Lhasa Jiamishuimofang Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The Jami watermill was built around the 17th century AD; when the Fifth Dalai Lama was in closed retreat at the Pabangka Songzan cave, the mill owner had offered him tsamba (roasted barley flour) produced by this mill.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In the agricultural areas and some pastoral areas of Tibet, people have skillfully built watermills exploiting the drop of mountain streams to process tsamba, wheat flour and livestock fodder; of these, the Jami Quguo is the most famous. Jami Quguo means the Jami watermill; it is located in the Niangre Valley on the northern outskirts of Lhasa, six kilometers from the center of Lhasa. The abundant water resources of the Niangre Valley have given rise here to the largest concentration of watermills on the outskirts of Lhasa: nearly twenty watermills built along almost two kilometers of water — something unparalleled in the entire Tibetan region. From ancient times to the present, the Niangre Valley has been an important place for processing tsamba in the Lhasa area. The tsamba processed here is finely ground, pure white and free of impurities, and delicious; the Fifth Dalai Lama praised it highly. By the time of the Seventh Dalai Lama, the Niangre Jami watermill had become the designated mill for offering tsamba to the Dalai Lama and received its formal name. In recognition of the Jami watermill's merit in offering Jami tsamba to successive Dalai Lamas, the former Tibetan local government specially granted it two dharma staves two meters long and twenty centimeters wide, exempted the mill from taxes and ula corvée duties, and stipulated that if the Jami watermill collapsed or was damaged, other watermills were to assist in repairs, and that the Jami watermill enjoyed the privilege of priority in the use of water resources. The Jami watermill demonstrates the outstanding talent of the Tibetan people in mechanical manufacture and grain processing; it makes full use of natural spring water and grinds tsamba in an energy-saving, pollution-free way.
The name Gyamikchuko
Gyamikchuko, the water mill of Gyami, lies in the Niangre gorge north of Lhasa, where the water runs steadily enough to turn the wheels year round.
Twenty mills along the water
Almost twenty mills stand within two kilometres of the stream, the largest such group on the outskirts of any Tibetan town.
Grinding tsampa, flour and fodder
Wheels of timber and stone grind barley, flour and fodder, with a wooden sluice holding the speed steady.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Lhasa watermills are best represented by the Jami Quguo in the Niangre Valley on the northern outskirts of Lhasa, six kilometers from the center of Lhasa, where nearly twenty watermills built along two kilometers of water form the largest concentration of watermills on the outskirts of Lhasa; in the agricultural areas and some pastoral areas of Tibet, people build watermills exploiting the drop of mountain streams to process tsamba, wheat flour and livestock fodder. The Tibet Gajilin Tourism Development Co., Ltd. is the project's protecting unit. Lhasa watermills are best represented by the Jami Quguo in the Niangre Valley on the northern outskirts of Lhasa, six kilometers from the center of Lhasa, where nearly twenty watermills built along two kilometers of water form the largest concentration of watermills on the outskirts of Lhasa; in the agricultural areas and some pastoral areas of Tibet, people build watermills exploiting the drop of mountain streams to process tsamba, wheat flour and livestock fodder. The Tibet Gajilin Tourism Development Co., Ltd. is the project's protecting unit. The mills are mostly driven by waterwheels turning horizontal stone millstones, or use water-powered pestles to pound the grain; the green-stone millstones must be chiseled with fine, dense teeth, and the tsamba flour they grind is finer than that produced by stone rollers, so local households would rather walk a few extra steps to reach the waterside mills. The roofs are mostly covered with wheat straw or tiles and pottery shards — partly to prevent grass leaves from flying in and spoiling the flour, and partly to prepare for spring droughts, when the water may be cut off but the grain must not stop being milled.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
However, because the watermill is inefficient and low in output, the Jami watermill has come under pressure from electric milling tools; its prospects for development are not very optimistic, and it urgently needs protection.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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