Making technology of paper from Broussonetia papyrifera

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: paper making techniques of Broussonetia papyrifera

Applicant: Chang'an District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province

Project No.: 914

Project No.: VIII - 131

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Shaanxi Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Chang'an District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province

Protection unit: cultural center of Chang'an District, Xi'an City

A brief introduction to the making technology of paper made from Broussonetia papyrifera

Applicant: Chang'an District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province

The paper making technique of Broussonetia papyrifera is one of the important techniques of traditional handmade paper production. Beizhang village, Chang'an District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province still retains this primitive folk handicraft.

Beizhang village is located at the foot of the Qinling Mountains. Due to the large population and less land, the local people have relied on the resources of Broussonetia papyrifera (commonly known as "goushu") in the mountains since ancient times to make a living. Beizhang village is one of the birthplaces of papermaking, where the famous Baqiao paper of Western Han Dynasty was unearthed. Before the reform and opening up, almost every household here had paper mills.

The traditional paper production in Beizhang village has high technological value. The whole production process not only does not use any modern machinery, but also does not use paper medicine, but can be divided into sheets. This set of production technology is extremely rare in the domestic handmade paper manufacturing industry, and it is a "living fossil" to study the evolution process of handmade paper technology. Since the 1970s, the original papermaking technology of Beizhang village has attracted the attention of scholars at home and abroad. In 2002, the center for folk life and cultural heritage of the Smithsonian Association of the United States specially invited Zhang Fengxue, a papermaking inheritor from Beizhang village, to participate in the 36th folk life art festival. Nearly 100000 visitors watched Master Zhang's wonderful paper making and uncovering performances.

With the change of society, the traditional paper making technology gradually declined. At present, there are only more than ten paper mills in Beizhang village, which are still in production. The situation is not optimistic. It is necessary to protect the ancient folk handicraft of paper making as soon as possible.