(China TIbetology vol.1) The History and the Technological Study of Traditional Tibetan Painting Pigment 1.

The History of Traditional Tibetan Pigments Like all societies whose origins predate the invention of the written word, many aspects of prehistoric Tibet are lost in a blur of mystery. Yet arclteologists are digging into the ruins left by Tibet s earliest human inhabitants to help carve away the lack of knowledge,!ust as art historians are e"amining ancient paintings left inside Tibetan caves to sketch out the contours of prehistoric life and art on the #oof of the $orld. #esearchers now know, from rock paintings scattered across Tibet and from shards of pottery and other artifacts e"cavated near Lhasa, that Tibetan proto%artists began painting their deepest beliefs and views of the cosmos onto stone more than four thousand years ago. &nd as these painters began recreating wildlife, the sun and the moon, and then a spectrum of spirits or deities onto stone surfaces, they began filling their proto%palettes with pigments made from aniinal blood, minerals or plants. $hile focusing on Tibet s artistic 'stone age', when nomad%artists were largely cut off from the rest of the world, and beyond to discover the origins of the plateau s paint pigments for this article, researchers also turned their ga(e on finding a means to spread Tibetan technology in producing pigments for artworks in this age of globali(ation and fascination with all things Tibetan. )ven though the production of mineral% and plant% based pigments now seems to be dying out in Tibet, the potential to e"port these uni*ue materials could breath new life into this aspect of Tibetan culture and art. &ncient Tibetan stone paintings discovered so far can be dated back to the late +eolithic &ge and roughly divided into two ma!or periods according to the artwork s sub!ect mattenthe first period began before the rise of the ',on' culture -some .///%0/// years ago1, when paintings depicted the pure nomadic and hunting life of Tibet2 the second period started with the ascendancy of ',on' culture, some 0/// years ago, when early religion, witchcraft, ceremonies involving sacrifices, and symbols created by ',on' all surfaced in rock paintings. Tibet s ancestral artists began using mineral%based pigments more than ./ centuries ago, and the sources for and range of pigments e"panded through the millennia. 3uring the period of the Tubo 4ingdom, Tibet absorbed the advanced culture of neighboring regions and nationalities and blended outside influences with its own culture, thus promoting the overall progress of Tube s society and culture. ,uddhist culture and ideas from 5ndia and from the Han 6hinese infiltrated and gradually became the mainstream of fine arts in the Tubo regime. The erection of the 7amye -bsam%yas1 monastery in 7hannan area,8okhang or 3sug lagkang -gtsug%lag%khang1 and #amoche -#wa%mo%che1 in Lhasa, Twenty Temples for 7ubduing the 3evil and the drawing of the frescoes in palaces and monasteries triggered e"plosive demand for all kinds of fine art materials. 9any basic pigments used in colored drawings for buildings and in frescoes during this ,uddhist%inspired renaissance were produced in Tibet2 painting and pigment production related to the ',on' culture had already e"isted during the Tubo regime, and painters and pigment makers were accustomed to decorating secular building e"teriors -there was a custom of painting buildings with iron o"ide red, crimson, black, ashen and other pigments1. Pigments for painted pottery and other arts and crafts came from various regions of Tibet, as did myriad pigments needed for large%scale construction of monasteries. Tibet, vast in area, is rich in resources for making mineral and plant pigments. )arly Tibetans investigated, collected and trial% produced all sorts of mineral and plant pigments from different regions in Tibet. &fter the prolonged period of the Tubo 4ingdom, the different regions of Tibet gradually formed rules for

