Tibetan Buddhist art is a comprehensive carrier of Tibetan culture and contains the aesthetic ideals of compassion and wisdom. Through relevant image works, we will find the key to the Tibetan Buddhist teachings and the spiritual world of the Tibetan nation. Tibetan Buddhist art is also influenced by Chinese art. For example, the earliest existing Tibetan paintings are Tubo paintings in Dunhuang; the gold bronze statue of Sakyamuni enshrined in the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa is the most sacred and efficacious Buddha statue in the entire Tibetan area, and this Buddha statue was written by Wen Cheng The princess brought it to Lhasa from Han Dynasty. On the other hand, Tibetan Buddhist art also has a profound impact on Chinese art and even cultural thought.

Tibetan art is mainly religious art, but while reflecting religious themes, it also expresses the content of customs and culture, and the two cannot be clearly distinguished. For example, the murals in the Potala Palace depicting the construction history of the Jokhang Temple and Samye Temple depict the deeds of Tubo Zampu and Princess Wencheng’s divination for the construction of the temple; the murals in the Potala Palace show the Dalai Lama The historical moment of the Qing emperor’s pilgrimage. Of course, there are also some works in Tibetan art that are not directly related to Buddhism and purely reflect customs, such as sculptures depicting the historical figure Gesar and generals, medical wall charts and thangkas from myths and legends, as well as traditional paintings depicted on utensils and houses. Auspicious patterns, etc.

The purpose of religious art is to express abstract religious ideas through artistic images, and the same is true for Tibetan Buddhist art. When we read Tibetan Buddhist art, while appreciating the kindness of the Buddha, the compassion of the Bodhisattva, the elegance of Tara and the Dakini, and the fear of the Dharma Protector, we must also understand its deep symbolic meaning. For example, the eleven-faced Avalokitesvara statue has different faces with different colors and different symbolic meanings: the three faces in the front are peaceful and quiet, which is the Bodhisattva’s hope and praise for all living beings who have done good deeds and accumulated virtue; the three faces on the left are angry, It represents the three protections, that is, protecting all living beings from the evil spirits in the evil realm; the three sides on the right side are the good and evil signs with protruding teeth, representing the three protectors of the Buddha; the other wrathful sign is to persuade all living beings to do good; The top side of the head represents Amitabha Buddha, which is the Dharma image shown to believers who practice Mahayana.

Except for a few guardian deities derived from indigenous religions, the handprints and foot postures of Tibetan Buddhist statues are no different from those of other Buddhist schools. Different mudras have different meanings. The mudra of Buddha statues mainly include the mudra of touching the ground, the mudra of meditation, the mudra of preaching, and the mudra of giving without fear. Among them, the mudra of touching the ground is the mudra of Shakyamuni Buddha to subdue all demons, that is, the right hand touches the ground with the fingertips at the right knee. Meditation mudra is to place one hand or both hands on the ankle, palms upward, thumbs touching. When doing Dharma Seal, place your right hand in front of your chest, palm facing outward, bend your ring finger, and spread your left hand under your right hand. The wish is printed in front of the right knee, with the palm facing outwards, the thumb touches the ring finger or middle finger. Many ritual objects and auspicious patterns appear in Tibetan Buddhist art works, and they all have certain symbolic meanings in the works. The vajra and bell symbolize compassion and wisdom, the elephant skin symbolizes the destruction of wrong views, the yue knife symbolizes the end of life and death, the trident symbolizes the elimination of evil thoughts in the three realms, the heads on four sides symbolize great compassion, and the right-handed conch symbolizes the sound of the Buddha’s teachings resounding in all directions.