Tancheng sand paintings are rich in profound Buddhism, which is extremely secret and precious. Traditionally, it is only open to disciples during initiation, and then it is selectively open to the public. During initiation or daily practice, the yogi takes the beach city as a map or blueprint to help him visualize his three-dimensional palace. It is said that just a glance at the altar city can lead to introspection or inner peace. As long as you see the people in Tancheng, you can establish a deep karma with this deity. Altar cities can also purify the polluted environment and bring prosperity to the world.
Tancheng is an imaginary palace. If it is called painting, it is a circular painting on the platform, or a square fabric. Most of Tancheng is made of colored sand or stone powder, grain and other non-permanent materials by hand. The process has strict regulations and detailed requirements. Key points such as structure, location, length and name must not be mistaken. It is usually performed by well-trained monks, but it is certainly not static. The edges of some altars are decorated with brocade. Altars have various scales, one meter square, and the larger altars are five or six square meters in size, with bright colors, like tapestries, and exquisite architectural models, which are necessary for religious art. After the ceremony, the altar city will be deliberately destroyed, and the sand will be cleaned up and poured into nearby streams or rivers, so it is close to today's performance art.
Tancheng sand paintings are made of special fine sand. Because sand is the most basic element to build the world, the beach city is difficult to build and easy to destroy, beautiful and fragile, and disappears in the blink of an eye, which can best reveal the illusion and impermanence of the world. The white sand used is hand-polished by special stones, including precious metals and minerals such as gold, turquoise and agate. After dyeing, it becomes the basic material of beach city. There are six colors: white, black, blue, red, yellow and green. Except white and black, the other four colors are divided into three grades: dark, medium and light, which can be blended into fourteen colors in total. Generally speaking, the five basic colors of blue, yellow, red, green and white correspond to Five Dhyani Buddhas and five intellectuals.
The production of Beach City needs the cooperation of several or even dozens of well-trained lamas. Before making, the Lama will draw geometric patterns such as vertical lines, diagonal lines and circles on the pedestal as the basis for composition and positioning, then draw the outline, and then start from the middle and gradually draw outward. Every step was taken according to the teachings of the Buddha, and it has not changed until today. The lamas who made the beach city have undergone very strict training, and every detail should be kept in mind, not created by themselves.
Drawing the altar city is a painstaking and meticulous process. The Lama wears a mask and grinds sand into small particles in advance and puts them into a special conical container. By tapping or tapping again, control the flow, leak sand on the formwork, stack it carefully and outline it. If he is careful, he will give up all his efforts. Depending on the size, it will take several days to several months.
From an artistic point of view, the whole picture is rigorous in structure and rich in colors. With the help of sand, a layered and thick medium, religious significance can be fully displayed. Whether it's the Buddha sitting in the middle, the creatures with different expressions around the Buddha, or the ethereal breath all over the world, they all have their own spiritual bodies and form a complete world in harmony. What is even more amazing is that this unique creative technique limits the possibility of too many changes, so the whole picture must be done in one go, just like a monk silently writing his own world view.
From the behavioral point of view, the monk's own creative process also conforms to the intention of the picture. Long creation, short joy after success, and then unrelenting destruction. When this sand altar city is completed, after the Dharma meeting. It will be dispersed. It spreads out from the sand in the outer layer to the inner layer, representing the initial state of its mind after all the old people died. Besides, it expresses the impermanence and emptiness of the world.