Four Waterwheels Paper Mill

Four Waterwheels Paper Mill

The Four Waterwheels Paper Mill is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Four Waterwheels Paper Mill is located in Zeya Town, Ouhai District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China, on the middle reaches of Longxi Stream at the foot of Beidou Mountain. It is a living fossil of ancient Chinese papermaking techniques.

In the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, people from Nanping, Fujian, migrated to Zeya to escape war. Due to the abundance of water and bamboo in Zeya, they resumed their traditional craft of making "Nanping paper." Here, along the stream, they built water channels, waterwheels, and paper mills that blend seamlessly with the surrounding landscape. Locals used water-powered trip hammers to pound bamboo into pulp, producing "Ping paper." Thousands in the Zeya area were engaged in papermaking, resulting in numerous waterwheels and paper mills scattered throughout. Place names such as Shuidui Pit and Shuilian Pit are also related to papermaking, earning Zeya the nickname "Paper Mountain." In the 1990s, research groups such as the Japanese Farming Folklore Investigation Team and the China Printing Museum conducted multiple studies here. They unanimously agreed that Zeya’s Paper Mountain is a “living fossil” of ancient Chinese papermaking, with the Four Waterwheels being particularly significant. The Four Waterwheels Paper Mill was built in the early Ming Dynasty. Its water channel is about 230 meters long, with four waterwheels built along the stream in stages, allowing for repeated use of hydraulic power—hence the name “Four Waterwheels.”

In 2001, the Four Waterwheels Paper Mill was included in the fifth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units