Derge Bible Publishing House
Dege means "good place" in Tibetan
On this "good land" there is a long-established sutra printing house – Dege Sutra Printing House.
Every morning and night, there are always crowds of people outside the Derge Sutra Printing House, known as the "Encyclopedia of Tibetan Culture". Pious people walk around the outer wall of the Sutra Printing House, some with their hands They were twisting prayer beads, and some were turning prayer wheels. They walked in a hurry but looked calm. We followed the crowd as we walked among them, and the sound of chanting sutras was heard from time to time in our ears. Looking at their pious and determined eyes, you will be infected by this atmosphere unconsciously and slowly flow with the flow of people. What tourists picture is temporary, but the people here express their faith and persistence day after day, year after year. Prayer prayer is as natural as drinking water and as important as life for them. That thing.
Speaking of Dege Sutra Printing House, it has a very complete name: Dege Jixiang Duomen Dharma Tibetan Sutra Printing House, also known as Degeba Palace. It was founded in 1729 by the fifth generation Dharma King of Dege, Danba Zeren. After five generations of chieftains, it took a total of 27 years to build it to its current scale.
The name Dege comes from the Dege family, a huge family that has been hereditary for more than 1,300 years and has 22 generations of hereditary chieftains.
The jurisdiction of the Dege family includes today's five counties of Dege, Dengke, Baiyu, Shiqu and Jiangda. At its peak, they governed 70,000 households and a population of nearly 200,000. You can imagine how influential this huge family was at that time.
Dege Dharma King Danba Zerenwentaowulue was appointed as the Secretary of Appeasement in the seventh year of Yongzheng's reign, and three years later he was granted the title of Secretary of Propagation and Comfort of the Military and People of Delget. After that, King Dege and another chieftain in Kham, Chieftain Mingzheng, began to maintain close contacts with the court, paying tribute every year and making pilgrimages every year. Since then, the power of the Dege family has been relatively stable, and the Derge Bible Printing House has been continuously enriched and improved. Example Such as Expanding the building, engraving additional scriptures and other work have been carried out almost without interruption for hundreds of years. Because the various sutra versions engraved by the Sutra Printing House are accurate, the books produced by the Dege Sutra Printing House are gradually regarded as the most standard classic versions.
The Dege Sutra Printing House, the first of the three major sutra printing houses in Tibetan areas (Lhasa Sutra Printing House, Labuleng Sutra Printing House, and Dege Sutra Printing House), has a very extensive collection of Tibetan cultural classics and also has very exquisite engraving skills in woodblock printing. The craftsmanship and high-quality printing technology, while also retaining very strict collation procedures, have made its reputation spread throughout the country and abroad, and the Dege version of the scriptures has also been widely praised in Tibetan areas and in the Tibetan scholarly circles at home and abroad. Of course, Dege not only retains a large number of ancient book engravings and scripture printings, but also preserves a large number of precious painting printing plates, which are very rare in the Sutra Printing Institute.
Speaking of Dege's collection, among the numerous sutra editions, the most precious one is the "Eight Thousand Psalms of Prajna" carved in multiple languages during the Kangxi period, which is unique in the world. The earliest sutra version is the 103rd Derge version of "Kangyur". This set of sutras is made of exquisite materials, all of which are sandalwood, with a total of 33,000 pieces. The then Dege Toast and Dharma King Danba Zeren personally presided over this grand project, and 500 craftsmen continued to carve it for ten years. In order to prevent the precious wood from being exchanged, each sutra tablet was stamped with the emblem of the Dege Tusi family. These emblems are still preserved on the sutra tablets and are very precious.
Visiting the Dege Sutra Printing Institute, you can browse the complete ancient sutra printing and stereotypes process, and see different Tibetan printing techniques. Dege's printing techniques have their own special features, which cannot be seen elsewhere. oh.
Of course, there are also strict restrictions on visiting the Dege Bible Printing House. For example, you are not allowed to bring cameras, handheld video cameras and other photographic equipment. In order to protect cultural relics, you are also strictly prohibited from bringing water and food. There is a registration office and a bag deposit office after entering the gate of the Sutra Printing House. You can place items that cannot be carried before visiting.
On the first floor of the Sutra Printing House are Buddhist halls such as the Great Sutra Hall and the Dharma Protector Hall. Many precious gilded Buddha and Bodhisattva statues are enshrined in the Buddhist hall. They are arranged in rows on both sides, making them appear solemn and solemn. On the walls outside the corridor of the main hall are ancient murals left by past masters. They are exquisite and precious. You must not miss them to appreciate them.
Most of Dege's large number of book engravings are collected on the second floor of the temple. Climbing up the stairs, there are rows of neatly arranged wood carvings on both sides of the narrow passage. The number is really amazing. Walking among them, we feel like we have stumbled into a huge and mysterious martial arts secret book. Treasure House, I thought I had found a shortcut to cultivating immortality, but after taking a closer look, I realized that useless wood is useless wood. There are so many treasure books so densely packed that I can’t understand a single word~
It is said that as early as 1703, the Dege chieftain began to invest in carving sutras and printing sutras. The history of sutra printing has been 300 years. These densely arranged sutras may be hundreds of years old, and one can only admire and admire them while wandering around.
