Dai Naxizushougongzaozhijiyi
01 · Historical Records
Baidi Dongba paper is white in color and thick in substance, not easily damaged by insects, and can be preserved for the long term. According to a survey in the 1940s, the Dongba classics written on it numbered more than five thousand volumes.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Naxi Dongba paper, also called Baidi paper, has a rather unique manufacturing craft, now preserved in Baidi Village, Sanba Naxi Township, Shangri-La County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Baidi (that is, Baishuitai) is the birthplace of Naxi Dongba culture. Dongba paper is the most important paper for sutra-writing in the Dongba tradition and has long enjoyed a great reputation among the various ethnic groups of northwest Yunnan. The raw material of Dongba paper is gathered from a locally unique plant called "Adangda," identified as the Daphne family's Lijiang wikstroemia (Wikstroemia lijiangensis). Its papermaking process consists of the steps of gathering raw material, sun-drying, soaking, steaming and boiling, washing, pounding the material, pounding again, sheet pouring, sheet pasting, and sun-drying, with the main tools being the paper screen, wooden frame, drying board, and wooden mortar. The movable paper screen of Dongba paper is rather special; the sheet-drying process clearly shows the influence of the pour-molding method while also bearing traces of the dip-molding method—the result of a synthesis of Chinese papermaking and the papermaking of the Indian-subcontinental region. Baidi Dongba paper has made outstanding contributions to the promotion of Dongba culture, and from the perspective of craft history it is also a rare example for the study of China's handmade paper.
Documented Process Steps
Its papermaking process consists of the steps of gathering raw material, sun-drying, soaking, steaming and boiling, washing, pounding the material, pounding again, sheet pouring, sheet pasting, and sun-drying, with the main tools being the paper screen, wooden frame, drying board, and wooden mortar.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Naxi Dongba paper, also called Baidi paper, has a rather unique manufacturing craft, now preserved in Baidi Village, Sanba Naxi Township, Shangri-La County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Baidi (that is, Baishuitai) is the birthplace of Naxi Dongba culture, and Dongba paper is the most important paper for sutra-writing in the Dongba tradition, long renowned among the various ethnic groups of northwest Yunnan. The raw material of Dongba paper is gathered from a locally unique plant called "Adangda," identified as the Daphne family's Lijiang wikstroemia. The Shangri-La Municipal Cultural Heritage Management Office is the protecting unit for the item.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Dai Naxizushougongzaozhijiyi.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Naxi papermaking craft has the tradition of passing from father to son but not to daughter; it has always been produced in family workshops and never taught outside, so under the pressure of modern commercial society it could vanish at any time and urgently needs rescue and protection. He Zhiben (from the official archives of the associated inheritor): Male, Naxi, born 1928, a native of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan. Representative inheritor of the Dai and Naxi handmade-paper craft, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item of the first batch, and a senior folk artist of Yunnan Province. During the "Cultural Revolution" he was forced to interrupt his study and research of papermaking. In 1983, He Zhiben was invited to Lijiang to attend a Dongba-culture symposium; after the meeting he picked up his brush and papermaking tools again and began to resume the study and learning of the ancient Naxi papermaking technique. In 1993, with the support of the township government, He Zhiben formally revived Dongba papermaking. Because the Dongba papermaking craft has the tradition of passing to males but not females, he taught the skill only to his own son and nephew. The versatile He Zhiben also painted, in his spare time, "spirit paintings," the "Road of the Gods" scroll, and "wooden-plank paintings." This form that is both writing and painting embodies the history and folk culture of the Naxi people and is deeply admired by scholars at home and abroad.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- He Zhiben 01-0181
- Yumengga 03-1331
- Zhou Xiaosan 04-1856
- He Yuxin
- Jin Xiaoye
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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