ROCK ART

There is a legend about the origin of Tibetan paintings:A long time ago, there was a slave named Agha who herded sheep. Every day, he drove the sheep to rich pastures, and depicted animals, flowers and grass with wood charcoal on slates. One day,a rainbow tent suddenly appeared on the hillside in front of him, and a beautiful girl danced inside. Agha ran toward her. However, the girl faded away together with the rainbow as he got close. After he returned to his camp at night, he still had the girlin mind and drew her image on a slate, curved the profile with a chisel, andkept staring at it. One day, his friend saw the carved stone painting, and asked him in surprise,”What’s this?”Agha answered,”Rejipomo(the daughter of the mountain).”After returning to his village, the friend could only remember the word”Remo”and he told the villagers,”Shepherd Agha has a very mystical Remo.”People rushed to watch this amazing creation and sang praises. Later,”Remo”was used as a description for rock painting and carving in the Tibetan language. The legend is not only about the origin of Tibetan painting, but also about the origin of Tibetan carving. It proves that after the invention of iron ware, Tibetan rock art experienced a boom. Through a vast amount of rock paintings discovered in Ngari Prefecture of Tibet and northern Tibet, it is easy to imagine that the Tibetan ancestors possessed a strong interest and talent for drawing and carving.

Since the 1940s, some early Tibetan rock art works have been found in various parts of Tibet.

qingquang

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