Wang Xingwu

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Wang Xingwu, Male, Unspecified, from Danzhai, Guizhou, is a third-batch national representative bearer of Pizhi Making Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-67). The tradition is documented in Danzhai, Guizhou. Within the regional tradition and school record of Pizhi Making Craftsmanship in Danzhai, Guizhou: The bark paper making technique of Shiqiao, Danzhai County (Miao ethnic group), together with Xiangzhigou in Guiyang (Buyi ethnic group) and Xiaotun in Zhenfeng County, is known as one of the three most outstanding bark paper production areas in Guizhou. The villages of the Shiqiao area lie against mountains and beside waters; papermaking mostly uses paper mulberry bark as material, and the process steps include cutting bamboo, splitting bamboo, retting bamboo, steaming and boiling, grinding bamboo slivers, and pulping, while the scooping of paper is still done by hand with bamboo screens. The Danzhai County Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center is the protection unit for this project. Taking the bamboo paper produced in Xiangzhigou as an example, the technique is said to have begun in the Hongwu era of the Ming dynasty, giving it a history of more than six hundred years to the present day. The white cotton paper produced in Xiaotun, Zhenfeng County, originated in the Xianfeng era of the Qing dynasty; until the end of the last century, more than a thousand households throughout the township were still engaged in scooping paper production.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Born in October 1966 in Danzhai County, Guizhou Province, he is of Miao ethnicity. He is a national representative bearer of Bark Paper Making Craftsmanship, a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He is the eighteenth-generation bearer of the bark paper making craft. He grew up in a family that has made paper by traditional methods for generations, and by the age of fifteen he had learned from his father and mastered the bark paper making craft in all its stages. In the course of making bark paper he has, through constant experiment, developed such varieties as coloured bark paper, inlaid patterned paper in 106 designs, calligraphy and painting paper known as Guizhi, and a paper made specially for restoring ancient books and cultural relics, known as Yingchun paper. In 2008 he began production on a larger scale by taking on apprentices, and in the same year he founded the Qianshan Shiqiao Traditional Papermaking Professional Cooperative of Danzhai County, leading its members in producing ten series of handmade paper products. He has repeatedly been invited to Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Taiwan to demonstrate the bark paper making craft. Within the documented technical tradition of Pizhi Making Craftsmanship in Danzhai, Guizhou: Papermaking is one of the four great inventions of ancient China; bamboo paper, made from bamboo, and bark paper, made from paper mulberry bark, are two important varieties of traditional handmade paper. Guizhou is a region inhabited by ethnic minorities, and many areas of the province still preserve the ancient techniques of making traditional bamboo paper and bark paper. Among them, the techniques of Xiangzhigou in Guiyang (Buyi ethnic group), Xiaotun in Zhenfeng County, and Shiqiao in Danzhai County (Miao ethnic group) are the most outstanding. The complete set of operations comprises 72 process steps — cutting bamboo, splitting bamboo, retting bamboo, steaming and boiling, grinding bamboo slivers, pulping, scooping paper, pressing, and drying — identical in every respect to the papermaking method recorded in Song Yingxing's Tiangong Kaiwu. The finished product is soft yet tough, bears hidden bamboo-fiber markings, and gives off a faint fragrance. The paper produced there uses paper mulberry bark as its raw material; the complete operation likewise passes through 72 process steps, and the finished paper is soft and tough, even, and moistly supple. The white bark paper produced in Shiqiao, Danzhai County, likewise uses paper mulberry bark and fir roots as raw materials, and colored paper is also produced, in six varieties including cloud-dragon crepe, raised-and-indented (embossed), pressed-flat, flower-and-grass, and hemp paper. Its production process generally involves more than ten stages. In manufacture the cotton-like pulp is diluted with water, a slippery mucilage (hua yao) is added and stirred evenly, and the sheet is formed by scooping, pressing, sun-drying, and peeling before being packaged as the finished product; the paper is soft and tough, glossy and smooth, and highly water-resistant. All the handmade papers described above place strict demands on raw materials, water quality, and workmanship. The transmission of the technique relies entirely on oral instruction and personal example, and alongside the craft itself it has given rise to rich paper-industry customs, including the annual worship of Cai Lun, the grand master of papermaking. In light of these facts, the related bamboo-paper and bark-paper making techniques have become important evidence of cultural diversity and ethnic identity. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "": "Archival Record of Process Steps": The complete set of operations comprises 72 process steps — cutting bamboo, splitting bamboo, retting bamboo, steaming and boiling, grinding bamboo slivers, pulping, scooping paper, pressing, and drying — identical in every respect to the papermaking method recorded in Song Yingxing's Tiangong Kaiwu.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2009, Wang Xingwu was announced in the third batch of national representative bearers for Pizhi Making Craftsmanship, with Danzhai, Guizhou as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Pizhi Making Craftsmanship in Danzhai, Guizhou: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Danzhai, Guizhou as its declared area, and Danzhai County Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Center as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Wang Xingwu · National Representative Bearer Archive