Why do the carved archives and documents in the Dege Printing Academy become "world memories"
2024-09-20
The Dege Printing Institute is located in Gengqing Temple, Gengqing Town, Dege County, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. There are not only traditional Tibetan buildings and exquisite mural sculptures, but also more than 320000 carved plates, including all kinds of important Tibetan classical documents since the 11th century. The number and types of carved plates collected by the Academy rank first in Xizang and other Tibetan related regions in four provinces. On May 8th of this year, at the 10th plenary session of the Asia Pacific Regional Committee of the UNESCO Memory of the World Project held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, the engraved archival documents from the Dege Printing Institute, which were submitted by the National Archives of China, were successfully selected for the "Memory of the World Asia Pacific Directory". In the past 9 years, the long run of "Shenyi" has been underway. "Dawa, Dawa, hurry up and get the certificate!" When the conference announced that the woodblock archives of the Dege Printing Academy had been selected for the "Memory of the World Asia Pacific Region List", the nearly 9 years of "Shenyi" time flashed through the mind of Dawa Yongxi, the director of the Dege County Archives. The 300 year history of the Printing Academy is concretely transformed into thick carved blocks, layered and displayed before her eyes. In November 2015, the government of Ganzi Prefecture officially launched the application for the "Memory of the World List" of the engraved archives and documents collected by the Dege Printing Institute. In 2020, this task was handed over to the Dege County Committee and County Government, with the leadership group office located at the Dege County Archives, and Dawa Yongxi taking over the execution. My life is closely intertwined with precious woodblock archives Karma Jangcun, a 72 year old Tibetan studies expert, served as the leader of the expert group and was responsible for the planning, material preparation, and coordination of the entire project. For the past 9 years, Karma Village has sought professional knowledge on woodblock printing from carving inheritors and senior staff of the Printing Institute, learned about the protection and operation of the Dege Printing Institute from religious figures and local residents, and consulted Tibetan experts on the important significance of the Dege Printing Institute's ancient printing plates in cultural inheritance. All of what he did was to present the historical significance, cultural value, and influence of the Dege Printing Academy's woodblock archives to the world in the most accurate and vivid way. Entering the Dege Printing House, passing through the narrow and steep wooden staircase, one arrives at the most important plate storage facility of the Printing House. This place is densely packed with neatly arranged wooden sutra plates, carved with fine Tibetan script. This is the treasure of the Dege Printing Academy's collection of carved tablets. These precious sutra archives include book editions and art editions. The book editions can be roughly divided into three categories: religion, culture, and miscellaneous collections. Among them, the cultural editions include various comprehensive documents such as Tibetan history, biographies, literature, collections, medicine, language, grammar, logic, statements, poetry, astronomy, and calendar calculations. There are over 220000 ancient printed editions that have been passed down; There are thousands of illustrations on the canvas, including thangka, mandala, and large book inscriptions. Both types of woodblock printing have neat writing, standardized fonts, generous layouts, precise proofreading, and exquisite craftsmanship, reflecting the highest level of Tibetan woodblock printing technology. The engraved content comprehensively expresses the values, religious beliefs, cultural arts, and scientific technology of people in different historical periods. It is an important component of China's excellent traditional culture and a shining pearl in the world's cultural treasure trove. The cultural treasures accumulated over 300 years are passed down through generations. The woodblock printing technique of Dege Printing Academy originated in the early 8th century and has a history of more than 1000 years. Zhou Xuesong, director of the Dege County Cultural Relics Management Center, introduced that in the early 18th century, the Dege region had stable economy and society, frequent commercial and cultural exchanges. Dege Tusi invited 300 craftsmen to carve sutras to protect and inherit traditional culture, effectively promoting the widespread dissemination of Tibetan classics. The typical representative of the Dege Printing Academy's woodblock carving, the "Eight Thousand Prajnaparamita Sutras", was completed by the 10th generation Dege chieftain Sangjiedenba from 1703 to 1704. It can be concluded that the history of woodblock printing in the Dege Printing Academy can be traced back to at least 1703 years ago, before the construction of the Dege Printing Academy. In 1729, the 12th generation Dege Tusi Dengba Zeren presided over the carving of the printing plate of the "Ganzhuer" (the Tibetan "Tripitaka" is divided into two parts: "Ganzhuer" and "Danzhuer", with "Ganzhuer" mainly containing the original scriptures of Buddhism and "Danzhuer" discussing Tibet). Afterwards, he successively presided over the carving of more than 60 single volume documents such as the "Collected Works of the Five Patriarchs of Sakya", "The Origins of Buddhism", and the compilation of Buddhist rituals and ceremonies, and initiated projects such as the carving of "Danzhuer". Over the next 300 years, the engineering of carving sutras has never been interrupted. Over 300 years of accumulation have led to the emergence of many rare and isolated editions of the Dege Printing Academy's woodblock prints. It is reported that the "Eight Thousand Prajnaparamita Sutras" are carved in three different forms of writing: Sanskrit, Sanskrit transliteration of Tibetan, and Sanskrit transliteration of Tibetan. With a combination of images and text, it is the most precious national cultural relic of the Dege Printing Institute and reflects the exchange and mutual learning between different civilizations; The "Ten Thousand Sequels to the Old Translation", "The Complete Collection of Revisions", "The Complete Collection of Continuations" and so on are unique "orphan versions"; The versions of "Ganzhuer" and "Danzhuer" are renowned as "templates" due to their complete versions, excellent printing quality, and strict