Losing quality

    Although thousands of Thangkas are produced in Rekong every year, only a few are good, according to Zhao.

    Xihdao, a famed Thangka painter in Rekong, agreed. "Some young painters desire computers and fancy cars. It's irresistible to think of the desires when they are drawing. But back in our day, we only focused on the canvas, which is crucial for painting a good Thangka.

    "In the past, we listened to Buddhist music when we were drawing, but now, youngsters listen to pop music while painting. How would they create good Thangka paintings while their hearts are elsewhere?" Xihdao asked.

    "Most people who order Thangkas are businessmen from big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou," said Xihdao.

    "The businessmen believe the religious-themed paintings may bring them prosperity and blessings. So if they order Thangkas from me, I ask about their family and their wishes before I decide what to paint on."

    He further explained: "If the buyer's business is not so good, I will paint Yellow Jambhala, the first wealthy deity; if the buyer has a son applying for college, I will paint Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom; if the buyer wishes family members will be healthy, I choose to paint White Tara for him, the goddess bringing health, strength, longevity and beauty."

    Zhao said some figures in Thangkas are no longer painted with strong Tibetan characteristics -- some goddesses look more like pretty, modern Han women. Some deities depicted in the sutra as ugly and frightening are no longer painted that way.

    Many tourists like to buy Thangka paintings as souvenirs, since their mineral pigments ensure that the colors would never fade, said Zhao.

    "As a souvenir, it should be pretty. Who would choose a Thangka with a frightening deity?"

    For Targyea, the most disturbing phenomenon is that some painters do not mind the rules of Thangka paintings. "A White Tara must be holding a branch of utpala, not a sword," he said. "Maybe some painters do not know the rules," he said of those who had never learned the sutra.

    Some painters want to break the rules, and they paint real people and railways.

    Last year, a 195.6-meter-long Thangka entitled "Sky Road," said to be the first to depict the modern life of Tibetans and portray the Qinghai-Tibet railway and beautiful scenery along the line, made its debut at the Qinghai International Thangka Arts and Cultural Heritage Expo.

    "Sky Road" aroused praise and doubts. Some experts and painters believed it was just a product of commercial activity.

    "If a Thangka does not feature religious themes, can it be called a Thangka? Without religious content, it is only a painting with special pigments." said Xihdao.

    But such "Thangkas" are still being made, with subjects ranging from Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), to China's reform and opening up in the 1980s.

    For Zhao, Thangkas should be important teaching tools in spreading Buddhism, because the scroll paintings are easily rolled and transported from monastery to monastery.

    "But the market has driven Thangkas far from their origins," said Zhao.

    "A good Thangka should still be a teaching tool, from which one can learn many Buddhist stories. Also, a good Thangka should reveal excellent painting skills," said Zhao.