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More than 70 rare artifacts, many being shown publicly for the first time, are drawing tourists from home and abroad to the Lhoka Museum in the Xizang autonomous region.
The exhibition, which opened on May 18 and is expected to run until late August, brings together cultural objects from 37 monasteries across 12 counties, tracing centuries of political, religious, and artistic exchange between Xizang and other parts of China.
The displays are arranged in four sections: historical documents and official seals, Buddhist statues, thangkas, and ritual objects.
"This has been one of the exhibitions most popular with local people since it opened," Losang Drolkar, deputy director of the museum, told a visiting group of Chinese and foreign journalists. "Many of these objects are normally kept in monastery storage and cannot be seen by visitors."
One of the centerpieces is an iron tiger tally inscribed in Phags-pa script from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Such tokens were used to transmit urgent military orders, and organizers said the object reflects how Yuan government instructions were communicated and carried out in Xizang.
Other exhibits show how artistic techniques and cultural symbols traveled between regions. A Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) embroidered hanging screen depicts the jade rabbit pounding an elixir, a motif associated with the Taoist pursuit of health and longevity in the central plains. It uses silk from the Jiangnan region and features auspicious cloud patterns common in art from central China.
A kesi silk-tapestry thangka combines Tibetan Buddhist imagery with techniques and decorative elements from central China, including the characters symbolizing longevity and happiness alongside dragon and auspicious-cloud motifs.
The museum also displays traditional clothing and objects illustrating folk customs in Lhoka and elsewhere in Xizang.