Zhaxidunzhu

01 · Lineage & Regional School

At the age of seven he began to study Tibetan cursive script under the local teacher Aqiong, and at ten he learned the long- and short-footed semi-cursive scripts used for single letters and appended letters, as well as the drutsa script; he later studied the Nyechi, lantsa, Urdu and other Tibetan and Sanskrit calligraphic scripts under Zhaxi Dorje. Within the regional tradition and school record of Cangwenshufa in Tibet: Tibetan calligraphy (Nichi) is one of the important schools of the Uchen (Ujin) style of Tibetan calligraphy, distributed in the Tibet Autonomous Region — with Nyemo County as its representative center — and in Tibetan-inhabited areas of Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu, and Yunnan provinces. Thonmi Sambhota, based on the ancient Zhangzhung script and absorbing the strengths of ancient Indian and ancient Persian scripts, among others, created the Tibetan script in use today in accordance with Tibetan cultural conditions; by script form it divides into the two great calligraphic styles Uchen and Ume. Later the Uchen style developed into a system of eight major calligraphic schools. The Qiongchi school later split into two schools: the Aichi school, which developed and flourished centered on the Qusong Ai area of Shannan, and the Nichi school, which flourished centered on the Nyemo area; both have been passed down from generation to generation to the present day. According to historical records, in the mid-7th century, during the reign of Tubo Tsenpo Songtsen Gampo, in order to standardize the script and introduce Buddhism, the court sent a group of aspirants led by the minister Thonmi Sambhota to India for advanced study.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Tibetan ethnicity, born in February 1975 in Nyemo County, Tibet Autonomous Region. At eighteen he began the work of copying scriptures for the restoration of the Narthang printing blocks of the Tengyur, and served as chief master of Nyechi calligraphy. In 2004 he took part in the project to recreate fine editions of the Kangyur and Tengyur of the Potala Palace. His principal work is Zuxian Jiyi Zhizhe Xiyan (A Feast of the Wise: The Crafts of the Ancestors). Within the documented technical tradition of Cangwenshufa in Tibet: Nichi calligraphy is written with a bamboo pen, and is therefore also called the “hard pen.” Bamboo pens are divided into round-bamboo pens and triangular pens; the round-bamboo pen is used for writing large characters and the triangular pen for small characters; there are also iron pens. Pen tips come in three types: left-slanted, right-slanted, and flat. The left-slanted tip is used to write the Ujin (Uchen) style: on a practice board the characters run from left to right, with a ruler used to fix the columns, the lines of writing parallel as if strung along a single straight line — neat and rigorous. The structure of the script centers on the base letter; writing proceeds in the order of the base letter's prefixes, suffixes, and then the further suffixes. The writing posture is generally to sit cross-legged and upright: the left hand holds the paper with the index and little fingers, the palm turned up and resting on the knee, directly facing the heart; the right hand holds the pen, with the thumb and index finger gripping about one cun from the tip, the palm hollow so the writing moves with ease. The paper used is mostly Tibetan paper made from the root of the langdu (Stellera chamaejasme) plant. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Round and three-edged bamboo pens": Nichi is written with bamboo, also called the hard pen: round pens for large letters, three-edged pens for small, with iron pens also in use. "Three pen-tip cuts": Tips are cut left, right or flat; the left cut writes the uchen script, ruled column by column from left to right so the text falls into a straight line. "The writing posture": The writer sits cross-legged, steadying the paper with the left hand and holding the pen an inch from the tip, the palm hollowed for freedom. "The Achi and Nichi schools": The Qiongchi school split into the Achi school centred on Qusong in southern Tibet and the Nichi school centred on Nyemo, both transmitted to this day.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Tibetan Calligraphy (Nyechi), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. At thirteen he was selected with distinction as one of the transmitters of the Nyechi school, and together with Zhaxi Dorje he took part in the restoration of the Tengyur among the Eight Treasures of the Maitreya Hall of the Potala Palace, at a time when the Nyechi style was established as the standard official calligraphic form.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Zhaxidunzhu · National Representative Bearer Archive