Traditional handicrafts of making Xuan paper

Overview

The unique water quality and mild climate of Jing County in Anhui Province in eastern China are two of the key ingredients in the craft of making Xuan paper that thrives there. Handmade from the tough bark of the Tara Wing-Celtis or Blue Sandalwood tree and rice straw, Xuan paper is known for its strong, smooth surface, its ability to absorb water and moisten ink, and fold repeatedly without breaking. It has been widely used in calligraphy, painting and book printing. The traditional process passed down orally over generations and still followed today proceeds strictly by hand through more than a hundred steps such as steeping, washing, fermenting, bleaching, pulping, sunning and cutting – all of which lasts more than two years. The production of the ‘Paper of Ages’ or ‘King of Papers’ is a major part of the economy in Jing County, where the industry directly or indirectly employs one...

This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.

Community and Authority

Communities: China
Languages: Not specified in UNESCO dataset
Cultural territories: China
Countries: China

How the System Works

Language, Story and Memory Material Culture, Design and Technology Ways of Knowing and Knowledge Transmission

Sources and Evidence

Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ListsDataset

Open original source record

Field-Level Provenance

title: UNESCO DataHub field title_en
preferredTitle: UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
summary: UNESCO DataHub field description_en
type: UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
countries: UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
categories: ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
relationships: UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
sourceUrl: UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
rights: UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url

Original Source Metadata

uuid432cc872-6452-4c28-a524-77c09d454bfd

ich_public_ref201

inscription_year2009

title_enTraditional handicrafts of making Xuan paper

title_frLes techniques artisanales traditionnelles de fabrication du papier Xuan

type_of_element_enRepresentative List

type_acronymRL

countriesCN

http_url_enhttps://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/00201

concepts_primary_namesPaper, Technical skills

concepts_secondary_namesCalligraphy, Craft workers, Farmers, Handicrafts, Inks, Know-how transfer, Oral tradition, Painting, Printing paper

main_image_urlhttps://ich.unesco.org/img/photo/thumb/01167-LRG.jpg

main_image_caption_enNot supplied

main_image_copyrightHuang Feisong, 2008

main_image_authorNot supplied

videoshttps://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/mMLxgkpdS-U

images[object Object], [object Object], [object Object]

Why This Record Is Credible

This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.

Cultural Access

Use this as public discovery metadata only. It does not replace community authority or local access protocols.

Relationships

Paper Technical skills Calligraphy Craft workers Farmers Handicrafts Inks Know-how transfer Oral tradition Painting UNESCO representative list World Heritage connection: Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui – Xidi and Hongcun

Review and Corrections

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