Before the rise of the Tibetan Empire, the ancient kingdom of Zhangzhung dominated the vast, windswept landscape of western Tibet’s Ngari region. Its history stretches back thousands of years, and its strategic location along the Silk Road once connected it to Central, West, and South Asia. Xiangxiong Murals, a volume in the Tibetan Folk Art Series, is a stunning photographic documentation of the fading mural legacy of Zhangzhung and its successor kingdom, Guge — particularly the ruins at the Guge Kingdom capital site. Edited by Nian Xin and Li Shumin, this bilingual catalog presents over 140 pages of full‑color plates capturing Buddhist deities, revered translators, royal portraits, and scenes of daily life — kings, monks, farmers, hunters, even merchants and travelers. More than a visual archive, the book allows readers to wander through caves and temples that have survived centuries of isolation, where the line between the sacred and the secular blurs on earthen walls. For anyone drawn to the mystery of lost kingdoms and the timeless beauty of Tibetan art, Xiangxiong Murals offers an unforgettable glimpse into a civilization carved into the rock of the highest plateau on earth.

Fully illustrated in color photos, text in Chinese.

2003, Chongqing Publishing House, softcover, 146 pp., 22*29cm, in a very good condition.