Yongfeng Mao Bian Paper

Yongfeng Mao Bian Paper

　　　Jiangxi, a province rich in forestry resources, has over half of its counties and cities producing paper, among which the famous ones include Shanshan Lianshi Paper from Yanshan and Yongfeng Mao Bian Paper. Yongfeng Mao Bian Paper is a traditional handicraft with two versions of how it got its name. According to records, during the Ming Dynasty, Yongfeng’s handmade Mao Bian Paper was the exclusive printing paper used by the renowned bibliophile Mao Jin, and as early as the Tang and Song dynasties, it was listed as an imperial tribute. However, in recent years, the production scale of handmade Mao Bian Paper here has been shrinking, and now there are even fewer well-preserved paper workshops remaining.

　　The first version particularly highlights the ancient Chinese literati’s obsession with books.

　　During the Ming Dynasty, there was a man named Mao Jin (1599–1659) from Changshu who came from a very wealthy family and had a deep passion for collecting and publishing books. Around the age of 30, he started his career in proofreading and book printing. He built the Jigu Pavilion and Mugen Tower, purchasing Song and Yuan dynasty printed books at high prices, amassing a collection of at least 84,000 volumes. To seek out and borrow copies of rare editions owned by others, Mao Jin used a tracing method to copy books, hence these copies were known as “Mao Copies.” Mao’s traced copies were able to largely retain the appearance of the original books, and later, when some Song and Yuan editions were lost over time, the “Mao Copies” were considered as valuable as the original prints.

　　The paper Mao Jin used for printing books was all custom-made Mao Bian and Mao Tai paper from Jiangxi. He preferred to print books using bamboo paper and ordered large quantities of slightly thicker bamboo paper from Jiangxi, stamping the edge of the paper with a seal character “Mao” in seal script. Thus, Yongfeng’s “Mao Bian Paper” got its name, which has been used ever since.

　　The other version is more realistic, with less legendary flair.

　　According to the Yongfeng County Annals, based on a survey conducted by the Yongfeng County Government in February 1936 (the 25th year of the Republic of China): the production of Mao Bian Paper in areas such as Zhongcun and Shimǎ began during the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty. The brothers Wu Shansheng and Wu Shanfa from Meiziping (locally called “Meizai Ping”) in Zhongcun Township of the county learned the technique of making Mao Bian Paper from Fujian, returned home to build vats, and began producing Mao Bian Paper. Later, villagers gradually picked up the technique through exposure and imitation, passing it on, until it flourished during the Guangxu era. At that time, there were over 200 paper workshops in the county, producing more than 20,000 dan, with concentrated production areas including Zhongcun, Shangxi, Shimǎ, Beikēng, and Shuǐjiāng. Téngtián served as the distribution hub for Mao Bian Paper, and when the paper was wrapped for transport, it was labeled as “Téngtián Mao Bian Paper.”

　　Locally in Yongfeng, paper-making workshops are called “paper sheds,” specialized paper factory owners are referred to as “vat households,” and the masters who grade the paper are called “paper inspectors.” Locals believe: “Because the edges of the paper come out rough, it is thus called Mao Bian Paper (literally ‘hairy-edge paper’).”

　　There are also records stating that during the Tang Dynasty, Yongfeng once produced “Zhili Paper” made from fern plant fibers, which was listed as court-use paper. During the Yuanhe era, it was further listed as an imperial tribute, and by the Ming Dynasty, it was named “Yongfeng Paper.”

　　To put it precisely, the creation of a single sheet of Mao Bian Paper requires no fewer than 11 processes, and not one can be done carelessly. Old He explains that Mao Bian Paper is a type of bamboo paper, and its raw material is “young bamboo that hasn’t sprouted branches or grown up yet,” locally called “bamboo hemp” (pronunciation). The quality of the raw material directly determines the quality of the paper. In the experts’ words: “The first step in papermaking is cutting bamboo hemp, which can only be harvested in the half-month around the Beginning of Summer each year. After cutting, the bamboo hemp is split and then placed in pits on the mountain, where it is soaked with raw lime for 40 days. After that, it needs to be washed clean of lime and then soaked and fermented in water in the pit for another 30 days. The fermented and soaked bamboo hemp is the raw material for making Mao Bian Paper.”

　　The prepared raw material is manually stripped of its green skin and bamboo nodes, then placed on a specially made tool and pounded by foot. Next, it is scooped out of the water using a bamboo screen by two people — the one at the front is called the “paper maker,” and the one at the back is called the “tail holder.” At this point, the Mao Bian Paper is essentially formed, then it goes into the drying room, where it is brushed onto a hot wall to dry. The dried paper, with moisture removed, is generally cut into sheets of 62 cm × 138 cm, bundled, and then sold.

　　According to records, after drying, the Mao Bian Paper is white, smooth, fine, and tough, with strong water absorption and ink retention. The writing on it remains clear over time, and it resists insects and discoloration for centuries, making it an excellent choice for writing and printing. The heavier Mao Bian Paper is also known as “Yu Kou Paper.”

　　It is precisely because of the many advantages of handmade Mao Bian Paper that Mao Jin used it for printing books, which earned Yongfeng Mao Bian Paper high praise in the ancient publishing and printing industry. There are records stating: “For all book printing, Yongfeng cotton paper is the best.” This so-called cotton paper refers to Yongfeng’s handmade Mao Bian Paper.

　　Mao Bian Paper can be produced all year round. A single paper shed requires at least 12 workers to operate. The daily output of a workshop is about seven or eight “dao” (a unit of paper quantity), with each dao of Mao Bian Paper priced between 32 and 70 yuan at the place of origin, showing considerable price fluctuation. Calculating based on Old He’s statement that one dao equals 200 sheets, the price of a single sheet of Mao Bian Paper is generally only about 0.35 yuan.

　　Although handmade Mao Bian Paper is of high quality, it is a business with long production cycles, high costs, and low efficiency locally. As one local official put it: “(The production scale) is shrinking, shrinking, and shrinking again.”