the gathering of mineral and plant pigments at designated places in an orderly way. Production became more and more speciali(ed in terms of particular pigments and in terms of geographical areas of Tibet. :or e"ample, dark blue and green pigment made from malachite was produced in the +yemo-7nye%mo1,;yalrong region2 face powder was produced in Yangba% !an,#m%bung-#m%sbungs12 cinnabar was produced in Lhodrag of Lhoka and gtsang area, red orpiment was produced in 6hangdu-chabdo1, and mica in +edong -sne%gdong1. Yellowish brown and yellowish red pigments were Produced in Yangba!an and Yiwong, and the material for making ink stick color was produced in +ying%tri. & former pigment miner, now </ years old, became a primary source for this study. The man, =lo &gbo, from 6hoshung village,Pusung 6ounty of +yemo 3(ong, who took part in the mining of the dark blue and green pigment, recalled> 'Local legends relate that the first person who came to +yemo to mine the dark blue pigment was a +epalese who became a god -named Ting lha, which means god of blue dark1 around here after his death. 7ometimes people would mine for several days but find nothing. They began leaving the work to travel to the mountains to worship the 'god of dark blue', and output at the mine would increase the ne"t day.' $e can sketch out more details of this account by consulting history, facts and folklore. The artist% god mentioned by the old man was probably a +epalese artist who helped paint the frescoes in 3sug lag kang -8okhang1 and #amoche , when the monasteries were being built during the period of 7ongtsan ;ambo -c.?1@%?A/1. 9any of the frescoes in 3sug lagkang -8okhang1 and other monasteries were done by painters who had been invited from +epal, while the earliest frescoes reflecting the fairy tales of,on were drawn by Tibetan painters. The mining of Tibetan pigments had uni*ue and complete rules of administration before 1BAB. $hen a particular construction pro!ect or monasteries needed to be built or repaired, the Tibetan local government would issue an order to the place of production specifying the *uantity of pigment needed, the purpose of usage, the wages of the foreman and the date of delivery $hen an official serving at the 3(ong -at that time, an administrative unit in Tibet1 or a tribal chief received the order, he would summon the foreman and laborers to work and live on the site until the mining work was finished. $ritten materials related to this matter, including an order to mine and a document submitted to the Tibetan local government, are kept in The &rchives of the Tibet &utonomous #egion. The order dispatched to 7hung ;er 6hoe 7um-g(hung%sger%chos%gsum1 and 3se%drung of+yemo d(ong, on mining dark blue pigment in the golden monkey year of the 6hinese lunar calendar, states> ':or the purpose of my must immediately start mining. Ton, 9aglam-dmag%lam1, 3ro!ong-vbrod%l!ongs1, 3elelingba -bde%legs gling%pa1 and other places including 7hung ;er 6hoesum must be put%into full operation.' & document submitted to Pho%lha%nas by the lord of the manor on the mining of dark blue and green pigment states> 'Your )"cellency 4ing Pho%lha%nas> &fter producing a small *uantity of green pigment for urgent use last time, we held a divination ceremony on the search for reserves of dark blue and green pigment. )verything has gone smoothly and luckily as we wished. 5 hereby present 1// Tibetan 4e -a Tibetan unit of dry measurement amounting to about 10.A kilograms of barley1 of dark blue pigment, ?/ Tibetan 4e of top%notch green pigment made from malachite, C/ Tibetan 4e of dark green pigment, etc. Please check and mark received. $ith the help of Your )"cellency, this year we have found reserves of dark blue and mineral green pigments. You approved our plan for mining ne"t year, but mining for this year has been under way and there is a plan to e"tend the schedule for three months due to demand for pigment on the construction of 3repung 9onastery. Please read over and reply as to whether this plan is sound or not. ,uddhist services and prayers for good fortune are now being conducted here. Yours #espectfully, The humble lord of the manor present on the auspicious day of the 1Cth'.

