Lead Mountain Liansi Paper

Lead Mountain Liansi Paper

Lead Mountain Liansi Paper is a protected geographical indication product.

　　Lead Mountain County is located in the northeastern part of Jiangxi Province and currently belongs to Shangrao City. The area features undulating peaks, a well-developed water system, lush vegetation, good soil and water conservation, and abundant bamboo production. Liansi Paper originated in Lead Mountain County. In the Ming Dynasty, Gao Lian's *Eight Notes on Observing Life* listed "Lead Mountain paper" as a fine product from the Yuan Dynasty, renowned for its "exquisite beauty and radiant glow." Song Yingxing's *The Exploitation of the Works of Nature* contains several accounts of papermaking in Lead Mountain, explaining the varieties of Liansi and letter paper, and offering high praise for them.

　　The production area of Lead Mountain Liansi Paper is distributed along the southern and northern foothills of the Wuyi Mountains. At its peak, there were over two thousand paper vats. "A single sheet of paper is not easily obtained, requiring seventy-two meticulous steps," as the production process of Liansi Paper is highly refined. The raw material must be tender bamboo shoots, harvested around the Beginning of Summer when the bamboo is about to sprout two pairs of buds. The paper material needs to be sun-dried and rained on for several months to achieve natural bleaching, with a production cycle lasting up to a year. Liansi Paper is made entirely by hand, with no chemical indicators involved, relying entirely on craftsmanship and experience. Key technical aspects of its production include: first, water quality—all water used for soaking, washing, bleaching, and rinsing must be unpolluted, preferably sourced from local springs; second, the formula, which uses water oak tree extract to make the sizing.

　　Liansi Paper is pure white, lustrous, delicate, dense, smooth, and resilient, with faint watermark textures. It is insect-resistant, heat-resistant, and never fades, earning the title "paper of a thousand years." In ancient times, it was commonly used for valuable books, stone rubbings, contracts, calligraphy, paintings, and fan surfaces. Painters and collectors admire its unique texture and charm, and many calligraphic works, seal catalogs, and rubbings have been preserved thanks to it.

　　The craft of making Liansi Paper is the crystallization of the wisdom of generations of papermakers. Its techniques form a self-contained system, rich in scientific content yet difficult to fully replicate with modern technology, making it extremely precious. However, the production of Liansi Paper has very high requirements for raw materials, time, and craftsmanship, resulting in high costs. The skills are passed down orally and through hands-on teaching, making them difficult to promote quickly. As a result, the craft of making Liansi Paper is now at risk of being lost and urgently needs to be rescued and preserved.

　　The production area of Lead Mountain Liansi Paper covers the entire administrative region currently under the jurisdiction of Lead Mountain County, Jiangxi Province.