Xiawuta

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Xiawuta, Male, Tibetan, from Tongren, Qinghai, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Engraved Block Printing Technique (Ⅷ-78). The tradition is documented in Tongren, Qinghai. Within the regional tradition and school record of Engraved Block Printing Technique in Tongren, Qinghai: Tongren block carving is based in two family workshops in Zhuolong Village and Guomari Village of Nianduhu Township; the workshops are not inside monasteries — the carving is done in the village, and the scriptures are then supplied to temples such as Ta'er Monastery. Xia Wuta began taking apprentices in 1984, accepting trainees both from his own village and from other townships; by the end of 2016 he had trained over a hundred. Long scriptural collections such as the sixteen-volume "Complete Works of the Jamyang Living Buddha" of Ta'er Monastery and the twelve-volume "Collected Works of Lobsang Tsenle" of Gede Monastery in Sichuan were precisely accomplished through such a hand-trained echelon of apprentices. The Tongren engraved-block printing craft arose in the Yuan dynasty; as early as the late 13th century, a lama master named Sandan Rinchen developed the Tibetan-scripture block-printing technique. Tongren County in southeastern Qinghai Province still preserves the traditional Tongren engraved-block printing craft; in the form of family traditional workshops, the manual craft of block printing is transmitted to this day in Zhuolong Village and Guomari Village of Nianduhu Township.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, of Tibetan ethnicity, born in March 1962 in Tongren County, Qinghai Province. He is a national representative bearer of Engraved Block Printing Technique (Tongren block printing), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. Over a carving career of thirty-five years, his principal works include the Complete Works of the Jamyang Hutuktu (sixteen volumes) for Kumbum Monastery and the Collected Works of Lozang Chenle (twelve volumes) for Gedi Monastery in Sichuan, as well as many Buddhist scriptures carved for monasteries within and beyond the province. The lines and grain of the blocks he carves are fine and detailed, and the cuts are deep and precise; his outstanding skill has won unanimous recognition in society, and the Qinghai Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism awarded him the title of Second-Class Folk Craft Artist of Qinghai Province. Within the documented technical tradition of Engraved Block Printing Technique in Tongren, Qinghai: The difficulty of carving Tibetan-scripture blocks lies not in the characters but in the mirror-image characters: the strokes must be carved deeply and accurately so that the front-facing form shows on the back of the paper. Xia Wuta's fineness of line and depth of incision are where this craft most shows its mettle. The printed pictorial subjects center on lungta (prayer flags), human–animal harmony pictures, bagua (eight-trigrams) diagrams, and various Buddha images; scenes of sacrificing to mountain gods, to heaven, to earth, and of farming and cultivation occupy a considerable proportion. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Writing the sample and cutting it in reverse": The scripture is written out and cut in reverse onto the block; with dense Tibetan strokes a single slip spoils the whole block. "Cutting lines and depth": Fine lines and accurate cut depth are the marks of the craft; the knife must follow the pressure of the brush for tone to come out in print. "Cutting dragon and Buddha plates": Dragon symbols, harmony-of-beasts diagrams, bagua diagrams and Buddha images each need their own plate, and their varied line weights demand a different grip from cutting scripture. "Bagua and sacrificial plates": Scenes of mountain, heaven and earth worship and of ploughing and seasonal custom form the bulk of the plates, recording both local farming life and Tibetan Buddhist practice.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

Since 1984 he has taken apprentices and transmitted the art, recruiting not only young people from his own village but also apprentices widely from other townships; by the end of 2016 his apprentices numbered over one hundred.

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. Xiawuta · National Representative Bearer Archive