$e can reach the following conclusion based on the documents *uoted above> -11 the ore mined for pigment production in Tibet in historical times was approved by the Tibetan local government and mandated by an order to the place of production, and the *uantity of ore to be mined would be stipulated in e"plicit terms2 -01 owing to limits on production capacity at that time, the output of pigment was limited2 -C1 dark blue pigment was one of the important local specialties that Tibet sold to its neighbors. &s early as in the Yuan 3ynasty, the young artist &nige, a descendant of +epal s imperial family, and other +epal artists were invited to build a pagoda and to produce statues of ,uddha in ,ei!ing and other places in 6hina. Tibetan pigments had already been transported to ,ei!ing at that time. There are accounts of this in The 6anon of &dministering 7tate &ffairs of the luan 3ynasty. The name Difan -which means Tibet1 was mentioned several times in the book of painting pigment2 the book identifies Difan powder, Difan green and Difan placer. The book also states that Difan pigment produced in Tibet was used in drawing a portrait of )mperor #en Eong. Tibetan pigments were widely used in the 9ing and Fing 3ynasties. The Yonghegong-Harmony1 Lamasery, the $hite Pagoda and the Yellow 9onastery in ,ei!ing, and the Fing )mperor s summer mountain resort in 6hengde are e"tant works of architecture that used Tibetan pigment. The cost of mining pigment would be paid as a proportion of the ta"es and corvee labor levied on each family in the mining region at that time. & document in The &rchives of the Tibet &utonomous #egion recorded one pro!ect s mining costs as follows> 'The salary of the foreman for mining dark blue pigment in the +yemo region> :rom the year of the sheep -in the 6hinese lunar calendar1 at a certain date, the salary for the foreman mining dark blue pigment is four Tibetan 4e-4hal1 of dsamba -roasted *ingke barley flour1, one Tibetan 4e and ten Tibetan 7heng -bre, Tibetan measures1 of *ingke -highland barley grown in Tibet and Finghai1 for brewing *ingke wine, one small sheep, tugba porridge with one sheep s head or one Tibetan 7heng of dry cheese, three +yagga -Tibetan measures1 of dsamnba, one Tibetan 7heng of salt and butter. Two 4e, si"teen 7heng, and four Phul -Tibetan units of measurement1 of barley are added to above items. The salary for two entourages of the foreman are three Tibetan 4e of *ingke, one Tibetan 4e of salt, one +yagga of mi"ed meat, one +yagga and two bor-spor1 of butter, three horses for riding, four Tibetan 4e and ten Tibetan 7heng of dsamba, and so on. The tea for three months use would be picked up from Trede Lekong -vphral%bde las%khungs12 the rest of the items would be obtained from the lord of the +yemo manor and the accounts settled.'Gnlike the foreman and his entourage, there was no special payment for the laborers. $orkers could only use their labor to offset ta"es levied on their families. These miners might obtain a little overtime pay after finishing their mining *uota, but even this pay could reach them only after the sale of the pigment. 3uring on%the%spot research in Pengang village of +yemo county in Lhasa, which was the main production base for dark blue and mineral green pigments, we found several heaps of slag left behind after pigment mining in historical times. The slag was piled up in small mountains, and all the caves had become bottomless pits after mining. ,efore iBAi,the +yemo region had to send laborers to mine pigment for the Tibetan government every year. 3uring our field research, we discovered an <.%year%old Tibetan, =lo &gbo, who survived the mines. =lo &gbo said he was 0. when he began scaping out pigment from mines lit only by oil lamps. He said the mining is 'very, very hard and difficult work,' and e"plained that he and other unpaid miners had to follow the seam of a(ure and malachite !ammed between rocks, and to dig very deep into the caves at the risk of their lives, due to the government *uotas. These forced laborers dug through rocks with steel drills and iron hammers in an era when the collapse of mine shafts occurred fre*uently and the miners were often trapped inside for several days or worse.

