Mazhi Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
When the Xihe hemp-paper craft originated can no longer be verified. According to the memory handed down through the generations by local papermakers, papermaking in Zhuliuhe Village has a history of no less than 1,000 years.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Xihe hemp-paper craft is hailed as a living fossil of ancient papermaking and is transmitted mainly in Zhuliuhe Village, Xigaoshan Township, Xihe County, Longnan City, Gansu Province. The old papermaking technique handed down from generation to generation in this village preserves the complete process of ancient hemp-paper making. Xihe County lies in the south of the western Qinling, with high mountains and deep gorges and luxuriant vegetation; forest cover reaches over 70 per cent and it has the typical mountain characteristics of Longnan. The area abounds in a kind of paper mulberry that adapts easily to the environment and propagates rapidly; it is the main raw material of Xihe hemp paper. Xihe hemp paper is made from the bark of the paper mulberry and refined through 72 process steps: preparing the material, processing the raw material, steaming the rind, washing the material, grinding the rind, cutting with a knife, rubbing by hand, pounding the rind, washing the rind, making pulp, lifting the sheet, pressing out the water, pasting it on the wall, peeling it off and tying it into bundles, counting the sheets by the hemp-coin reckoning, and cutting and trimming them even. The tools used in the Xihe hemp-paper craft include stone trip-hammers, rind knives, stone troughs, paper vats, bamboo screens, earthen drying walls, steaming stoves for the paper mulberry, hay knives and rind beds, and presses. Its production technique preserves the primitive, complex and complete traditional process of ancient bark-paper making. The hemp paper produced has an antique colour and a fine grain; the paper is supple and tough and resists wear and damage; it feels soft and smooth and is highly elastic, does not crease and does not decay in a thousand years; it is suitable for both writing and painting and is used for mounting and backing traditional calligraphy and painting, for paper-craft work of all kinds and for product packaging. Since the Western Han, with the Western Han River as the link, Mount Chouchishan as the centre and the ancient Shu road as the support, a hemp-paper producing area has formed with today's Xigaoshan Township and Zhifang Town as its gateways. The village makes hemp paper in household workshops, and there are now more than 70 workshops of varying size. The craft is transmitted mainly within families by oral instruction and personal example, and the clearly documented line of transmission has reached six generations.
Documented process steps
The old papermaking technique handed down from generation to generation in this village preserves the complete process of ancient hemp-paper making. Xihe hemp paper is made from the bark of the paper mulberry and refined through 72 process steps: preparing the material, processing the raw material, steaming the rind, washing the material, grinding the rind, cutting with a knife, rubbing by hand, pounding the rind, washing the rind, making pulp, lifting the sheet, pressing out the water, pasting it on the wall, peeling it off and tying it into bundles, counting the sheets by the hemp-coin reckoning, and cutting and trimming them even. Its production technique preserves the primitive, complex and complete traditional process of ancient bark-paper making. The hemp paper produced has an antique colour and a fine grain; the paper is supple and tough and resists wear and damage; it feels soft and smooth and is highly elastic, does not crease and does not decay in a thousand years; it is suitable for both writing and painting and is used for mounting and backing traditional calligraphy and painting, for paper-craft work of all kinds and for product packaging.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
There is a local proverb that papermaking takes 72 moves of the hand, and pasting the paper on the wall takes one more breath, which accords with the account in the Tiangong Kaiwu (The Exploitation of the Works of Nature). The finished paper is brown, in dark and light shades; because brown is called hemp colour in the local dialect, it is known as hemp paper. Outsiders call it Xihe hemp paper or Zhuliu hemp paper after its place of origin, and because it suits the creation of antique-style calligraphy and painting it is also called Xihe xuan paper. It is a crystallisation of the wisdom and creativity of the local papermakers and a vivid witness to the development, exchange and spread of Chinese civilisation, and it has relatively high historical, cultural, economic and social value.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Xihe hemp-paper craft has been transmitted for over a thousand years and preserves important cultural information about Chinese papermaking techniques and paper forms; it is of great significance for the study of the origin and development of papermaking in China.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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