Wangdrak carves a Buddhist scripture. [Photo/People's Daily]

 

Tibetan engraving in Pusum Township, Nyemo County, is an traditional kind of handicraft passed down from generation to generation. Nowadays it has become an intangible cultural heritage of the Tibet Autonomous Region for better preservation and inheritance.

Wangdrak, 33, who started learning engraving when he was 10, has learned it from two teachers for six years. Comparing with his apprenticeship, he has become more skilled in both engraving Tibetan characters or edges. 

Wangdrak was underpaid before. But now, his products became favored and well-paid thanks to the establishment of the cooperative in the township and innovation in engraving content.

The engraving process is very intricate. A Tibetan Buddhist script, for instance, takes nine steps before it is finished, and a Buddha sculpture takes 15-16 or even 20-30 steps if it is more complex. And each craftsman owns more than 20 engraving tools exclusively used by himself.

In the recent years, Nyemo County invested 500,000 yuan in 50 family workshops, and allocated one million yuan in purchasing woodblocks and cloth, and set up training courses for the locals.

Engraving craftsmen combine the traditional folk craft with modern techniques, producing not only text sculptures, but also patterned sculptures used for printing scriptures, prayer flags and tourist products.

Up till now there are 114 people in 87 households involved in engraving and 247 people in 122 households engaged in prayer flag making business. In 2013, the industry took in 3.6 mln yuan revenue, 12.6 percent of the total revenue of the township, and the per capita annual income reached more than 9,900 yuan.

Tibetan engraving, Tibetan incense and Tibetan paper are known as the "three treasures" of Nyemo County of Lhasa, capital city of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

 

 

Wangdrak, a local people of the Pusum Township, Nyemo County, holds a carving woodblock. [Photo/People's Daily]

Wangdrak carves with a bigger knife. [Photo/People's Daily]

Two workers print Buddhist scripture in the cooperative of Nyemo County. [Photo/People's Daily]