&t that time, nearly half of the people in 6hoshung village lived by mining. )very other year, the Tibetan government would call up several hundred laborers from the +yemo region to mine pigment during late spring and early summer, and to collect pigment powder that had been processed. &fter peaceful liberation, mining of a(ure pigment almost stopped, but in recent years a small *uantity of the pigment has been e"cavated by monasteries to repaint frescoes. 0. The #aw 9aterials for and Processing of Tibetan Pigment $ith the appearance of silk, linen, pottery and paper in Tibet, demand for pigment has increased steadily2 traditional natural pigments can no longer meet the needs of the market. Hence suppliers have begun to develop artificial, chemosynthetic pigments. The development of synthetic substitutes has broad%ened the variety of pigments, but synthetic pigments easily o"idi(e, fade and deteriorate in chemical reactions with light, and have a short lifespan. 5mproving the light and climate resistance of synthetics has been a very important goal in pigment production. 5n sharp contrast, traditional Tibetan pigment, made from natural minerals and plants produced in the snowfields of Tibet, has been renowned at home and abroad for good light and climate resistance, leading to only slight color fading over 1/// years. This shows the intelligence and ability of ancient Tibetan people in their development and utili(ation of natural resources. 5n Tibet, mining or planting for raw materials used to make pigments has spread throughout the region. The raw materials for and place of production of mineral%based pigments can be summari(ed as follows. =n the Tibetan plateau, pigment is mainly derived from a(urite, malachite, orpiment, red orpiment, mica, cinnabar, pyrite, limonite, porcelain and clay Historical records state that orpiment and red orpiment were mainly produced in the 4hams region2 dark blue and mineral green in +yemo and ;yal rong2 and '#inbung white powder' in the #inbung region. 'Ymg8an white powder' was produced in the Yanba!an region, while cinnabar and yellow lead were originally produced in 5ndia and inland 6hina, and were widely used in traditional paintings. :ollowing pointers left in historical materials and folk legends, we conducted research in mining areas of a(urite and mineral green in +yemo, and on white powder in #inbung. =ne pit in +yemo that mainly produced a(urite, malachite and other o"idi(ing minerals was actually an ore cave drilled by human power one thousand years ago. 6ompared with that site, mining of white ore in #inbung and Ymgba!an, of mica in +edong -sne% gdong1 of the 7hannan-Lho%kha1 region, and of orpiment and red orpiment in ;uro ,ridge-Hgu%ro Eam%pa1 of the 6hangdu-6hab%mdo1 region were comparatively easy. The processing of pigment after the ore is collected usually goes through two stages> preliminary processing and refined processing. The *uality of the refined processing stage directly influences the *uality and color of the pigment. 3ifferent processes are used for different ores in making pigment. 6oarse grinding can be used for orpiment, red orpiment and mica soon after the ore is mined, without going through the process of separat% ing and purifying for higher *uality There are several methods of traditional coarse grinding> one is to grind up the ore in a wide and smooth stone trough-dbur% (hong12 this method is suitable for spongy raw materials like orpiment and red orpiment. The other method is to put the raw material into a stone mortar-rdo%gtun1 and pound it into powder. This method is used for tough materials like a(urite, mineral green and mica. 3uring the process of pounding mica, a little water should be added. The rest of the materials

should be crushed into small pieces and then ground into powder with a hand mill. &fter coarse grinding, the crude stone should be passed through filters or a sieve for the ne"t stage of grinding. &(urite and mineral green ores are usually mi"ed with soil and crushed stone, so they must be put into a wooden pot to be purified after coarse grinding and filtering. &(urite and mineral green ore from +yemo, in Tibet, are not only of poor *uality, but often are blended into other stones. This hybrid ore should be separated after coarse grinding and purifying. This separation process is the key link in the entire process of making pigment. 5t is very complicated and has hardly been handed down from past generations. 