Quick Answer
Tibetan Dege woodblock printing (雕版印刷, diāobǎn yìnshuā) uses carved wooden surfaces to print texts and images. The Derge Printing House (德格印经院, Dégé Yìnjīngyuàn), also called Derge Parkhang, was founded in 1729 in present-day Sichuan. It holds blocks for Tibetan Buddhist editions including the Kangyur and Tengyur, as well as other works.[1][2][3]
- Technique: A block’s raised surface transfers a carved page or image to paper.[1][3]
- Collection: Blocks preserve both texts and illustrations.[3][4]
- Recognition: The craft has a national intangible heritage entry. The block collection has a separate Asia-Pacific documentary heritage registration.[1][4]
A carved block, a printed sheet and an edition give you three ways to identify what the printing house preserves.[1][2][3]
A single block can be used to print a page again. A collection of blocks can therefore preserve the means of printing an edition as well as evidence of what it contains. At Dege, that distinction helps explain why the printing house is both a working place and a repository.[1][3][4]
Where the Dege Printing House Began
Derge Parkhang was founded in 1729 under King Tenpa Tsering. It stands in Dege County, now part of Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, within the historical Tibetan region of Kham. The national heritage entry also records earlier local patronage of block carving and printing in 1703.[1][2][3]
The printing house is especially known for blocks of the Derge editions of the Kangyur and Tengyur. In broad terms, the Kangyur contains works treated as the words of the Buddha, and the Tengyur includes commentaries and other treatises. Treasury of Lives identifies Situ Panchen Chokyi Jungne and Zhuchen Tsultrim Rinchen as the respective editors of those editions.[2][3][5]
How a Carved Block Prints a Page
A carved block keeps an entire page or image together on one surface. The design is reversed on the block so that it reads in the intended direction on paper. Ink on the raised areas transfers to the sheet. The national record describes deep carving and the use of red birch for Dege blocks, which can be reused for later impressions.[1][3]
Carving, printing and preparing paper involve different tasks. A printer can return to an existing block after it has been used, and a carver is needed when a new block is made. The wider guide to Chinese printing history explains how this method relates to other ways of reproducing a text.[1][3]
What the Blocks and Prints Preserve
The regional documentary record describes a collection with text blocks, image blocks and illustrations incorporated into major works. The house holds materials beyond the two canonical collections. A label naming an edition therefore gives a different kind of information from a catalogue listing a physical block or a printed sheet.[2][3][4]
One example in the Rubin Museum’s collection is an ink-on-paper print called *Buddha’s Youth*, dated to about 1979 and attributed to the Derge Printing House. The museum also shows a painting based on the same printed composition. The print could carry an image beyond the place where the block was stored.[3]
Why the Heritage Records Cover Different Things
China’s first national intangible heritage list included the Derge printing craft in 2006. The entry documents skills, materials and teaching. In 2024 the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific registered the printing blocks as regional documentary heritage. It describes the collection as a record of written and visual works.[1][4]
Printers can demonstrate how a block produces a new impression. A collection record can identify what is carved, when a block was made or how the set is organised. For an edition with several volumes, the collection record also helps locate the relevant blocks.[1][3][4]
FAQs About Tibetan Dege Woodblock Printing
Are Dege and Derge the Same Place?
Dege and Derge are spellings used for the same place in this context. Derge Parkhang is another name used for the printing house.[1][2]
Is Dege Printing the Same as Movable Type?
Dege’s woodblock method uses a block carved with a complete page or image. Printers using wooden movable type combine separate pieces of type to compose a page.[1][3]
Sources
[1] China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network. Tibetan woodblock printing at the Dege Printing House
[2] Treasury of Lives. Derge Parkhang
[3] Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art. Tibetan Buddhism and printing technology
[4] Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific. Printing blocks housed at the Derge Printing House
[5] 84000. Reading Room for the Kangyur and Tengyur