What is the History of Nepalese Paper-making?
Paper-making as a practice was likely introduced to Tibet via China as early as 650 CE, and later was introduced to Nepal through Tibet. Paper was being produced through Nepal by the 12th century. Some of the earliest examples of paper made from fibers of the Daphne shrub date to the 9th century (Agnieszka 535 – 536). The use of this species of plant is largely unique to Tibetan and Nepalese paper-making practice, as well as Edgeworthia and the roots of Stellera Chamaejasme (two other types of mountain-dwelling shrubs.) In the cases of Daphne and Edgeworthia, the phloem (or vascular tissue) is removed and separated into fibers, and with Stellera the roots.
These plants grow primarily at high altitudes; Daphne shrubs grow only above a certain altitude, making them naturally abundant in the mountainous areas of Nepal and explaining their ubiquity on Lokta paper. Some areas of Nepal have also traditionally made paper from the fibers of Girardenia Diversifolia, a kind of stinging nettle which grows at altitudes of 1,200 to 3,000 m above sea level (Singh & Shrestha 445).
In traditional Lokta paper-making, the bark of the shrub is first removed, and the phloem, or softer inner bark, separated. It is then cut into strips, soaked and rinsed, and cooked down with lye and beaten so as to separate the fibers. The fibers are then floated in water and dried in a traditional paper mold (Imaeda 409-411). A similar process to this is followed with other base materials, but traditional Lokta is made specifically with the Daphne shrub.
These plants may have been chosen by early papermakers for reasons beyond just their natural abundance at high altitudes and the presence of tough fibers which can be processed for paper-making. Daphne and Stellera Chamaejasme are both mildly poisonous or toxic to humans, and Girardenia Diversifolia is a stinging nettle plant, meaning it has also evolved to be repellant or mildly hazardous to humans and animals. This seems true of most plants used in traditional Nepalese paper craft. This commonality is indicative of a unique feature of the tradition – the paper itself can act as a natural insect repellent, proactively delaying insect damage by repelling bugs. The obstruction of natural decay can greatly prolong the lifespan of paper made with these ingredients without need for climate control or other preservation methods implemented after the fact to keep insects from eating through or otherwise degrading the paper.
The use of toxic materials to to serve a dual purpose in supplying fibers for paper-making and delaying natural decay may be one reason for the presence of orpiment as a dye in Sample F of our copy of Handmade Paper in Nepal: Tradition and Change. Orpiment is an arsenic sulfide mineral with a yellowish-orange hue which is, in its mineral form as used in the paper sample, a mild irritant to humans and would likely act as a highly efficient natural insect repellant.
In Dorothy Fields’ essay, she describes the culture of traditional paper-making in Nepal as she saw it during her trips collecting the samples in the mid 1980s. At that time fine paper mills were dying out, and traditions were being lost due to a lack of interest in or ability to purchase this handcrafted (and therefore relatively expensive) good. Since the 80s, the Nepalese government has begun to put money into revitalizing these traditions, and Lokta paper is increasingly being sold outside of Nepal as a luxury product.
References:
“Edgeworthia Chrysantha.” Edgeworthia chrysantha (Oriental Paper Bush, Paperbush Plant) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/edgeworthia-chrysantha/.
Helman-Ważny, Agnieszka. “The Choice of Materials in Early Tibetan Printed Books.” In Tibetan Printing: Comparison, Continuities, and Change, edited by Hildegard Diemberger, Franz-Karl Ehrhard, and Peter Kornicki, 532–54. Brill, 2016. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.ctt1w8h246.28.
IMAEDA, YOSHIRO. “PAPERMAKING IN BHUTAN.” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 43, no. 2/3 (1989): 409–14. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23657810.
Daphne Odora – Plant Finder. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=292288.
Shailesh C. Singh, and Rhidaya Shrestha. “Girardinia Diversifolia (Urticaceae), a Non-Conventional Fiber Resource in Nepal.” Economic Botany 42, no. 3 (1988): 445–47. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4255095.
“Stellera Chamaejasme.” iNaturalist. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/820729-Stellera-chamaejasme.