5n former times, the first stage of processing a(urite and mineral green pigment was performed in +yemo. Then the pigment powder would be wrapped in leather for handling and selling. =nly after further grinding and processing is this powder deemed painting%level pigment. & wide%bottom stone mortar-dbur%gtun1 was used for rotary milling. Powder that had undergone the first stage of processing was put into the stone mortar, some clean water was added, and the mi"ture was ground repeatedly This process usually took about five to si" days to finish. The a(urite, mineral green, vermilion and other powders would separate into colors from different layers after precipitation in the above process. &fter this process, for e"ample, four different blue pigments would be separated from each layer of a(urite powder, while three different green pigments would be separated from the layer of mineral green powder. Traditionally, the separation of colors was guided achieved by e"perienced craftsman who recogni(ed the differences by eye. To ensure the accuracy of the color separation and to meet the re*uirements of traditional Tibetan pigments, this process had to be undertaken either by an artist steeped in Tibetan painting or by a craftsman making the pigment. )arly Tibetans also derived pigments from plants, and these pigments were widely used in the region s uni*ue paintings. 9ost Tibetan plant pigments are, pure in color, light%and heat%resistant, and *uite durable. Historical records state that cyanine, which grows in the 6hayu -rd(a%yul1 region, is made from the grass =urancao. &fter collection, it is dried in the shade, and then immersed in hot water. 6armine is made from the bark of annatto, which grows in the 9enyu -mon%yul1 region. 6armine is processed by crushing the bark, wrapping it with the plant Dukangcao in emery cloth, boiling the mi"ture, pouring it into a porcelain bowl and putting it on a slow fire to evaporate the water. The precipitate left in the bowl is kneaded into small balls for future use. The flower Picrasma *uassioides, which grows in the shady side of the 9ountains, can be used instead of Dukangcao. 5t is steeped in hot water with a little soda as the color oo(es out. The processing of plant pigments is comparatively simple. Pigment%producing plants are collected, washed, steeped, boiled and precipitated. To increase the color *uality, small *uantities of soil soda should be added while boiling the plants. To reduce impurities, the mi"ture should be filtered before evaporation. & clean environment must be maintained while evaporating, which is carried out by putting many small porcelain bowls on a charcoal fire and pouring the boiled li*uid from the pot into these bowls bit by bit. There are myriad utensils used in making Tibetan pigments, developed over the millennia.that can be classified into five main categories> those for collecting, crushing, separating,grinding, or steeping and evaporating pigments. These utensils still reflect Tibet s ancient craft culture. =ne e"ample of a traditional utensil is the wooden tub crafted by digging a hole in round wood. The tub -g(homg%pa1 is used to purify and separate the pigment2 mineral powder is relatively stable inside the utensil, and soil, sand and impurities float out of the tub when water is added,

while pigment powder precipitates and sticks to the bottom of the tub. Traditional pigment%related utensils were made mainly from stone, pottery, wood or iron, and could once be found across Tibet, but traditional craftsmen and techni*ues are now fading into the past. C> The 9i"ture of 6olors and &pplication of Traditional Tibetan Pigment :ollowing the development of Tibetan sculpture and painting, the utili(ation of all kinds of pigments has been skillful. 5n contrast with $estern paintings, which rely on red,yellow and blue as three primary colors, traditional Tibetan paintings use white, red, yellow and blue as four primary colors. 5n Tibetan art, colors derived from the mi"ture of these four colors are called supplementary colors. ;ongdrul Yondan ;ya%tso-4ong%sprul Yon%tan rgya%mtsho1 wrote in The 6ompendium of4nowledge-7hes%bysi kun%khyab1 that white, red, yellow, blue and green are the five primary colors, while yellowish%pink, orange, light carmine, black, dark brown, yellowish%brown and g yuvi% green are supplementary colors. 6olors mi"ed from the above supplementary colors can be limitless. The five primary colors in Tibetan mineral pigments are white, mineral yellow, bright red,mineral green and dark blue. 7upplementary colors derived from dark blue and mineral green are cold colors, while supplementary colors derived from bright red and red orpiment are warm colors. ,asic mi"tures for colors in Tibetan pigments can be divided according to perceptual temperature> -11$arm colors include light yellow from mineral yellow and white, light tangerine from pink tangerine and white, light red from white and pink, light carmine from carmine and white, reddish yellow from mineral yellow and yellow lead, dark brown from gray and reddish yellow, dark red from bright red and black, reddish brown purple from light carmine and light indigo, purplish red from reddish brown%purple and a little red, dark carmine from light carmine and a little cyanine, dark brown from yellow lead, white and black, and imitation dark brown from light red and mineral yellow. -01 6old colors include light