Wang Xifa
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Wang Xifa, Male, Han, from Jing, Anhui, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Traditional Handicraft of Making Xuan Paper (Ⅷ-65). The tradition is documented in Jing, Anhui. Within the regional tradition and school record of Traditional Handicraft of Making Xuan Paper in Jing, Anhui: The place of origin of xuan paper is Jing County, Anhui. Here the climate is mild and rainfall abundant; the special karst mountains suit the growth of the wingceltis tree, while the alluvial plains suit the growing of long-stalk rice—both the wingceltis bark and the rice straw provide fine raw materials for making xuan paper. Within Jing County there are several rivers, especially two tributaries in the upper reaches of the Wuxi stream that provide extremely clear stream water for sheet-forming (lao zhi). China Xuan Paper Co., Ltd. is the protecting unit of the item. The varieties of xuan paper produced are numerous, and innovation continued through production; after 1949 new products such as the "zhang er" and "er zhang" sizes were successfully made. Since the Tang dynasty, xuan paper has been loved by the Chinese people; its production reached its zenith in the Qing dynasty, when famous brands such as Wang Liugi and Wang Tonghe appeared and won many awards at home and abroad.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Wang Xifa is anchored in the documented technical standards of Traditional Handicraft of Making Xuan Paper in Jing, Anhui. Within the documented technical tradition of Traditional Handicraft of Making Xuan Paper in Jing, Anhui: Papermaking is one of the four great inventions of ancient China; xuan paper is the most outstanding representative of traditional handmade paper, ranking first among the Four Treasures of the Study, with a history of over one thousand five hundred years. The place of origin of xuan paper is Jing County, Anhui. Here the climate is mild and rainfall abundant; the special karst mountains suit the growth of the wingceltis (qing tan) tree, while the alluvial plains suit the growing of long-stalk rice—both the wingceltis bark and the rice straw provide fine raw materials for making xuan paper. Within Jing County there are several rivers, especially two tributaries in the upper reaches of the Wuxi stream—one mildly alkaline, suited to processing the raw material, and one mildly acidic, suited to the water for forming the paper. Xuan paper uses wingceltis bark as its main material, blended in proportion with sandy-field rice-straw pulp; the whole production process consists of more than one hundred and forty steps. Xuan paper has a pure white, fine and close texture, clear grain, and is soft, pliable and tough—it can be folded a hundred times without damage, is lustrous yet not slippery, absorbs water and holds ink, is good for both calligraphy and painting, and resists decay and insects, hence its praise as "paper that outlasts a thousand years" and "king of papers." When Guo Moruo visited the Jing County xuan-paper factory he wrote: "Xuan paper is an artistic creation invented by the working people of China; without it, Chinese calligraphy and painting could not express the subtlety of art." The handmade production of xuan paper and its paper qualities embody the strengths of traditional craft, a craft that to this day cannot be replaced by machinery. However, the economic returns from collecting and cultivating the raw materials of xuan paper—wingceltis bark and long-stalk rice—are poor, and a serious crisis has appeared in the raw materials; meanwhile, because of the bad business conduct of certain manufacturers, counterfeit goods have damaged the reputation of xuan paper and the market has fallen into near chaos; the transmission of the xuan-paper craft is a cause for concern. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Documented production process": Xuan paper uses wingceltis bark as its main material, blended in proportion with sandy-field rice-straw pulp; the whole production process consists of more than one hundred and forty steps.
Documented production process
Xuan paper uses wingceltis bark as its main material, blended in proportion with sandy-field rice-straw pulp; the whole production process consists of more than one hundred and forty steps.
Core Technique I
Papermaking is one of the four great inventions of ancient China;
Core Technique II
xuan paper is the most outstanding representative of traditional handmade paper, ranking first among the Four Treasures of the Study, with a history of over one thousand five hundred years.
Core Technique III
The place of origin of xuan paper is Jing County, Anhui.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Wang Xifa was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Traditional Handicraft of Making Xuan Paper, with Jing, Anhui as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Traditional Handicraft of Making Xuan Paper in Jing, Anhui: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Jing, Anhui as its declared area, and Zhongguoxuanzhi Co., Ltd. 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
Historical origin
The varieties of xuan paper produced are numerous, and innovation continued through production; after 1949 new products such as the "zhang er" and "er zhang" sizes were successfully made. Since the Tang dynasty, xuan paper has been loved by the Chinese people; its production reached its zenith in the Qing dynasty, when famous brands such as Wang Liugi and Wang Tonghe appeared and won many awards at home and abroad.
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.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xing Chunrong | Jing, Anhui | 01-0178 | Same declared area |
| Cao Guanghua | Jing, Anhui | 05-2762 | Same declared area |
| Wang Xifa | Jing, Anhui | — | This page |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。