Dege Sutra Printing House: encyclopedia of Tibetan culture_News

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Dege Sutra Printing House: encyclopedia of Tibetan culture

2014-11-11 10:38:00 | From:

Located in the Dege County, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of southwest China's Sichuan Province, the Dege Sutra Printing House is the largest Tibetan printing house credited as the "encyclopedia of Tibetan culture". It has been listed as a key cultural site under special preservation by the Chinese government since 1996.

The construction of the Dege Sutra Printing House began in 1729, and it took four generations to complet, with a total floor area of more than 9,000 square meters.

Known for its expansive collections, fine printing materials, and high-quality printing techniques, it houses an estimated 70 percent of Tibetan literary heritage.

The subjects of its collection encompass dozens of categories, including Buddhist classics, medicine, mathematics, religion, and literature.

As the largest Tibetan printing house, the Dege Sutra Printing House is home to more than 300,000 ancient engraved blocks.

Special woodblocks and paper are made for printing Buddhist scriptures, and scriptures from the Dege Sutra Printing House are all hand-made, even today.

Scriptures were engraved deep in the woodblocks in wonderful calligraphy. All the woodblocks are made of superior wood. Although they’ve been used thousands of times, the characters on the blocks are still very clear.

Each block was marked with page numbers and chapters on the top. Some blocks are black, however more important and sacred scriptures were carved on blocks made of red cinnabar.

The process of creating printing paper has several different phases like washing, steaming, and polishing, and all of these phases allow the printing paper to be more durable and resistant to damage from climate and pests.

After the process of cutting, printing, drying, grouping, proofreading, and binding, the scripture books will be sent to major temples and into the hands of religious people at home and abroad.

With all the classical doctrines of the five major Buddhist sects kept in it, Dege Sutra Printing House is a holy place for the entire Tibetan population and, of high importance, for the country."