The masks of Qinghai

Among the Qiang Mu performed in the temples of the Yushu Tibetan region, masks are represented by peacocks, the god of longevity, and five-color deer. They are known as masks to perform Han cultures. The sculpts resembling the senile god of longevity of the Han nationality are basically mirrors of the Central Plain. As shown in documents, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau barely witnessed any fierce political and religious fights since the Yuan Dynasty. The political and social structures were stabilized. During the period, the art images trasferred from the Han culture, such as the God of Longevity, monks, arhats, immortals, and monkeys, were admitted by Tibetan esoteric Buddhism masks. Some temples in the Tibetan region remain to keep providing for almsgivers, big and small monks, and celestial beings. Because of the mutual impacts and penetration of Han and Tibet cultures, there emerged the splendid Kangba facial makeup art.

Tongren is a representative region hosting the Anduo Tibetan culture. Tibetan Buddhism sects are advanced here. Qiang Mu becomes a splendid legacy in all the temples, featuring exquisitely processed, brilliant facial makeup of diversified styles. The temples have special dressmakers to produce garments to fit every role of the masks. The masks are meticulously procesed by skillful sculpture craftsmen from the temples or the society. The roles as expressed by the facial makeup are largely guardian gods of the temples, who are presented in sculptures and paintings in all halls. The facial makeup is equally sacrificed as the deities themselves. To incarnate the deities with facial makeup means to vividly manifest static deity and Buddha sculpts with the Qiang Mu (dance) artistic form. It materializes the abstract stories in Buddhist sutra to reach the objective of promoting the Buddhism doctrines. This is a unique function of the facial makeup hardly accessible by other means and forms.

The Qiang Mu masks of the Nyingma Sect (Red Teaching) have their own features. They are best represented by the Luohantang Temple in Guide County, Jidong Temple in Gonghe County, Langjia Temple in Tongren County, and Qionggong Temple in Jianglong County. Qiang Mu in these temples are diversified, and best known for the death’s head facial makeup. For example, Lianhuasheng Baminghao is the most famous mask dance of the Nyingma Sect. It is shown only in Luohantang Temple.

The Dangka Temple in Yushu, of unique features, belongs to the Kagyu Sect (White Teaching). It treasres up the gilded copper Lianhuasheng Baminghao mask. The Longen Temple of Gande County, Guoluo Prefecture keeps the gilded copper Gesar King mask, developing a school of its own among temples in Tibetan regions in Qinghai. The facial makeup models and techologies are treasures in the mask art in Qinghai.

The Qiang Mu masks largely represent in the forms of Satyadevata, guardian divinities, and companion divinities. They are the main symbols of Qiang Mu facial makeup.

Satyadevata: It is used to refer to the reincarnation of Buddha, often appearing in the images of good looks, angy looks, and good-and-angry looks. The good-look Satyadevata include Manjusri Bodhisattva, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, and Tara. The angry-looking Satyadevata are represented by Vajrabhairava, Vajrakila, Hayagriva, and Vajrapani. The good-and-angry-looking Satyadevata are Guhyasamaja, Samvara, Hevajra, Kalachakra and Vajravarahi. A good many Satyadevata come forth in the form of angry-looking Satyadevata in the Esoteric Vajradharma dance, because the ghastful image contributes to remove bothers and evils. This is related to the ultimate goal of Vajradharma dance.

Guardian divinities: They refer to the guardian gods who are faced down by the Buddha and pledge allegiance to and protect the power of Buddha. They are also known as Protector thunderbolts. The dances are called Vajradharma dance.

Companion divinities (animal facial makeup): They are the companions to the guardian divinities. They constitute the largest number in Vajradharma dance. They manifest the various styles of facial makeup in temples of all sects. In Vajradharma dance, a throng of companions would show up first, dancing around the chief divinity who comes forth in the end. The companion divinities are largely shown in the images of animals.

The divinities of the primitive Ben religion generally have three heads and six arms. Their heads look like pigs, dogs, cattle or tigers. The biggest guardian divinity of Ben religion is the nine-head bird Maquesibajiemao, which means the best mother. Crow divination, bird divination, and pied magpie divination of the witchery culture features, remain to appear in Qiang Mu in some temples. Therefore, the chief Guardian divinity and some secular divinities in Tibetan Buddhism spell dances are often shown in the facial makeup integrating all sorts of animals and humans, presenting rich national and religious colors.

It must be noted that there is a type of masks exclusively designed to hang in temples than used in dances. The roles expressed by the masks are largely guardian divinities of the temples, and their subordinates. They are obstinate, hot tempered, and sharp eyed. These divinities are originally shown in sculptures and portraits in all scripture halls, enjoying same offerings like the Buddha. In addition to Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, eminent monks and sages, the facial makeup present all sorts of immortals and apparitions in the two major types of guardians of Satyadevata Yixiba and man-and-ghost Jideba. The first type is an abstract creation of the divinity and Buddha spirits. Most of them look stately, infuriated, ferocious, bearing death’s-head.

They are decorated with human skull, heart and blood. They express in a unique way the beauty and kindness of the religious art. The latter stresses realistic reflection, granting them more human features and personalities. In some cases, some natural divinities and secular divinities relating to good or ill lucks show up as sages of delicate features or secular femme fatale.

Besides, there is a special type in Qinghai Qiang Mu masks, which are made of double or diversified layers. They are represented by the Zhangsong four-face beast mask in Jidong Temple in Hainan Gonghe County; Rakshasa mask in Luohantang Temple in Guide County, and the nine-luminary divinity mask in Jianglong Qionggong Temple and Langjia Temple in Tongren County. They are triangular prism shaped solid masks, with three layers and nine heads in one countenance. Such a multi-side image divinity sculpt is seldom in the facial makeup field.

Qiang Mu masks are classified into the divinity type, hero type and secular type. The divinity type comprise good divinities and evil divinities. The good divinity facial makeup presents the features of loving countenance, big ears, broad face, and kindly smiles, painted in mild colors, to show sanctity and goodness. The evil divinity facial makeup exaggerates in sculpt, largely to show mighty and maneating divinity roles (guardian divinities). Some dart fierce looks of hate. Others bear curved horns on head, round eyes in angry look, show buckteeth, brimming aggressive vigor and deterrent. Therefore, such facial makeup stresses distortion, exaggeration, and free imagination to create monstrosity. Such a mode of turining inanimated materials into zoetic divinities should be a reflection of primitive religious awareness in the facial makeup culture.