Dongba paper 东巴纸 / Naxi handmade paper products

Around the period of Three Kingdoms in China (220AD -- 280AD), the skill of Dongba paper-making was introduced to Yunnan as Naxi people's ancestors settled in Lijiang. This paper is mainly used to record Dongba scriptures, the main means over generations of passing down Dongba pictograph, also known as a "living fossil of character." Apart from its unique hieroglyphs, the Naxi ethnic group is also famous for its ancient music.

However, during the Cultural Revolution, many Dongba classics were burnt. Now there are more copies scattered abroad than kept at home. Even though the Naxi pictograph is still used by older people, few of them know how to make Dongba paper. The local government started to look for successors of the ancient paper-making skill in 1990. According to statistics, there are only six households among the Naxi (Nakhi) ethnic groups who have mastered and practice Dongba papermaking.

In 2005, two people of Han nationality (ethnic Chinese) in Lijiang received patents for making Dongba paper by changing the traditional canescent wikstroemia paper pulp to mulberry and slightly tweaking the production process. Locals never figured out why people outside the village were able to patent Dongba papermaking while he, a traditional Naxi farmer, was barred from the door.

Traditionally, the process of Dongba paper-making involves several steps including boiling cortexes, rinsing, pestling and airing. Although it is made with the traditional/original tools and crafts, Dongba paper has a high quality of being mothproof and resistant to natural erosion. Dongba paper, made from a local plant called canescent wikstroemia and with the traditional tools is mothproof and resistant to decay. It was also improved over the years to become stronger and more absorbent.

The dongba is a term used for Bon priests. They play a major role in Nakhi/Naxi culture and preach harmony between man and nature. Their costumes show strong Tibetan influence, and pictures of Bön gods can be seen on their headgear. The core of the Dongba religion is based on the belief that both man and nature are two half-brothers born of two mothers and the same father. Prior to Tibetan influence, it is suggested that the original Naxi priests were female llü-bu.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization put Lijiang, home to most Naxi, on the World Cultural Heritage list in 1997.

from china.org.cn/english/2002/Oct/46674.htm
www.globaltimes.cn/special/2010-08/568532.html
wiki