On March 6th, the Guardian Art Center is proud to host Luo Wenhua, a research fellow from the Court Department of the Palace Museum, who will provide a comprehensive introduction to Qing Dynasty court thangka paintings from multiple perspectives including system, technique, and style. The Palace Museum currently houses over two thousand thangka paintings, most of which were created during the Qianlong period. Detailed records of these works are preserved in the Qing court archives, a documentation phenomenon unparalleled in the entire Tibetan Buddhist cultural region, which is of great significance for understanding the value and status of Tibetan Buddhist thangka paintings in the Qing court.

Guest Introduction

Luo Wenhua

Luo Wenhua, a graduate of Peking University’s School of Archaeology and Museology in 1989, currently holds a position at the Court Department of the Palace Museum, serving as a research fellow and the Director of the Tibetan Buddhist Cultural Relics Research Institute. His primary focus lies in the investigation of the Qing Dynasty royal family’s Tibetan Buddhist faith, the study of Buddhist temples, and the authentication and examination of Tibetan Buddhist artifacts. He has published scholarly works such as “Dragon Robes and Kasaya: The Archaeology of Tibetan Buddhism in the Qing Palace” and “Tibetan Buddhist Statues of the Qing Palace”. Since 2005, he has conducted extensive and in-depth field surveys within the Tibetan Buddhist cultural regions, traversing areas such as Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, Yunnan, Sichuan’s Garzê and Ngawa, Inner Mongolia, and beyond. His research encompasses Tibetan Buddhist temple architecture, murals, and temple-held artifacts, culminating in publications like “The Wall Paintings of Gongga Qude Temple: A Milestone in the History of Tibetan Buddhist Art” and “The Ming Dynasty Hall Sutra Fortification Paintings in the Muya Region”. He has published 106 papers and authored 14 books.