local people say that Zhunma Jing is among them, which is formed by engraving thousands of stones, becoming the admiring treasure.

The Displaying Theme of Mani Stone Carving

When talking about Mani stone caring in the east of Tibet, we can't skip "four kinds of Gods", "hundreds of happy and angry talents". These works are the subjects that the carving artists in the east of Tibet always display but never get tired of it and they are also the contributions they made to the new appreciation of the beauty for the art of Bodhisattva. When appreciating this kind of works, we can't help but exclaim the Duoduos' talent of harmonize the humanity and the nature of the evils, the appearance and heart, the temperament and artistic conception. Thought carefully, this kind of ability may come from a nation who lives in the natural environment for several generations, while their natural economy is often protected and punished by the natural power. This nation always gestates unique thought pattern and sense of appreciating beauty. It is said that how people live, will influence the way of thinking and also the expression.

The Description of Mani Stone Pile

The so called "hu flavor" of Mani stone carving is the appellation of South Asia and West Asia. The Mani stone carving in Zhada, Ritu and Pulan displays long times' precipitation and several cultures' influence. For example, many modelings of stone carving Buddha and Bodhisattva combine the artist style of Mala kingdom of India, many of which are slim loins and long bodies, having lives and rhythm. In the north of Tibet, it is hardly to see Mani stone pile, or a pile of pebbles not engraving gathered at on place, they are more like guideposts, or there are only the Mani stones like the boorish and frank hunters of Qiang nationality, which has obvious district features.

As for the stone pictures of Jianjin mountain, Shuanghu in the northwest of Tibet, only two to three pieces are the historical vestiges. While most of the stone pictures are obliviously the casual works that the modern hunters made to kill the boring time. They used stones to cut, engrave and draw stones. The displaying content is the sun, the moon, the sheep or the cow. In a word, it is the image symbol about the nomadism. I have on intention of praising and depreciating. And I feel we should draw a clear line between the mountain and stone pictures and Mani stone carving.

The Grotto Statue of Tibet

There are few grotto statues in Tibet. In Zhala Lupu, Lhasa, there is only one grotto about stone carving. The grotto monastery was built in the period of Tufan, but the statues were constantly engraved later.

The statues spread around the central pillar and the wall of grotto, and the theme comes from the religious followers such as Bodhisattvas and eminent monks or the famous people such as Zanpu ( the king of Tufan), king or minister. The latter includes the statue of Songzan Ganbu and the famous minister Lu Dongzan. These statues are relatively small, and they have different styles, and they are all colored the golden color. The early modeling has strong Indian style, and most of the Bodhisattvas uncover the upper body, and they have high bun, and wear silks. They wear close-fitting trousers and skirts. And they also wear earrings, necklaces and bracelets.

Some Description of the New-founding Grotto

The new-founding grotto in Laijia Quemu, Gangba County, the grotto in Lazi, Lazi County, the grotto in Zaye Lazi, Dazi County, the grotto in Za Yeba, Dazi County, is another great founding following the grotto of Zala Lupu in Lhasa. The plane of the grotto in Laijia Quemu is square, and there are 33 relieves around the walls, and there are also relieves about auspicious animals, flowers and plants, such as lion, elephant, horse, peacock, and lotus. The plane of the grotto in Lazi is square, and the relief at the back wall is the statue of Rulai Buddha. While the plane of the grotto of Za Yeba is like "D". And the front part of central pillar is engraved several heads of animals. The three grotto statues have simple and unsophisticated styles, which originated from the time of Tufan. This founding enlarges the distributing area of Chinese grotto and enriches the content and shape of grotto in Tibet, having important artistic researching value.

The Grottos in Tibet are Mainly:

the grotto of Zala Lupu in Lhasa

the grotto of Lazi in Lazi County

the grotto of Za Yeba in Dazi County

the grotto of Dingqiong Lakang in Ritu County

the grotto of Piyang in Zhada county-Dongga

the grotto of Naijia Que mu in Gangba County

the grotto groups such as Luocun and Lari in Qusong County

The Cliff Carving of Tibet

The cliff carving is very popular in the stone carving works of Tibet, and its unique feature is that the works is often engraved in huge mountains and cliffs. And the works are mainly superficially engraved or engraved with the form of needles and there are seldom circle engraving, semi circle engraving, or the " gao" grotto (the engraved pictures bulge out of the bottom ).

The cliff carving in Yaowang Mountain, located in the southwest of the Potala Palace, Lhasa, covers the largest area and has the most quantity among the existing cliff carving in Tibet, also the most famous stone carving works of the same kind.

The Glorious Momentum of Cliff Carving

Since the period of Tufan, people have been engraving various carvings in the two-kilometer- long cliff, at the western foot of Yaowang Mountain. Seen from the far places, it is like a natural open cliff carving exhibiting hall, which has very glorious momentum. The figures of the stone carving are big or small, among which the smallest is several centimeters, while the biggest is several meters, and they are strewn at random. The statue draws wide-ranging materials, which include not only the Bodhisattvas from the Buddha kingdom, all kinds of Gods such as Hufa, but also a large number of eminent monks and so on.

The Free Style of Cliff Carving

Comparing to the sculpture of the temples, although the statues abide by the tradition of the classics of Buddhism and regulations, the creation is free, breaking the machinery and monotone of Buddhist stone carving statue, and its fresh and natural style makes people comfortable. The works are rugged, simple and concise, having strong folk odor. The description of different colors such as red, yellow, green, blue, and purple see off with the elegant Jingfan, which increases strong mysterious odor.

The Main Cliff Carvings in Tibet are:

the cliff carving in Renda-one of the Buddhist stone carving statue from the period of Tufan

the cliff carving of nie na mu ni wen ( a kind of writing)- engraved with the Nepal writing, which is written horizontally.

the cliff carving of Luoza- two places in total

the cliff carving of Di Musa-located in Di Musa, Gongbu

the cliff carving of Qinwa Dazi Mountain- the ancient cliff carving statue of Tibet

the cliff carving of Yaowang Mountain-the famous ancient cliff carving statue of Tibet

the cliff carving of Changdu- the ancient cliff carving statue of Tibet