China Exclusive: Blockbusting demand for traditionally-printed Tibetan sutras

Lhasa resident Chodron has been on the waiting list for a woodblock-print sutra from her local monastery for a year, and she will need to wait another two years before she receives the beautiful piece of scripture.

Sutras are texts used in Buddhist ceremonies. Traditional varieties, printed by hand on paper with carved wooden blocks, are particularly prized for their resistance to fading. Formerly reserved for the rich and noble, demand for these vividly crafted sutras has surged since ordinary people were given access to them with the founding of Tibet Autonomous Region 50 years ago.

Craftsmen skilled in the time-consuming production of woodblock sutras are struggling to keep up, even with government support for training more printers and building extra workshops.

"People's preference for woodblock prints partly lies in the fact that they can last over 500 years, while offset prints fade after 100 to 200 years," said Nyima, deputy director of the Buddhist Association of China's Tibet branch.

Chodron ordered her sutra from Meru Monastery's 400-year-old printing house, the largest producer of woodblock sutras in Tibet. But even it can only turn out about 700 sutras each year, including about 600 Satasahasrika Prajnaparamitas, a particularly demanding work of around 100,000 lines.

Tibet only has around 60 traditional sutra printing houses, struggling to supply more than 46,000 monks and nuns in over 1,700 temples and countless other Buddhists in Tibet.

Also on Meru Monastery's waiting list are foreign countries and individuals. The United States and France have purchased several scriptures for libraries.

To help meet the increasing demand, the Lhasa government has allocated 20 mu (1.3 hectares) of land for a new branch of Meru Monastery's printing house. The Buddhist Association of Tibet will put up the millions of yuan needed to build it, with completion targeted by 2020. The authorities plan to train more people to work at the branch to shorten waiting times.

As Tibet becomes more affluent, more and more people are going to be able to afford the 20,000 yuan (around 3,226 U.S. dollars) or so for a woodblock sutra.

Chodron is counting the months until hers arrives. Endi