Tibetan engraving printing technology of dege Printing Institute

The name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Tibetan engraving printing technology of dege Printing Institute

Applicant: dege County, Sichuan Province

Project No.: 430

Project No.: VIII - 80

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Sichuan Province

Type: new item

Applicant: dege County, Sichuan Province

Protection unit: dege County Cultural Center

Introduction to Tibetan engraving printing technology of dege Printing Institute:

Applicant: dege County, Sichuan Province

Dege county is located in the northwest of Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province, on the southeast edge of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. This is a multi-ethnic county mainly inhabited by Tibetan people, and Tibetan residents account for about 96% of the total population of the county. There are mountains and rivers all over the place, with magnificent scenery, but the transportation is inconvenient and relatively closed. The traditional Tibetan culture has been well preserved in this environment. Known as the "Encyclopedia of Tibetan culture", dege Scripture Printing Institute is located in dege county.

The dege school was founded in 1729 ad. As early as 1703, the chieftain of dege had invested in engraving and printing sutras. Except for the interruption of 20 years from 1958 to 1979, the history of the Yinjing is nearly 300 years. During the period of dege chieftain, Tibetan paper was used to print scriptures, and about 500000 pieces of Tibetan paper were used every year.

Today's printing process includes papermaking, plate making, printing and other processes. Papermaking uses the root of Stellera chamaejasme as raw material, and the production technology belongs to the paper pouring system, which is unique. The Tibetan paper produced will not be moth eaten, has strong ink absorption, light weight, good toughness and unique value. In 1958, the production of Tibetan paper was stopped. In 2000, an 80 year old man was invited to teach the young man to collect paper, and this traditional skill was initially rescued. The red birch is selected as the raw material of the Sutra plate of dege Printing Institute. After the processes of fire fumigation, dung tank, boiling, drying and planing, it can not deform for hundreds of years and is most suitable for carving. The scripture engraving of the printing Institute is very deep, and the calligraphy is very beautiful. It is suitable for repeated printing, and many unique skills have been formed in printing.

Dege Scripture printing academy is the first of the three major Scripture printing academies in Tibetan areas. Dege scriptures are widely spread in Tibetan areas and Tibetan academic circles at home and abroad. Therefore, dege Scripture printing skills should be protected. At present, the problem is that the cost of manual production is high, the process is complex, it is difficult to inherit, and the Tibetan ink production process has not yet been restored, which need to be solved gradually.