Handmade papermaking skills of Dai and Naxi Nationalities

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Dai and Naxi people's Handmade papermaking skills

Applicant: Shangri La County, Yunnan Province

Item No.: 418

Project No.: VIII - 68

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Yunnan Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Shangri La County, Yunnan Province

Protected by: Shangri La Cultural Heritage Management Office

Brief introduction of Dai and Naxi people's Handmade papermaking skills:

Applicant: Shangri La County, Yunnan Province

Dongba paper of Naxi nationality, also known as Baidi paper, has a unique production technique. It is now preserved in Baidi village, Sanba Naxi Township, Shangri La County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Baidi (Baishuitai) is the birthplace of Naxi Dongba culture. Dongba paper is the most important Sutra writing paper in Dongba, which has a long reputation among all ethnic groups in Northwest Yunnan.

The raw material of Dongba paper is from the local unique plant raw material "adanda", which is identified as Daphne family Lijiang water lily. The paper-making process consists of collecting raw materials, drying, soaking, cooking, washing, pounding, re pounding, pouring paper, sticking paper, drying paper and other processes. The main tools include paper curtain, wood frame, drying paper board, wood mortar and so on. The movable paper curtain of Dongba paper is special. The paper drying process is obviously influenced by the paper pouring method, and there are traces of paper making method. It is the result of the integration of Chinese papermaking technology and Indian and Pakistani subcontinent papermaking method.

Baidi Dongba paper is white and thick. It is not easy to be eaten by insects and can be preserved for a long time. According to the survey in 1940s, the Dongba classics written in it have more than 5000 volumes. Baidi Dongba paper has made great contributions to the development of Dongba culture. From the perspective of technology history, it is also a rare example to study the handmade paper in China.

The Naxi people's papermaking skills have a tradition of passing on their sons to their daughters, and they have always been produced in family workshops without being passed on to the outside world. Therefore, under the pressure of modern commercial society, they may die out at any time and need urgent rescue and protection.