Agnieszka Helman-Ważny
Agnieszka Helman-Ważny (University of
Hamburg, University of
Arizona) is a paper scientist. Her main research area is
the history of paper and books in Tibet and Central Asia, and the
development of methods for their examination and conservation. Since
2005, she has studied the early history of paper in Central Asia and
aimed to create a typology of paper based on a systematic study of
manuscript collections found along the Silk Road. She detected a
broad range of paper types for these early manuscripts written in
Chinese, Tibetan and other languages. By using the technological and
microscopic study of paper combined with codicological and textual
information, her research undertaken in collaboration with the IDP
team has aimed to explore the possibilities for dating this material
and recovering the histories of its regional production and usage.
Her chosen item is a Tibetan manuscript, IOL Tib J 308, written possibly with blood on fine
quality paper.
Agnieszka Helman-Ważny writes:
IOL Tib J 308 was primary selected for our research
because of the unusual ink colour and the fine paper quality.
The manuscript is typical of the Tibetan pothi book format: 9 x
43 cm with one string hole. The leaf proportions and string hole
resemble Indian palm leaf books. The hole, with its abraded
edges, suggests that the book was well used and that its leaves
were string-joined. The Tibetologist Sam van Schaik describes
the copying of the text on this manuscript as a meritorious
activity associated with the achievement of a long life. During
the 830s–840s, many hundreds of copies of this text were made at
the behest of the Tibetan emperor; however, the present copy is
different from these in format and writing style. The script in
this manuscript is in a brown ink easily distinguished from
black carbon-based inks. It is possible that the ink colour is
evidence of the practice of writing with blood, which is also
attested by results of Renate Nöller’s XRF and VIS spectroscopy
examinations.
This manuscript's paper was produced from
ramie and hemp derived from textile waste. It was made with a
movable type of papermaking mould equipped with a bamboo sieve.
Thus this paper represents laid, regular paper with a sieve
print characterized by 16 laid lines in 3 cm; the laid lines are
horizontal and parallel to the text. The exceptionally good
quality of fibre struck my attention when I was looking at it
under the microscope. My study confirmed that this simple
manuscript without any fancy elements was written on paper made
from high quality textiles. I could envision the raw materials
beaten gently by hand during the papermaking process, to prevent
shortening of the fibres. Those fibres visible on the photograph
above are exceptionally long and well preserved.
This type
of rag paper, made with one of the oldest papermaking techniques
known and adapted later in Europe, has been found in the
majority of manuscripts from Central Asia produced in the first
millennium but hardly ever later. Thus this Tibetan manuscript,
a common sutra, a scripture from the Buddha, was probably
locally produced at Dunhuang with extreme sincerity and
devotion. It makes me wonder what wish was laid bare by this
person who wrote on such gently-made paper, possibly with the
addition of his own blood. Unfortunately we will never know who
was its creator…
Link to original post on IDP blog.