Xuan paper

Xuan paper

Xuan paper is a protected geographical indication product.

　　There is a legend in Jing County about the origin of Xuan paper: After Cai Lun, the Eastern Han Dynasty papermaking master, passed away, his disciple Kong Dan made a living as a papermaker in southern Anhui. He longed to create the finest paper in the world to paint a portrait of his master and compile a genealogy as a tribute. But year after year, he could not achieve his goal. One day, Kong Dan happened to see an ancient blue sandalwood tree lying by the stream. Due to years of sun exposure and washing by the stream, the bark had rotted and turned white, revealing slender, clean fibers. Kong Dan used them to make paper. After repeated experiments, he finally produced a remarkably fine paper — the famous Xuan paper of later times. Among Xuan papers, there is one called “Four-Foot Dan,” created in honor of Kong Dan, which has been passed down to this day. Hu Shi’s *The Pearl Boat* mentions that during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, a monk from Xuancheng cultivated many paper mulberry trees by imperial order to make Xuan paper for copying the Buddhist scripture *Yan Hua Sutra*. The raw material for Xuan paper is sandalwood bark. Paper mulberry is similar to sandalwood, so it’s possible that either the monk or the author mistook the sandalwood for paper mulberry. The *New Book of Tang · Treatise on Geography* records: “In the Tang Dynasty, Xuancheng Prefecture in Anhui produced Xuan paper, which was presented to the emperor every year.” This shows that Xuan paper already had a reputation at that time.

　　Xuan paper from Jing County is known for being fine, tough, white, tightly woven, with clear ink gradation, lasting color, resistance to insects and rot, and no damage when rolled or folded.