Uygur mulberry paper making technology

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Uygur mulberry paper making skills

Applicant: Turpan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Project No.: 420

Project No.: VIII - 70

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Type: new item

Applicant: Turpan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Protection unit: Xinjiang desert Earth Art Museum

A brief introduction to the production techniques of Uygur mulberry paper:

Applicant: Turpan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

There has been a tradition of mulberry planting and fruit picking since ancient times in the South and east of Xinjiang where Uygur people live together. In the Tang Dynasty at the latest, the local paper industry used mulberry branches and tender skins as raw materials.

The Uyghur mulberry paper is made from mulberry branch endodermis. The endodermis is sticky, the fiber is smooth and fine, and it is easy to process. It can be made into mulberry paper by exploiting, soaking, boiling, pounding, fermenting, filtering, molding, drying and rough grinding. The paper is divided into three grades: high, medium and low, and has a wide range of uses. In the Qing Dynasty, books and classics in Xinjiang were mainly printed on mulberry paper. In the Republic of China, there were banknotes printed on mulberry paper. Medium grade paper is generally used for the packaging of tea, herbal medicine, etc., while thick and straight mulberry paper is often used to paste skylights or as accessories for making clothes and boots.

Making mulberry paper used to be the skill of Uygur people to support their families. Generally, the son inherited his father's business and passed it on from generation to generation. Until the 1970s, the Uygur people still used mulberry paper. However, as early as 1950, Uighur mulberry paper quit the ranks of printing and writing paper, and there has been no high-grade mulberry paper since then. Since the 1980s, mulberry paper has completely withdrawn from the daily life of Uygur people. Because there is no market demand, the craftsmen who make mulberry paper have changed their jobs, and their descendants have no desire to inherit this skill. At present, the only remaining artist who can make mulberry paper is in his twilight years. This ancient art is in danger of being lost and needs to be rescued and protected.