Thangka" in the Tibetan language means a cloth picture or silk embroidery. Thangka and mural are similar in their content and expressive techniques.
Murals and thangkas can be found in palaces and temples, and in the sutra halls of Tibetan nobles' mansions and manors. Ancient Tibetan artists created many magnificent murals and thangkas. The murals in Lhasa's Jokhang Temple cover 4,400 square meters, and various major temples also house a considerable number of thangkas.

The Potala has two 50-meter-long thangkas. To store these thangkas, a 340-square-meter, tw(>story building was built at the foot of the Sunning Buddha Terrace in front of the Potala Palace.

Diverse themes are contained in murals and thangkas, and include historical events, profiles, religious doctrines, Tibetan customs, folk legends, and fairy tales. They in-volve such topics as politics, economics, history, religion, culture, literature, and social life. They resemble a visual encyclopedia.

Religion: This category includes portraits of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Heavenly Kings, Tara (a female deity), ap-saras, Yidom of Tantric mysticism, and the protector of Dharma. Jokhang Temple and Zhaxilhunpo Temple have corridors for huge murals of 1,000 Buddhas.

Their religious pictures also include scenes of religious activities, such as debating sutras, religious dancing, expounding on scriptures, and preaching doctrine. Some pic-tures express a religious world outlook, such as mandalas, Mt. Sumeru, and transmigration in six ways.

Profile:This category includes story paintings of Sakyamuni's previous incarnations, profiles of Buddhas, biographies of great masters (Lotus Born One, Atisa), biographies of the kings of law (Phagspa, Tsongkhapa, the fifth Dalai Lama), and biographies of Tibetan kings (Songtsan Gambo). One mural may comprise dozens or even hundreds of pictures describing a person's life.

On the west wall of Sixi Puncog Hall in the Red Palace of the Potala, a mural covering hundreds of square meters depicts the life of the fifth Dalai Lama.

A group of more than 100 thangkas depicts the biography of Phagspa: his birth, going to Liangzhou, entering Beijing at the emperor's invitation, returning to Tibet, returning to Beijing, the emperor's appointment and his death.

In the White Temple at the remains of the Guge Kingdom, a mural describes the genealogy of the Tubo Kingdom, outlining the history of this ancient kingdom.

Portrait: This category includes portraits of Tibetan kings, such as Songtsan Gambo; portraits of empresses and concubines, such as Princess Wencheng; and portraits of eminent monks and living Buddhas, such as the Dalai and Panchen lamas.

Iegend: The most famous Tibetan legend tells how monkeys became human. Famous works depicting such legends include murals in the East Hall of the White Palace in the Potala, and in the small sutra hall in Norbu Lingka, and wood carvings on the lintel of the main hall of the Jokhang Temple.

The monkey legend says that in ancient Tibet, a female monkey married a stone demon and gave birth to six monkeys. The six monkeys multiplied into 500 monkeys and, after eating magic food, turned into human beings.

The wood carvings in the Jokhang Temple are believed to have been carved in the 7th century. One scene depicts how the stone demon makes an offer of marriage to the female monkey; another depicts their wedding ceremony. The lively, vivid carvings are rare masterpieces.

FolkIore:Many murals describe various aspects of Tibetan social life, entertainment and sports activities. A group of pictures on the southern part of the west wall of the main hall in the Jokhang Temple depict celebration activities, such as song and dance performances, instrumental performances and sports contests.

Some murals in the Potala depict scenes of horse races, archery, wrestling, and weightlifting.

Constmction: Many murals in ancient Tibetan buildings depict imposing architecture, such as the Jokhang Temple, Potala Palace, Samyai Temple, Gandain Temple, Zhaxil-hunpo Temple, Sakya Temple, and Mount Wutai in Shanxi Province.

The picture of the Samyai Temple comprises n-1ore than 50 halls, pagodas, and many figures.

The Construction of the Potala consists of more than 100 scenes that vividly describe the building of the Potala in the 17th century: Masons quarrying stone slabs, the stone materials being shipped on the Lhasa River using ox-hide rafts, countless laborers climbing the slopes of the Potala Mountain, and masons and carpenters building walls and beams. The Tibetan people created splendid ancient culture.

Histoiy:This category of murals and tangkas describes important political events and activities, and some works eulogize the friendship between the Tibetan and Han people. For instance, the mural, Princess Wencheng Entering Tibet, can be seen in the Potala, Jokhang Temple and Norbu Lingka.

Tibetan murals and tangkas have a tight, well-knit composition, with blank spaces and objects artistically arranged. The techniques used are mainly gongbi zhongcai (meticulously stylized painting using deep colors) and baimiao (contour painting).

Tibetan artists emphasize strong contrast when applying color, and they seek the splendid, magnificent effect of gold with green. They use gold spots and other neutralizing colors to harmonize their compositions.

Following a 1,000-year evolution in which the strengths of Han and neighboring Indian and Nepalese art were absorbed, Tibetan murals and tangkas have developed their own unique style. During this long development process, different schools were established.

Maindang and Oinze are two of the major schools of murals. The Maindang school, which emphasizes meticu-lousness and solemnity, is represented by murals in the Jokhang Temple and Potala Palace. The Oinze, which emphasizes vivacity and a lack of restriction, is represented by murals in the Xalu, Baiqoi and Tolin temples.