The wooden carvings in the Dege Printing House are all made of red birch. After a series of special treatments, they can remain unchanged for hundreds of years and are very suitable for carving.
Walking next to the rows of densely packed wood carvings, looking along the long light coming through the wooden window edges, you can see that those ancient printing plates have a faint red luster, and the handles have been worn very smooth due to long-term use. , those carvings marking the sources of different scriptures were displayed before our eyes, it was so shocking.
There are labels for various scriptures on the shelf where the engravings are stored △
The paper used by the Dege Sutra Printing Institute to print scriptures is very unique. It uses the roots of the Tibetan medicinal material Wolfsbane as its raw material. The paper produced is slightly yellow, rough and thick to the touch. It is said that this kind of paper absorbs ink very well, does not deteriorate after being stored for a long time, has strong toughness, and is moth-proof. Therefore, the scriptures and pictures printed in Dege Printing House are all printed on this unique paper, which is very distinctive.
The production process of Dege woodblock printing is very detailed and can be roughly divided into: Plate making, engraving, writing, ink making, paper making, printing The art has basically maintained the traditional methods since the 13th century. Here you can observe it up close, which is a rare opportunity!
If you want to see the production process of printing scriptures, you can visit the platform on the second floor. Almost every day, Tibetan people who specialize in printing scriptures work here. Most of them are not monks in the printing institute, but Local people with faith and craftsmanship came to help with the work, and they regarded such work as accumulating merit. They often work in groups of two or three, and are very skilled in placing boards, brushing ink, covering paper, printing, and proofreading. The whole process is meticulous and very serious.
People busy in the hall△
Working in groups of two, the printing speed is particularly fast according to visual inspection △
The printed scriptures still need someone to proofread them△
After printing, the scrolls need to be placed on ropes to dry, and finally checked and collated before binding.
Hall where scriptures are printed△
There is also a third floor of the Sutra Printing House. There is a large open-air platform here. Looking out from the platform, the layers of Tibetan-style houses on the opposite mountain are clearly visible.
Passing through the corridor on the roof, in the house directly opposite is the place where engravings are printed. At the door, there are two kittens that change colors as they rub against the red wall. They lazily guard the door and act coquettishly next to you in various little postures, making this Buddhist place a lot more lively and wild.
This cat has no idea how red it is and is posing gracefully~
Stepping into the studio where woodblock prints are made, the furnishings are very simple, and the walls are surrounded by woodblock prints being dried. There is only one old master in the room. He is sitting by the window sill and looking at the light from the window edge. He is rubbing Buddhist story scrolls one by one. The light yellow Tibetan paper is dyed neatly and densely under his hands. picture of.
On the other side of the print is the place where Buddhist sutras are carved. The master has been doing this for many years. As the carving knife carves out strings of characters deeply and shallowly, a beautifully carved sutra is presented in front of you.
We marveled at the craftsmanship of the master, so we expressed our request for a carving to the master. The master took out several seals from his carvings. The pure wood seals with Tibetan characters were very special, although I don’t know what they were. What kind of wood is it, but it is undoubtedly insect-proof and moth-proof. If you smell it carefully, the seal itself still exudes a refreshing smell, which is simple and special. In the end, we chose a seal engraved with the words "Tashi Delek". The old master said that this was a seal that brought auspicious blessings. We took it carefully and sincerely took out "Grandpa Mao" as an offering to the Buddha. I also asked for a wooden seal with special meaning.
Unpretentious seal△
Standing on the narrow top platform of the Bible Printing House and looking at the magnificent building, I was filled with admiration.
There is also a small Buddhist hall on the golden dome of the temple dedicated to Tara. Although the Tara Hall is not big, it is very different because of its status and location. Every day there are lamas chanting the Tara Heart Sutra and Scriptures that pray for peace and bless all living beings, to pray for the safety of all living beings.
Friends who have been to Tibet will more or less know the style of the golden dome of some Tibetan temples. Generally, there is a Dharma wheel in the middle of the golden dome of most Tibetan temples, with two golden deer standing on both sides of the Dharma wheel. But the golden dome of the Dege Bible Printing House is very special. It is composed of a Falun and two peacocks with their heads held high. This pair of peacocks has a great background. It is said that during the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan gave these beautiful pairs of peacocks to the first great national master of the Yuan Dynasty at that time. Who was this great national master? He is Pa Siba who changed the history of Tibet and made great contributions to the reunification of Tibet and the motherland. Master Pasiba later donated the pair of peacocks to the Dharma King of Dege at that time, and this resulted in the majestic pair of peacocks on the golden dome that we now see at the top of the Sutra Publishing House.
From the roof of the temple, you can see rows of Tibetan-style houses on the cliff opposite, which are very distinctive.
The looming snow-capped mountains are in front of you△
Postscript Dege Sutra Printing Temple is a temple worth visiting. If you have the opportunity, you must not miss it. Starting from Dege, you will also pass through a pass that "even an eagle cannot fly" - Que'er Mountain Pass, which is a paradise for climbing enthusiasts. After passing through Que'er Mountain, there is a beautiful glacier lake - Xin Luhai. In a later issue, we will introduce you to Xinluhai in detail, this paradise that resembles a fairyland.