When talking about fresco, we mean paintings on the wall. Some also call them wall deity. They are just different terms. Generally speaking, the paintings on clean walls in Buddhist halls are called frescos.

There were two reasons to explain why they were painted on the wall. Firstly, they could not be stolen or robbed. Secondly, they could not be easily moved. They had these features. Frescos of Gyarong will be mainly introduced.

On May 18, 2011, with the support and help of Mr. Yeshe Dawa, head of Garze Prefecture and Mr. Gong Jianzhong, director of Prefecture Culture Bureau, a cultural archaeological team was set up.

Mr.Kunkyap Dorje was the team head. Mr Wen Yucheng, head of Longmen Grottoes Institute and archaeologist, was also invited to investigate.

When arriving at Zhonglu Township of Gyarong, they saw a photo of Hanger Village. The second house was in the photo. There are houses which almost collapse in Hanger. After walking up the stairs, 7 rooms can be seen. There are some precious frescos on the second floor. If the walls were not repaired in several years, they are to collapse.

In the Cultural Revolution, revolutionary slogans were written on the walls. Frescos were damaged to some degree. In terms of percentage, more than 60% of the frescos are clear.

There is Triratna Buddha, four Heavenly Kings on the wall of corridor, Dhammapala, above them there are photos of Avalokitesvara and Padmasambhava.

Frescos of this kind are plenty. These frescos, according to Professor Wen, were painted in the early Yuan Dynasty. They then released a piece of news on discovering these frescos.

For other people, a new monastery, a new Buddhist hall, or a new fresco, no matter how spectacular and beautiful they are, it is not the key point.

For fresco researchers at home and abroad, though old frescos are vague, researchers are totally into them. Western researchers value old frescos a lot.

In the light of the time of these frescos, in Samten, in Mr. Wen’s opinion, a French expert adopted scientific methods to test local stones and soil texture.

The French expert said the frescos exist for 800 to 1000 years.

The houses have been built for so long. After scientific tests, whether the frescos belong to the same period needs further study.

While some claimed they could date back to Ming Dynasty, and some claimed they were from Yuan Dynasty.

Tibetan scholar Kunkyap Tzenzi and Yamar Tsering from Garze said, according to Tibetan fresco development history, these frescos might belong to Tang Dynasty.

All in all, among the existed Khampa frescos, Zhonglu of Gyarong’s are the earliest. Old frescos were able to survive in Gyarong area.

It has long historical origins. It lasted from Zhangzhung to Tubo period, to Phyi Dar with a long history. Zhangzhung culture was quite popular before.

Later, in Tenpo period, Sage Pagor Berotsana went to Gyarong area to promote Buddhism, culture and art. There was a stone carving portrait, with Pagor Berotsana’s photo on. It was discovered in Jinchuan County.

Benism of Gyung Drung, and Regent Pagor Berotsana protect this pure land. Sawa Mangala and Pawangdu are carved with characters below.

Craft skills were quite popular in Gyarong area. Brass, iron and porcelain are in good quality with long history.

On the items they made, tags in Tibetan were pasted. The tags included fabricator and workshop information. The Tibetan tags, judging from the writing style, belonged to Tsenpo’s period.

Many Tibetan on the tags were reverse upper vowel characters or lower vowel characters. One more amazing thing was, in 2011, Mr. Kunkyap Dorje went to Barkam. There is a Pencho in Barkam, who is a Gyarong culture items collector.

He has a precious vase, which is one of the Auspicious Eight Treasures. Whereas only auspicious six treasures were carved on the precious vase.

There is a saying on the auspicious six treasures. Mr. Kunkyap Dorje has consulted with many experts, nonetheless no one can articulate on this. There is a talent shortage on this.

Mr.Kunkyap Dorje sorts these photos and divided them into groups with 2 photos in each group. Some said these two precious vases were separated. Mr. Kunkyap Dorje doesn’t agree with them.

If each precious vase has four auspicious treasures, then two precious vases have eight auspicious treasures.

So, after they researched and estimated, they assumed the vases belonged to Zhangzhung period or Benism period.

At that time, there were only Six Auspicious Treasures. After Buddhism was introduced, Two Auspicious Treasures were added and Eight Auspicious Treasures were formed. Mr. Kunkyap Dorje thinks they are all worth of study.

On this precious vase, there is lotus, canopy, conch, Dharma wheel, precious vase, and auspicious knot. Victory banner and goldfish are not on the vase.

Another example was the photo of Gyarong Road. It is a photo of monastery and King Gesar in armor shield.

If archaeologists and fresco researchers want to study them, they need to study armor and shields, they will know traits of that very time.

In Derge, wall deity or frescos are very popular. There are so many places with old frescos, such as Dingqing Monastery, Songge Monastery, Wozhi Monastery, Keduo Monastery, and Baiya Monastery. We will start with frescos in Tonga Sutra Hall.

On May 1, 2011, their research team visited Tonga Sutra Hall. Tonga Sutra Hall is a sutra hall consecrating Tongdong Gyibo.

Tongdong Gyibo was born in 1385 AD, and passed away in 1464 AD. For Tibetan people, he was a man with great achievements.

In Tibetan areas, he built over 100 steel cable bridges and over 100 leather boats. He also built many monasteries and pagodas. He was also the founder of Tibetan opera. He is a man of great achievement.

This fresco was consecrated in Tonga Sutra Hall. It was said the fresco was painted by Tonga Ngandarkmar himself. There are many frescos in Tonga Sutra Hall.

Archaeologists said frescos at the gate probably dated back to late Yuan Dynasty. Gonpo Phagpa created Mongolian, which was written on the walls beside the door. Frescos there mostly belong to Ming Dynasty. They are characterized by Nepal and inland painting styles. For example, peony in inland.

Some flowers of inland did not exist in Tibetan areas. Fairies in the frescos, their graceful bearings, expressions and accessories were all influenced by inland customs.

This one was Tsenpala consecrated in Tonga Sutra Hall in Derge. Tsenpala was God of Fortunes and patron saint. Affected by burnt gas fumes, the painting was vague.

>> Watch the video of Khampa Fresco Culture on Kangba Lecture, please click here!