A Devout Journey

I had thought that my connection with the Wolfsbane （Stellera chamaejasme） Tibetan paper had come to an end， but little did I know that there would be a subsequent devout journey into Tibet.

In 2014， apart from seeking the Wolfsbane Tibetan paper， I also had professional exchanges with colleagues from the Tibetan Library and witnessed some local situations. That year， the Tibetan Library was surveying ancient books. For them， the sheer quantity of ancient documents posed the greatest challenge in this endeavor. In the Tibetan area， a temple is equivalent to a library. The 3，000 temples in Tibet house numerous fragments of scriptures， and the number of scriptures enshrined in stupas is beyond calculation. Many survey locations were situated within high mountain temples with rugged roads. The surveyors often traveled on horseback or on foot， carrying pots， bowls， and utensils for their work. They would also have meals in the wild and rest in caves. Teacher Nixia from the Tibetan Autonomous Region Ancient Books Preservation Center even climbed a mountain peak carrying an oxygen cylinder. Although that particular temple only housed one ancient book， he overcame the difficulties and recorded it in detail.

As for restoration work， the only person in the library system responsible was Teacher Yangla from the Ancient Books Department. Yangla studied restoration techniques in the national library system， mainly focusing on restoring Tibetan scriptures. As fellow practitioners， we often exchanged ideas on restoration techniques and materials.

In September 2016， I received an unexpected phone call from Teacher Yangla， saying that they were organizing the second Tibetan Autonomous Region Ancient Books Restoration Training Program and invited me to tutor. I was surprised and apprehensive about the invitation. Still， the opportunity to restore Tibetan paper Buddhist scriptures， which are rarely encountered， and to conduct in-depth researches on Wolfsbane Tibetan paper made me gladly accept the offer and embark on my fifth journey to Tibet.

The training course started at the library of the Tibet Autonomous Region as scheduled， and 26 cultural heritage preservation workers， monks， and lamas from Lhasa and other areas of Tibet attended the training. Teacher Dazhen Zhuoma from the Tibetan Autonomous Region Archives and I were responsible for teaching the classes.

At the beginning of the course， we encountered a problem during the demonstration of paste preparation. Tibet is a high-altitude region where water boils at a maximum temperature of 80℃. Therefore， when we prepared the paste using the conventional method for the first time， the paste turned pale and was not fully cooked. We had to resort to a method of steaming it in boiling water. According to Teacher Dazhen， the steaming method is used in their daily work to make the paste. Although different methods are used in different regions， I wanted to try if I could improve the conventional water-filling method to adapt to Tibet’s unique geographical conditions. The next day， when I made the paste， I kept the water boiling on the induction stove， and when I filled it with water， I accelerated the amount and also the speed of stirring， and the resulting pulp turned out to have a jade-like color. This demonstrated that the improved water-filling method is feasible in Tibet， at least at an altitude of around 3，600 meters.

Due to the toxicity of Wolfsbane Tibetan paper and the geographical and climatic conditions in high-altitude regions， most inherited Buddhist scriptures are unaffected by insect damage. The primary forms of damage are wear， dry cracks， intentional tearing， missing pages， adhesion， and dust contamination. The damaged scriptures being repaired during the training mostly fell under these categories. Although some participants had attended the first training session， they had yet to practice restoration afterward， and most had no basic knowledge or practice on restoration work. Based on the student’s circumstances and the characteristics of the restoration materials， Teacher Dazhen and I designed the training program while ensuring the safety of the documents.

Since all the local restoration papers were handmade Tibetan paper， students were accustomed to using a single type of paper. As someone accustomed to using various types of paper， I felt a bit uncomfortable. So， I had to either use the thinner Tibetan paper as leather paper， use multiple layers for backing to thicken the paper， or even thin down the thicker paper to make it suitable for areas that required thin paper for restoration. Considering the existing conditions， I consciously taught the students how to flexibly use available paper to achieve restoration results. At the same time， I suggested that they consider purchasing restoration papers from other regions to improve the variety and reserves of restoration papers in Tibet， in order to meet the needs of various types of damage. As Teacher Yangla had said， direct involvement in the restoration of Buddhist scriptures could indeed deepen the perceptual understanding of Tibetan paper. Through teaching practice， I gradually became familiar with the characteristics of Wolfsbane Tibetan paper and learned how to utilize its properties to achieve the best restoration results， gaining valuable insights. The enthusiasm of the students in their learning deeply touched me. In order to master more restoration techniques， they often requested to receive damaged scriptures of different types for practice. Some Gushulas could only understand Chinese but could not express themselves， but they remained undaunted and actively sought the help of staff as translators or used gestures to communicate and ask for guidance from the teachers. Their determination was commendable.

In order to enhance communication， the Tibetan Library arranged someone to accompany me during the lunch break to visit the Se-Jo Institute of Buddhist Studies， the Tibetan Autonomous Region Ancient Books Preservation Center located at the foot of Sera Monastery. The Institute， jointly established by Sera Monastery and Jokhang Temple， mainly collects scriptures held by various temples as well as the monks’ annotated texts for studying Buddhist scriptures. After collation and selection of the best versions， the scriptures are scanned， entered into a database， proofread， and printed. This provides a large number of high-quality and affordable versions of scriptures for believers and students in the Tibetan region. When we visited， the number of published scriptures had reached a heartwarming figure： 520 varieties.

Seeking Paper

Wang Fan

Zhejiang People’s Fine Arts Publishing House

February 2023

128.00 （CNY）

Wang Fan

Wang Fan started working in the ancient books department of Zhejiang Library in 2001. She held positions in the reading and microfilming groups before joining the restoration group in 2007.