Hanji Unfurled: One Journey into Korean Papermaking by Lee, Aimee - 2012-10-28

Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press, 2021. paperback. Papermaking. large 8vo. paperback. 208 pages. Paperback edition. With a history of well over 1,500 years, Korean handmade paper, known as hanji, is familiar to Koreans but a mystery outside its home country. This lustrous paper that comes in a wide array of thickness, color, dimension, and translucency was once a coveted item inside and beyond Korean borders. Made by farmers and artisans during bitter cold winters,hanji was a noble marker of the literati who demanded high-quality paper for books, documents, calligraphy, and painting. Hanji also played a sacred role as the support for illuminated sutras, the body of temple decorations, and spirit of rituals where it was burned in hopes that its ashes would rise to the sky. Fashioned into objects that ranged from kites to armor to shrouds to chamber pots, there was seemingly no end to the possibilities of the combination of human ingenuity and paper through the transformation of natural fibers, until… Read More