2024 Theses Doctoral

Wood Carvers and Deep Forests: The Expansion of Tibetan-Language Woodblock Printing Houses (1642-1900)

Dongchung, Tenzin Yewong

Why was woodblock printing continuously utilized by Tibetan Buddhist monasteries for several centuries, despite the emergence of other printing technologies? How did the societal perception of the printed knowledge as both valuable and sacred in the specific cultural and political context influence the duration of its use? Drawing from sources spanning digital facsimiles of xylographs, museum collections of carved blocks and printing tools, Chinese-language museum publications and Tibetan-language monastic histories and mechanical treatises, this dissertation, “Wood Carvers and Deep Forests: The Expansion of Tibetan-language Woodblock Printing Houses (1642-1900)” historicizes the temporal and spatial development of 177 Tibetan-language printing houses from the twelfth to the nineteenth centuries across Tibet and Inner Asia.

In my work, I offer a cultural and material history of woodblock printing technology that considers the Buddhist worldview and the artisanal understanding of wood’s materiality. For artisans working with wood, maintaining its healthiness is one of their foremost priorities. The concern for posterity and permanence significantly influences their material practices. I argue that the idea of wood lasting for hundreds of years was particularly appealing to monastic printing houses as the leaders saw themselves as the upholders of an unbroken and an undamaged lineage of authentic Buddhist teachings no longer available elsewhere in the world. Wood as a material that could stand the test of time and woodblocks, as a permanent source from which to print the texts, was highly appealing to the Tibetans. The continued use of woodblock printing in Tibet is not simply a matter of technological stagnation but a complex interplay of cultural, religious, and practical considerations. The Buddhist worldview and artisanal traditions, combined with the adaptability and economic practicality of woodblock printing, have sustained its use through multiple centuries despite the introduction of other technologies.