Cailunzaozhi Legend
01 · Historical Records
The Cai Lun papermaking legend originated in the early Eastern Han at the beginning of the second century and has been handed down orally through seventeen hundred years to the present. The invention of papermaking and plant-fibre paper by Cai Lun is first found in the Eastern Han Dongguan Hanji and the Southern Dynasties Fan Ye's Book of the Later Han. These Cai Lun papermaking legends current in the Longting area corroborate the origin of papermaking, one of the four great inventions of ancient China, and are of extraordinary significance.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In the Yongyuan period of the Eastern Han, 89-105, Cai Lun, then director of the imperial workshops, went from Luoyang to Chang'an and by the Ziwu road to the old county of Longting, present-day Longting town in Yang county, Shaanxi, to seek raw materials for paper and experiment with papermaking methods, and at last in the first year of Yuanxing, 105, developed plant-fibre paper from tree bark, waste hemp ends, worn fishing nets and rags. Longting was one of his papermaking experiment sites, and the stone steles and gazetteers of Longting in Yang county all record it. In Longting and some places of the county there still survive folk paper workshops and sites producing by Cai Lun's papermaking method, and almost every one of these workshops and sites has a vivid legend. Because Longting was not only Cai Lun's papermaking experiment site but also his fief and burial place, this further promoted the derivation of legends. Longting's human and geographical environment, its papermaking relics and the related local scenery became the driving force of the Cai Lun papermaking legend and also enhanced its credibility. The legend arose in Longting of Yang county, Shaanxi, and its surroundings and then gradually radiated outward with Longting as its centre. According to a preliminary survey there are several dozen Cai Lun papermaking legends at Longting, divided into the kinds of overcoming technical difficulties, seeking papermaking materials, spreading papermaking, running papermaking and the paper trade; most of the episodes describe such technical links as pounding, mashing, frying and baking. Because of the inherent pioneering spirit of invention and the literary and artistic charm of the legend it attracts people, who never tire of hearing it, and it is handed down from generation to generation.
Legends of Overcoming Technical Difficulties
One of the kinds of the Cai Lun papermaking legend.
Legends of Seeking Papermaking Materials
One of the kinds of the Cai Lun papermaking legend.
Legends of Spreading Papermaking
One of the kinds of the Cai Lun papermaking legend, describing such technical links as pounding, mashing, frying and baking.
The Folk Paper Workshop Sites at Longting
The folk paper workshops and sites producing by Cai Lun's papermaking method.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
His papermaking deeds at Longting were later spread by the adopted son who lived with him at Longting, the descendants of the Cai family of Longting and the local folk, and gradually became known.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Cai Lun papermaking legend arose in Longting of Yang county, Shaanxi, and its surroundings and later gradually radiated outward with Longting as its centre; it is precious oral material for studying the origin and folk transmission of ancient Chinese papermaking.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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