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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Yuanshu paper made in city stands test of time

By Wu Huixin | November 5, 2013, Tuesday | Print Edition

Chinese calligraphy and ink paintings should be painted on traditional rice paper, which is renowned for being soft and fine textured, suitable for conveying artistic expression.

The xuan paper produced in Jing County, Anhui Province, is a well-known Chinese rice paper. But fewer people are aware that Hangzhou also boasts a centuries-old rice paper that can match xuan paper. (Rice paper collectively refers to paper-like materials from East Asia made from different plants.)

Yuanshu paper, dating back more than 1,900 years, has its origins in Fuyang County, Hangzhou.

According to historic documents, yuanshu paper boomed in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) after it was picked as the royal paper of Song emperors.

Today, only one factory makes the authentic yuanshu paper in Fuyang County. The president of the factory, Pan Xiaoying, told Shanghai Daily the story of the ancient rice paper.

Her father-in-law, Li Fa’er, was one of the heirs of Fuyang’s yuanshu paper intangible culture. The Li family has been devoted to yuanshu paper making for nine generations.

In order to carry forward the ancestral craft better in modern times, the Li family established a factory in the 1980s and stepped up the professionalizing of making yuanshu paper. They named the factory Yuan Zhu Fang, “destiny of bamboo” in Chinese.

Unlike xuan paper, mainly made of common straw and wood, the materials of yuanshu paper are strictly prescribed — they must be Fuyang’s local mao zhu, a temperate species of giant timber bamboo native to China.

But it’s more than that. The mao zhu has to be felled when they are tender — that is, those that are between bamboo shoots and mature mao zhu.

The tender mao zhu must undergo more than 100 procedures before becoming a piece of yuanshu paper, which features great tensile strength, a smooth surface and resistance to corrosion and mold.

There is special, odd procedure during the process that makes the yuanshu paper so great — the tender mao zhu is immersed in urine for a couple of days. The urine must come from children under age 12. “We gather urine in local primary schools. But forgive us, we cannot disclose the reason why we use children’s urine. That was a secret recipe handed down by our ancestors,” Pan said.

Don’t worry, however — the bamboo is washed over and over again and soaked in a botanical liquid afterward, so it is sanitary to use.

“During the manufacturing process, no industrial chemicals are added and no environmental pollution produced. We adhere to the original way of making yuanshu paper,” Pan said. 

“The yuanshu paper produced by our factory can be kept for at least 1,500 years, and the ink painted on it does not easily fade after years,” said Zhang Qunbiao, manager of the factory.

“The masterpiece ‘Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains’ was painted on yuanshu paper by the great Song painter Huang Gongwang (1269-1354). After experiencing twists and turns, the painting still has its original appearance,” Zhang said.

Yuanshu paper becomes softer and more tender after long-term preservation. Painters and calligraphers consider old yuanshu paper to be better for creation of art. 

“The factory still preserves yuanshu paper produced 20 years ago. Some people made an offer of 200 yuan (US$32.80) a piece, but we turned them down. We just want to prove that the longer the paper is kept, the better it would be,” Pan said.

A piece of yuanshu paper usually is 70 centimeters in width and 180cm in length. In Fuyang County, the paper is not only for writing and painting, but also for packaging food and printing.

Though yuanshu paper is not as famous as xuan paper in China, it gained fame in Japan. One-hundred pieces of yuanshu paper is worth as much as 8,000 yuan there. Some Japanese also call it Tang paper because it spread to Japan during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

Yuan Zhu Fang has a staff of more than 40. Not long ago, the Hangzhou Arts and Crafts Museum recruited two retired workers of the factory and asked them to demonstrate making yuanshu paper in the Workmanship Demonstration Pavilion at the museum,

Wang Renlong and Li Yuzhu, both 62, have produced yuanshu paper for nearly half a century.

“We started making paper during our childhood. At the time, many families in Fuyang made their living making yuanshu paper, but now such family workshops have nearly disappeared,” Wang said.

They are at the pavilion 9am-4:30pm except on Mondays showcasing the major steps of how to make yuanshu paper. Pan and her colleagues deliver materials to them at regular intervals.

Those who want to see more about making the traditional paper can get a look at the detailed process at Yuan Zhu Fang in Fuyang County.

 

• Yuan Zhu Fang

Address: No. 228, Baihezu, Huang Gongwang Village, Fuyang County, Hangzhou

Tel: (0571) 8719-6077

 

• Hangzhou Arts and Crafts Museum

Address: 336 Xiaohe Rd

Tel: (0571) 8819-7511

 

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