Pecha on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Pecha () is a
Pechas trace their history and unique shape back to the
BuddhaMind.info, "Art and Culture -- Scriptures" where Borassus, palmyra and talipot palm leaves were used in the creation of texts as early as 500 BCE.
"Digital Enhancement of Palm Leaf Manuscript Images Using Normalization Techniques", pg. 2 The earliest existing palm leaf manuscripts date from 200 CE and were in continuous use until the 19th century. The migration of India's manuscript technology to Tibet took place around the 7th century, when the scholar
Study Buddhism, "A Survey of Tibetan History"). This script was then used to translate Buddhist Sanskrit texts into Tibetan. However, with the lack of traditional palm leaves in Tibet, birch bark was used instead; the use of bark was eventually supplanted by paper.
Though digital copies of pechas are prevalent, and software exists to create them, physical reproductions by Woodblock printing, woodblock are still common. In monasteries that support woodblock printing, monks will work in teams of two. One will roll the woodblock with ink, then the other will place a blank long sheet of paper, which is then pressed by the first monk.
Tibetan Buddhist temples and shrine rooms traditionally house a complete collection of the
PechaMaker
- free, closed source code, uses legacy fonts, does not support Unicode
- commercial
Tibetan
Tibetan may mean:
* of, from, or related to Tibet
* Tibetan people, an ethnic group
* Tibetan language:
** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard
** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken diale ...
word meaning "book", but in particular, refers to the traditional Tibetan loose-leaf books such as the kangyur
The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined collection of sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, comprising the Kangyur or Kanjur ('Translation of the Word') and the Tengyur or Tanjur ( Tengyur) ('Translation of Trea ...
, tengyur
The Tengyur or Tanjur or Bstan-’gyur (Tibetan: "Translation of Teachings") is the Tibetan collection of commentaries to the Buddhist teachings, or "Translated Treatises".
The Buddhist Canon
To the Tengyur were assigned commentaries to b ...
, and sadhanas. Pechas sometimes have top and bottom cover plates made of wood, cardboard, or other firm materials, and are often seen wrapped in cloth for protection. The word ''pecha'' has entered common use in other languages such as English in the Tibetan Buddhist community, evident online in discussion forums and software products that include the word in their names.
History
Pechas trace their history and unique shape back to the palm leaf manuscript
Palm-leaf manuscripts are manuscripts made out of dried palm leaves. Palm leaves were used as writing materials in the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia reportedly dating back to the 5th century BCE. Their use began in South Asia and sp ...
s of IndiaBuddhaMind.info, "Art and Culture -- Scriptures" where Borassus, palmyra and talipot palm leaves were used in the creation of texts as early as 500 BCE.
"Digital Enhancement of Palm Leaf Manuscript Images Using Normalization Techniques", pg. 2 The earliest existing palm leaf manuscripts date from 200 CE and were in continuous use until the 19th century. The migration of India's manuscript technology to Tibet took place around the 7th century, when the scholar
Thonmi Sambhota
Thonmi Sambhota (Thönmi Sambhoṭa, aka Tonmi Sambhodha;, Tib. , Wyl. thon mi sam+b+ho Ta; b. seventh cent.) is traditionally regarded as the inventor of the Tibetan script and author of the ''Sum cu pa'' and ''Rtags kyi 'jug pa'' in the 7th cen ...
created the Tibetan script from his studies in India and KashmirTibetan script
The Tibetan script is a segmental writing system (''abugida'') of Brahmic scripts, Indic origin used to write certain Tibetic languages, including Lhasa Tibetan, Tibetan, Dzongkha, Sikkimese language, Sikkimese, Ladakhi language, Ladakhi, Jire ...
, "History" (his work is believed to be based on the Indian Brahmi and Gupta scriptsStudy Buddhism, "A Survey of Tibetan History"). This script was then used to translate Buddhist Sanskrit texts into Tibetan. However, with the lack of traditional palm leaves in Tibet, birch bark was used instead; the use of bark was eventually supplanted by paper.
In Tibetan Buddhism
Though digital copies of pechas are prevalent, and software exists to create them, physical reproductions by Woodblock printing, woodblock are still common. In monasteries that support woodblock printing, monks will work in teams of two. One will roll the woodblock with ink, then the other will place a blank long sheet of paper, which is then pressed by the first monk.
Tibetan Buddhist temples and shrine rooms traditionally house a complete collection of the kangyur
The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined collection of sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, comprising the Kangyur or Kanjur ('Translation of the Word') and the Tengyur or Tanjur ( Tengyur) ('Translation of Trea ...
and tengyur
The Tengyur or Tanjur or Bstan-’gyur (Tibetan: "Translation of Teachings") is the Tibetan collection of commentaries to the Buddhist teachings, or "Translated Treatises".
The Buddhist Canon
To the Tengyur were assigned commentaries to b ...
in pecha form. These are individually wrapped in cloth and tagged with brocade markers at one end and then placed upon shelves on the shrine.
Software
The following software products can be used for generating pechas in either electronic form or for printing as physical Tibetan books.PechaMaker
- free, closed source code, uses legacy fonts, does not support Unicode
- commercial
See also
*Talipot palm
''Corypha umbraculifera'', the talipot palm, is a species of palm native to eastern and southern India and Sri Lanka. It is also grown in Cambodia, Myanmar, China, Thailand and the Andaman Islands. It is a flowering plant with the largest inflo ...
* Palmyra Palm
''Borassus'' (palmyra palm) is a genus of five species of fan palms, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Papua New Guinea.
Description
These massive palms can grow up to high and have robust trunks with distinct leaf scars; in so ...
* Palm leaf manuscript
Palm-leaf manuscripts are manuscripts made out of dried palm leaves. Palm leaves were used as writing materials in the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia reportedly dating back to the 5th century BCE. Their use began in South Asia and sp ...
* Woodblock printing
Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is creat ...
References and notes
{{Commonscat, Pechas