Ma Songsheng
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Ma Songsheng, Male, Han, from Xianshizhangan, Shaanxi, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Chupizhi Making Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-131). The tradition is documented in Xianshizhangan, Shaanxi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Chupizhi Making Craftsmanship in Xianshizhangan, Shaanxi: Beizhang Village sits at the foot of the Qinling Mountains; because of its large population and little land, the local people have since ancient times relied on the paper mulberry (commonly called the 'gou tree') resources of the mountains to make a living by producing paper mulberry bark paper.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Ma Songsheng is anchored in the documented technical standards of Chupizhi Making Craftsmanship in Xianshizhangan, Shaanxi. Within the documented technical tradition of Chupizhi Making Craftsmanship in Xianshizhangan, Shaanxi: The paper mulberry bark papermaking craft is one of the important techniques of traditional handmade paper production; Beizhang Village in Chang'an District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province still preserves this primitive folk handicraft to this day. Beizhang Village is one of the birthplaces of papermaking; the famous Western Han Dynasty Baoqiao paper was unearthed here. Before the Reform and Opening-up, basically every household here had a papermaking workshop. The traditional paper mulberry bark paper production of Beizhang Village has high craft value: the entire production process uses no modern machinery whatsoever, and moreover uses no paper-sizing agent (paper medicine), yet can still separate the sheets. This production process is extremely rare within China's handmade paper industry and is a 'living fossil' for studying the evolution of handmade paper craft. With social change, the traditional paper mulberry bark papermaking craft has gradually declined. At present only a little over ten papermaking workshops in Beizhang Village still maintain production; the situation is not optimistic, and the ancient folk handicraft of paper mulberry bark papermaking must be protected as soon as possible. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Gathering bark in the hills": The first stage at Beizhang village: paper-makers go into the Qinling hills themselves for the paper mulberry bark that sets how long the workshop can run. "Steaming, crushing and washing": The bark is steamed, crushed to release the gum and washed clean — the most labour-intensive stretch of handmade papermaking and where village practice diverges from machine paper. "Treading, cutting and beating the pulp": The beaten and cut bark is trodden and pulped entirely without sizing additive, an anomaly in Chinese handmade papermaking that leaves the sheet with a coarse laid texture. "Lifting the sheet from the vat": Being able to separate sheets without sizing is the mark of a master at the vat, and the reason the process is called a living fossil of hand papermaking.
Gathering bark in the hills
The first stage at Beizhang village: paper-makers go into the Qinling hills themselves for the paper mulberry bark that sets how long the workshop can run.
Steaming, crushing and washing
The bark is steamed, crushed to release the gum and washed clean — the most labour-intensive stretch of handmade papermaking and where village practice diverges from machine paper.
Treading, cutting and beating the pulp
The beaten and cut bark is trodden and pulped entirely without sizing additive, an anomaly in Chinese handmade papermaking that leaves the sheet with a coarse laid texture.
Lifting the sheet from the vat
Being able to separate sheets without sizing is the mark of a master at the vat, and the reason the process is called a living fossil of hand papermaking.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Ma Songsheng was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Chupizhi Making Craftsmanship, with Xianshizhangan, Shaanxi as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Chupizhi Making Craftsmanship in Xianshizhangan, Shaanxi: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Xianshizhangan, Shaanxi as its declared area, and Xian Changan District Cultural 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
Historical origin
From the 1970s onward, the primitive papermaking craft of Beizhang Village drew high attention from scholars in China and abroad. In 2002, the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage specially invited Zhang Fengxue, the papermaking inheritor of Beizhang Village, to participate in the 36th Folklife Festival; nearly one hundred thousand visitors watched Master Zhang's superb sheet-forming and sheet-lifting demonstrations.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zhang Fengxue | Xianshizhangan, Shaanxi | 03-1393 | Same declared area |
| Ma Songsheng | Xianshizhangan, Shaanxi | — | 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。