blue from white and blue, light green from mineral green and white, emerald green from light green, cyanine and 'Dukangse', yellowish green from mineral green and mineral yellow, dark black from light blue and light dark brown, gray from white and black, greenish indigo from dark blue and mineral green, milky white from white and a little light blue, blue yellowish%pink from yellowish pink and a little blue, and green yellowish pink from yellowish pink and a little light green. $hen Tibetan people use mineral and plant pigments in painting frescoes and Tangka,different techni*ues are adopted for different colors. :or e"ample, when dark blue, a crude pigment, is applied, a thick glue is added and then the mi"ture is painted smoothly onto the picture. Then a second coat with thin glue in the pigment is added, and finally a mi"ture of clean water pigment is used and the painting air%dried. Then, gently, the surface is polished by hand, and finely polished with a8iuyan stone -or agate1. The rough surface is eliminated, leaving the color smooth and shiny $hen painting the sky, the second e"tracted blue pigment, called 'sky light blue'-nam% mkhavi sngo% sangs1 in the Tibetan language, is used after two coats of the third e"tracted blue pigment is painted in the sky section of the Tangka. 3ouble coats of the second e"tracted blue color are added with a writing brush, gently and with parallel strokes, without any trace visible between each stroke. The first strokes can be bigger, but the second layers should be finer. 9ineral green is used for painting ground, tree foliage, colorful ribbons and clothes in the Tangka.This color is applied smoothly once2 the color will become lighter after it dries in the air. Gsing a writing brush to dip in color from a bowl is a special techni*ue and varies with the characteristics of the pigment. :or e"ample, white, mineral yellow and red orpiment should be absorbed from the surface of the bowl2 bright red, tangerine, supplementary pink, gold powder, silver powder and other metal powders should be absorbed from the wall of the bowl, while blue and green colors should be absorbed from the bottom of the bowl. The method used to absorb the color will directly affect the color in the picture.

;enerally, plant pigments such as cyanine, carmine Dukangcao, grass green-(hun%ram1, flower of tiller and 6hinese pistache are used to depict water, stone, clouds and flowers. $hen painting, the pigment is mi"ed with a thin glue, then painted smoothly onto the surface of the picture. &fter this, the dark and bright areas are dyed separately, using one harmonious color. :or e"ample, carmine is used if the basic color is pink, light carmine,or vermilion. ;rass green is obtained from mineral green, light green, second green and dark green2 use red orpiment or yellow lead if yellow, light yellow lead, or reddish yellow is wanted. .. The 3evelopment :uture of Traditional Tibetan Pigments 7ource minerals for pigments are widely dispersed over Tibet, which is believed to hold rich reserves of these raw painting materials. #esearch on Tibetan pigments shows that the 0/%plus copper mines in Tibet, which are likely to hold malachite and a(urite, have considerable scope for mining. The sulphur minerals of orpiment and red orpiment, which are important sources of pigments, are mainly dispersed in mines in ;uro ,ridge-vgu%ro (am%pa1 of 6hangdu-chab%mdo1 and Yangba!an areas2 ;uro ,ridge-vgu%ro (am%pa1 alone is believed to have reserves of orpiment and red orpiment amounting to about 1./,/// tons. There are considerable reserves of o"ide minerals, such as brown iron ore, dispersed in 6hayab 4agong,8itang, 7hepa, Yangba!an and +a*u-nag%chu1 counties. 9ica ore is widely dispersed over Tibet as well,with reserves ascertained at about 1@<0 tons. Tibet is also rich in resources ofcinnabar,6hensha -named after 6hen(hou, where the best cinnabar was produced1 and other minerals such as calcite. The large variety of minerals in Tibet has provided good conditions for making mineral pigments. ;enerally speaking, the market demand for traditional Tibetan painting pigments is not big2 the pigments are only used in drawing Tangka and frescoes. ,ut with the development and marketing of these painting materials, both at home and abroad, demand for high%*uality mineral and plant pigments could rise. Tibetan painting pigments could have bright prospects in terms of the market, but still have some shortcomings, such as low production technological levels. To improve the *uality of traditional Tibetan painting materials, we must develop advanced pigment processing and e"traction technology and reduce costs. :urthermore, we need to develop water%soluble and oil%soluble pigments, and improve the design and packaging of the products, to meet the needs of the global market and of the art worlds of both the )ast and the $est.

,y> Danba abden !ga"ang# Sonam echen Chime Dor$e# translated by %hu Hong