Korean paper

Korean paper
Korean name
Hangul	한지
Hanja	韓紙
Revised Romanization	hanji
McCune–Reischauer	hanji

Korean paper or hanji (Korean: 한지/韓紙) is the name of traditional handmade paper from Korea. Hanji is made from the inner bark of Paper Mulberry, a tree native to Korea that grows well on its rocky mountainsides, known in Korean as dak. The formation aid crucial to making hanji is the mucilage that oozes from the roots of Hibiscus manihot. This substance helps suspend the individual fibers in water.

Traditional hanji is made in laminated sheets using the we bal method (a sheet formation technique), which allows for multi-directional grain The process of creating hanji also employs dochim, a method of pounding finished sheets to compact fibers and lessen ink bleed.

In Korea, papermaking started not long after its birth in China. At first, made crudely out of hemp and ramie scraps (called maji; Korean: 마지), hanji developed to the point that it was renownedas the highest quality paper available in East Asia. Its origins in Korea are believed to fall somewhere between the 3rd century and the end of the 6th century. In 1931, a piece of hanji was found at an archeological dig at a tomb site from the Lelang period (108 BCE–313 CE).

During the Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE–668 CE), each kingdom used paper to record their official histories. In 610, The Buddhist monk Damjing whom Goguryeo presented to Japan was able to make the production method of paper and ink. The world’s oldest surviving wood block print is the Buddhist Dharani Sutra called the Pure Light Dharani Sutra (Korean: 무구정광대다라니경; Revised Romanization: Mugujeonggwangdaedaranigyeong). Listed as Korea's National Treasure No. 126, it was printed onto hanji c. 704 and is still in good condition, bearing the papermaker’s name. Paper crafts were also developed in the Three Kingdoms period, such as kites and other household items, and continued to flourish as hanji production increased. Silla Kingdom, one of the Three Kingdoms, settled the paper industry deeply into Korean culture, and called it Gyerimji, instead of Hanji (“Hanji’s History”).

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