Headword |
བོད་ཤོག ། bod shog |
Translation |
Tibetan paper |
Description |
The following is Freddie Spencer Chapman’s (1907–1971) observation of paper-making in Tibet: “The printing press, like all others in the country, is in charge of the monks. Tibetan paper is made of the bark of daphne or other shrubs. We would often see it being prepared, usually by a man out of doors. He would pound up the bark with water by spreadling it on one flat stone and beating it with another. The resulting mixture was then spread on a wooden frame four feet square, over which was streched a fine wire guaze. When dry it was removed from the frame and trimmed. This paper is very tough and coarse and resembles cream-coloured card-board. Troughs are also used in which the pulp is pounded underfoot. Owing to the poisonous nature of one kind of bark used, no insects will attack Tibetan paper; on the other hand, people who have to spend much time with these books complain of severe headaches.” See Chapman 1938: 176. |
Sources for Term |
|
