Lhasa '98: Papermaking at the New School

by Jane M. Farmer

Last fall I returned to Tibet, accompanied by Nimto Sherpa, of Tibetan Handicraft Industry in Kathmandu. At the new site of the Jatson Chumig School, Jampa Tsundhup, Director, Ngawang Choegyang, Assistant Director and Tenzin Choedon introduced us to a group of nine students who had been chosen to work with us. The students had all completed a basic Tibetan education and were now ready to learn a vocational handicraft. Later in the session Tsangye Tenzin, featured in our last newsletter, returned from his village near Kyemdong and rounded out the group to ten.

For some time we have felt it important to connect the students and staff with our friends at thi. Bringing Nimto, an excellent teacher, proved the soundness of this idea. His presentations were clear—even to the students who are deaf. (Although I don’t speak Tibetan, I could easily understand his lessons!) In a short time our new papermakers had become proficient at making consistent and evenly-formed sheets of Tibetan paper.

A Trip to Nyemo
The first weekend after we arrived, we traveled out to Nyemo by jeep with Ngawang and students Tsamdol, Tashi Topyal, Chogo, Nima Dhundup and Nidon to visit Gokgo’s family, and to express our sympathies (see article).

Gokgo’s son Tsedar showed us how to harvest Stellera chamae-jasme, the papermaking plant of central and southern Tibet. Tsedar showed us that when the large, central root is dug from the ground, the small roots left be-hind will regenerate—growing much faster than when planted from seed. This method of har-vesting, it seems, will not deplete the resource, but instead may actually stimulate its growth. This will be an important fact to verify, as it will resolve the issue of the scarcity of this fiber.

Several of the students, who come from different parts of Tibet, said that Stellera grows in their home villages. Last fall the school staff began teaching villagers to collect, clean and dry small amounts of the plant for future use. This practice will not only provide supplemental income to some of the poorer villages, but it will also allow students to concentrate their time making sheets of paper and paper products.

We also learned that hemp grows very well in Nyemo. Tibetans have long considered the seeds a delicacy, and use the stalk fibers for making rope. The government not only allows but encourages the growing of hemp. Back in Lhasa we cooked and hand-beat a hemp rope, and found it quite tough. We did add it to recycled papers, which increased their strength considerably. Once our Hollander beater arrives, we are confident that hemp will be another alternative fiber for high-quality papers.

Enrichment in Lhasa
Towards the end of our session, we took all of the papermaking students to visit the Buddhist Printing House in Lhasa. There they learned about the major effort to reprint the Buddhist sutras. The students were able to see and feel traditional Tibetan papers from the thirteenth century. They saw stacks of books with cloth wraps and wooden covers. They learned first-hand that all tiny pieces of bark and wood fiber must be removed from the paper pulp in order to create paper smooth enough to print a carved wood block.

The students also visited our friend, the calligrapher Sonam Norkyel. Norkyel demonstrated how he makes tingshog, the blackened and burnished sutra paper that has been used with gold and silver ink for centuries.

These visits to see the historical uses of Tibetan paper are invaluable. They show the students the importance of learning and preserving papermaking skills, instill pride in their work, and give them a practical understanding of the need for high quality papers.

A Wonderful Farewell
On our last evening at the school, Jampa and his daughter Tenzin invited the students, Ngawang, Nimto and me to a dinner cooked by Dorje Drolma and three young girls who work in the school office. The young papermakers sat nervously on the Tibetan couches that line one side of the room—perhaps it was the first time they had eaten there instead of in the student dining room. Jampa set them at ease by pretending to serve, with great flourish, tea from the clay pot that Tenzin had given to Nimto as a gift. They were thrilled when we gave each of them a Paper Road T-shirt and a small percentage of the profits from purchases made by visiting groups earlier in the week.

After dinner we talked to them about our pride in their eVort, and of the importance of continuing to practice the things they had learned. Tenzin then presented the Paper Road/Tibet project with a fabulous appliquéd banner showing regional costumes in a Tibetan landscape. Finally it was time to say “goodnight” and “see you soon” to the children.

Kali, Kali (slowly, slowly)
I reflect on what I learn on each trip to Tibet, and how important it is to teach the children. I worry when I hear that another craftsperson has died, or another beautiful old home has been torn down. I seek the balance between what must be documented and the experiences that can only live in the memory; of what can be collected and what should be left behind. By learning to listen and stand aside, I watch the connections we have supported take root and grow. I know we are slowly re-establishing the network of paper that once thrived in Tibet. I only hope it’s not too late.