Cangwenshufa
01 · Historical Records
Dege Tibetan calligraphy has undergone an evolutionary process from regular script through running script to cursive script, and has a developmental history of more than seven hundred years to date.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Tibetan people have always attached great importance to the art of calligraphy. Tibetan calligraphy is world-renowned for its great variety of script types. As the fastest practical script for writing, the gracefully flowing qiuti script is widely applied in regions where Tibetan culture prevails. According to the traditional Tibetan classification of disciplines, calligraphy is a minor branch of the science of arts and crafts (gongqiaoming) within the Five Great Sciences. Tibetan calligraphy has three forms: zhen (standard script), xing (running script), and cao (cursive script). The standard script is used for engraving; the running script is used for official documents and other relatively formal handwritten texts; the cursive script is used for ordinary notes and letters. Tibetan calligraphy is written with a hard-tipped pen; the nibs are mostly made of bamboo, though some are made of iron. Dege Tibetan calligraphy, called Dezhen in Tibetan, is a traditional art of writing the Tibetan script that is widely popular in Tibetan-inhabited regions. It was at first transmitted and used mainly among the tusi (native chieftains), monks, and headmen, serving as the official script for drafting documents, correspondence, and records in the Dege region; since the founding of the Dege Parkhang (scripture-printing institute), the internal scriptures it has produced, as well as the carving and rubbing of its printing blocks, have all taken the various script forms of Dege calligraphy as their standard models. In the course of its teaching, study, and application in the Kham region centered on Dege, Dege Tibetan calligraphy gradually formed its own artistic style and was continually enriched and refined. At the same time, it gradually entered ordinary households and flourished in the wider life of society. Unlike the Tibetan calligraphy of U-Tsang, Amdo, and other regions, the regular and cursive scripts of Dege Tibetan calligraphy carry their own distinctive stylistic features. To this day, many scholars in the Kham region still employ Dege calligraphy's methods of layout and composition in their writing. Dege Tibetan calligraphy has vigorous, forceful lines; its character heads are open and relaxed; its layout is ingenious, and the density of its character structures well judged. Its various scripts, regular, running, and cursive, each display stylistic qualities that are brisk yet robust, dignified yet lively, open and accomplished.
Seven centuries of evolution
It has passed seven centuries from an upright hand through running and cursive forms, and its regular and cursive styles differ from those of U-Tsang and Amdo.
Three scripts and their uses
The formal hand serves carving, the running hand official and solemn documents, and the cursive hand notes and letters — all written with hard bamboo or iron pens.
The printing house's standard hand
The texts and woodblocks of the Derge printing house have followed standard Derge hands, making the press the institutional keeper of the script.
The quick hand and the five sciences
The elegant, fast-running quick hand is in daily use wherever Tibetan culture spreads, and in Tibetan classification calligraphy is a branch of the arts and crafts among the five great sciences.
Forceful line and open head
Forceful line, open head, ingenious layout and balanced spacing give its several hands a brisk, weighty and expansive air still used by Kangba scholars today.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Called Dezhen in Tibetan, Dege Tibetan calligraphy was at first transmitted and used mainly among the tusi (native chieftains), monks, and headmen, serving as the official script for drafting documents, correspondence, and records in the Dege region; since the founding of the Dege Parkhang (scripture-printing institute), the internal scriptures it has produced, as well as the carving and rubbing of its printing blocks, have all taken the various script forms of Dege calligraphy as their standard models. In the course of its teaching, study, and application in the Kham region centered on Dege, it gradually formed its own artistic style and step by step entered ordinary households.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Cangwenshufa · Cangwenshufa.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The richly varied Tibetan calligraphy not only possesses high artistic value but also contains abundant cultural connotations, providing broad scope for research into Tibetan literature, philosophy, medicine, music, painting, and other fields.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Chabazhi 03-1283
- Sanggedajie 04-1807
- Zhaxidunzhu 05-2676
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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