Tibetan paper [Photo/China Youth News]

The very existence of Tibetan paper bears the 1,000-year old historic memory of Tibetans.

The person in charge of the Lhasa Caiquan Welfare Ethnic Handicraft Industry Co. Limited is Jampa Tsondre, inheritor of Tibetan paper, one of the national intangible cultural heritages.

Around the company’s factory grounds raw fibrous material, wolfsbane, hangs everywhere. Inside the factory there are two simple rooms, a few machines, and 35 workers. This factory is Jampa Tsondre’s base for teaching and learning of the Tibetan paper.

The adding of wolfsbane, a somewhat toxic raw material, gives Tibetan paper three distinguishing features compared with other types of paper: moth-proof, damp-proof, and preserved for a long time.

The sutras collected in the Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple are all wrote on Tibetan paper. Furthermore, Tibetan paper has a soft texture, blots ink, protects eyesight, and is easily recycled amongst its other attributes.

Jampa Tsondre gives an account of the mystical properties of Tibetan paper, saying that, "Tibetan paper and modern papers are very different. Tibetan paper’s raw material is unique since it does not contain any chemical element and will not fade or rot. It can be stored for thousands of years."

The art of making Tibetan paper dates back to about 1,300 years ago, with the introduction of Buddhism and the large-scale development of translation work. Tibetan people integrated unique local raw materials to produce this special paper.

Up until the 1950s, Tibetan paper was still in widespread use. However the ten-year "Cultural Revolution" pushed Tibetan paper into disuse.

In 1990s, Jampa Tsondre began to amass the vanishing Tibetan paper making process. He traveled to Dakpo, Luozha, Ngari, Nyemo and other parts of Tibet which used to be renowned bases for making Tibetan paper, to visit many old local artists and made recordings of their oral teachings.

In 1993, Jampa Tsondre took several old artists such as Zunbu Drakwang and Guoguola to live in Lhasa. They worked together to complete the paper-making process and produce the first batch of Tibetan paper.

In the factory’s sales department there is a dazzling array of handicrafts made of Tibetan paper- lanterns, notebooks, masks, kites, picture frames, and ornaments all exquisitely hand-made and splendidly colorful.

According to Drolma, a salesman, many Tibetan restaurants buy the lanterns and families will occasionally buy some of these crafts, but not many large quantities are sold wholesale.

Tibetan paper is not extensively used now except for in art, which is rather unfortunate.

In 2006, Tibetan paper was added to the national intangible cultural heritage list as a traditional handicraft. But the effort to bring Tibetan paper back into people’ daily life still faces great difficulties. With the improvement of living standards in recent years, less people are willing to gather wolfsbane from the mountains, and it is difficult to purchase.

It needs 11 processes to make Tibetan paper, including peeling, drying, grinding, boiling, beating, ripening, filtering, and polishing. Due to the complex and almost purely handmade production, not many people can master all of these skills or are willing to produce the paper.

Therefore, Tibetan paper’s prices remain rather high. A notebook made of this paper is priced at 65 yuan (10.5 US dollars), and a piece of desk-sized Tibetan paper sells for 25 yuan (4 US dollars).

Tibetan paper is a historical symbol of the nation’s long history. We should not let it be confined to an "intangible cultural heritage" label or limit it to a display case in a museum. The best way to truly protect this portion of national culture is to incorporate it into everyday use and give it an enduring position in people’s lives.

Handicrafts made of Tibetan paper [Photo/China Youth News]

Wolfsbane [Photo/China Youth News]