Qian'an Handmade Papermaking

Qian'an Handmade Papermaking

Qian'an handmade papermaking is an intangible cultural heritage of Hebei Province.

　　Qian'an City in Hebei Province is bordered by the Yanshan Mountain Range to the north and the Bohai Sea to the south. This region is rich in natural resources and talented people, boasting a long and profound cultural history where the hardworking locals have created a wealth of spiritual and material civilization.

　　Qian'an's handmade papermaking originated in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties (1405 AD) and began to prosper in 1723. It reached its peak during the late Qing and early Republican periods. Before and after the liberation, handmade paper mills were widespread across Qian'an, with over 830 such mills at one time. The paper was primarily made from locally abundant mulberry bark, undergoing manual processes including bark removal, flattening, cutting, oiling, sheet forming, and drying—resulting in products such as rough paper, red hemp paper, and calligraphy paper. These are unique specialty products of Qian'an.

　　Rough paper earned its name due to the uneven, fuzzy edges around the lime-treated mulberry bark paper. Known for its strong tensile strength and durability, it was initially used for window and roof covering. Later improvements allowed its use in painting and calligraphy. Qian'an’s traditional rice paper (also known as Qian'an Xuan) does not bleed ink and absorbs water quickly, making it highly favored by domestic and international artists. Qian'an’s rough paper series was once exported to Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. Liu Bingsen, a renowned Chinese master of painting and calligraphy, once praised Qian'an paper with the words “Southern Xuan, Northern Qian.”

　　Qian'an's handmade papermaking has a long history and involves highly refined craftsmanship. The resulting rough paper, red hemp paper, and calligraphy paper are irreplaceable by machine-made paper, standing out as exemplary works in the folk handicraft industry. In recent years, due to the rise of machine-made paper and market pressures, although Qian'an handmade paper remains low-cost, its reliance on manual labor has led to high production costs and gradual decline. Today, most of the elderly artisans who mastered this craft are advanced in age, placing the tradition in a critical state of endangerment.