proofreading; The long lost "Origins of Indian Buddhism" is also collected in the Dege Printing Institute in India; The rare and precious book "The Origins of Buddhism in Han China" and the early medical classic "Four Medical Classics" also exist here. The carving craftsmen of Dege Printing Academy not only need to be proficient in techniques, but also understand the grammar norms of Tibetan language, and master certain painting skills. After several years of strict learning and assessment, they were hired. For 300 years, in the rich aroma of ancient wood, smoke and ink, and butter, craftsmen have carved scriptures on wooden boards with exquisite skills, and then made them into books through processes such as ink making, papermaking, and printing. Each scripture carries a profound cultural heritage. Due to fire safety and protection of the printing plates, the Dege Printing Institute has not yet installed electric lights as a living fossil of woodblock printing. In the printing room, sunlight is projected into the room through windows, courtyards, etc. The workers sit in pairs, one brushing cinnabar or ink on the sutra board, and the other laying paper on the sutra board. When the rolling drum is evenly pushed, a page of text is printed. Zhou Xuesong introduced that the woodblock printing process of Dege Printing Institute is complex, including papermaking, plate making, printing and other procedures, and the production process is very meticulous. It is worth mentioning that the Dege Printing Institute not only houses a vast collection of printing plates, but its Tibetan woodblock printing technique is also the only traditional technique in the Tibetan region that has been fully preserved, inherited, and still in practical application. It is a "living fossil of Chinese woodblock printing". The raw material required for printing is the root of a plant called wolfweed. This type of root is toxic, so the hidden paper will not be bitten by insects or rodents, will not rot or change color, and will not have any problem even if stored for hundreds or thousands of years. In addition, it has good ink absorption, light weight, toughness, is not easy to tear, and is also wear-resistant and folding resistant. Its matte feature is particularly beneficial for protecting the eyes and is quite precious. The material for carving is red birch wood that grows at an altitude of over 3000 meters. This type of wood has good toughness and anti-corrosion properties. Before making the sutra board, the craftsman first transforms it into wooden blocks that are about 100 centimeters long, 10 centimeters wide, and 4 centimeters thick. They are then smoked over low heat to remove moisture, and then placed in a sheep manure tank to ferment for a winter. In April of the following year, it will be boiled, dried, polished, and planed before it can be used for plate making and carving. When printing, ink processed with high-quality pine branches or cinnabar is applied, so that the printing plate can withstand thousands of years without fading. The engraving craftsmen have a good foundation in Tibetan language and painting to ensure accurate and good engraving. The printing plate needs to undergo a total of 12 strict verifications, then soak in butter for one day, and dry before it is considered complete. Integrating Tangka art from traditional Tibetan painting into woodblock printing is a significant breakthrough and innovation for the Dege Printing Institute's wooden blocks. Its composition is full and complete, the picture is vivid, the carving is exquisite, representing the characteristics of different Tibetan painting schools, showing rich imagination, and has high historical and artistic value Zhou Xuesong said. The existence of the Tibetan woodblock printing technique at Dege Printing Institute is not only a specimen of preserving traditional manual skills, but also plays a role in continuing the excellent traditional Chinese culture, "said Zhou Xuesong. After long-term printing use, some printing plates at Dege Printing Institute have also experienced some blurry fonts and slight wear and tear around the edges. In recent decades, the Dege Printing Institute has carried out systematic sorting of its scripture editions, compiled a catalog of carved editions, and repaired and reinforced damaged printing plates and precious handwritten documents. Zhou Xuesong introduced that in response to the wear and tear phenomenon of the "Eight Thousand Prajnaparamita Sutras", the Dege Printing Institute has taken protective measures such as limited printing, sealing, and reprinting. In 2015 and 2017, we successively launched the reprinting projects of printing plates such as "Ganzhu Er", "Prajnaparamita Sutra Eight Thousand Odes", and "Old Translation One Hundred Thousand Sequels". The reprint is used for printing purposes, and the ancient printing plate is sealed. Every year, sixty to seventy skilled craftsmen concentrate on carving and replicating editions of Buddhist scriptures. Over the past decade, more than 22000 of the 30000 classic editions have been replicated, completing approximately 70% of the project. Over 220000 antique printing plates in the courtyard are being maintained day after day, year after year through washing, drying, and oil supply. Peng Cuozeren, a 69 year old representative inheritor of Tibetan woodblock printing skills at the Dege Printing Institute, is responsible for the restoration of printing plates. Due to insufficient proofreading of some of the hospital's printing plates, he is still responsible for proofreading before repairing the editions. A set of classics often needs to be proofread five or six times to ensure an accuracy rate of over 99%. Once any omissions or errors are found in the text on the printing plate, he carefully cuts them out with a carving knife and then re engraves the correct characters on the wood for inlaying. Peng Cuozeren has been doing this job for over 40 years. Under the mentorship model, there are now 70-80 craftsmen engaged in the carving and printing of sutras at the Dege Printing Institute. In the rapidly developing printing industry, Dege Printing Institute still insists on pure manual engraving of some classics, both to meet market demand and to ensure that this human cultural heritage can be passed down from generation to generation. Dege Printing Institute also actively carries out cultural and educational activities and external exchanges and cooperation, attracting more young people to join the inheritance team and allowing more people to understand the treasures of this world cultural treasure trove. (New Society)
Edit：NiChengRan Responsible editor：YingLing
Source：China Ethnic News
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