Paper, like the Koreans make

tradition

Twigs, leaves, flowers, pebbles, rivers, ranges and dolls are fashioned from paper, and they flaunt hues evocative of the fleeting shades of nature.

These are not solid like paper-mache sculptures; these are translucent, fluid and ethereal structures that rest as fragrantly and lightly on pedestals, as does eastern mysticism on its people. That’s the magic of Hanji, the Korean paper form made using mulberry paper pulp and natural pigments.

While the eastern connect with paper goes back for eras, Hanji’s presence in Korean art and culture is particularly poignant. It’s a presence that endures to this day, with the charm of its subtleties, serenity and reverential elements intact.

In fact, Hanji’s sway has only widened in recent times, aided by the increasing number of different textures, thickness and colours of Hanji produced. The Korean government has helped facilitate this connect, as have local communities.

Jeong Eonhee, who is among the most ardent and well-known Hanji artists today, says, “Korean people love their culture and are proud of it. Students join various art activities in school besides their regular curriculum, and adults also enjoy arts and crafts as their hobbies.” She was in Chennai recently to introduce Hanji art to India, through a visit co-ordinated by the Inko Centre.

While many Korean artists use Hanji as one of the materials for their artwork — by painting or writing on it, or by cutting out coloured Hanji to supplement their crafts — for Jeong Eonhee, “making Hanji of various textures serves as both material and artwork.”

She elaborates, “It is not everyone who can make their own Hanji; it’s possible only through special interest and continuous experiments. In my work, the process itself becomes the material and the result of my artwork. Sometimes I obtain new ideas for my next work through unexpected outcomes during the making of Hanji.”

Indeed, making Hanji is no ordinary paper-making process. It is a long, complicated and slow process, and calls for the patience of a Zen master.

Hanji is made from paper mulberry, a tree that grows on rocky ranges in Korea; along with the sap of the roots of Hibiscus manihot.

It’s this mucus-like sap that suspends mulberry fibres as individual strands on the Hanji, even after the mulberry pulp has dried. “Hanji is made from the barks of mulberry trees. We call this mulberry tree ‘daknamu’. It’s strong, soft and glossy.” Eonhee shares. Incidentally, Eonhee learned the technique of Hanji craft quite by chance; “I fell deeply in love with its charm. I took a master’s degree in Hanji art, and my interest in Hanji as a material for my artwork deepened.”

It’s difficult to say exactly when Hanji art originated in Korea. But Eonhee says, “Paper was already being made here in ancient times by absorbing the paper-making skills of China. It was developed here, and Korea established its own technique of papermaking that was different from China,”

Experts put Hanji’s origin between AD 200-500. Along with Hanji, associated arts of paper-making, like kite-making, flourished in the Three Kingdoms period, reaching its zenith in the Goryeo period (918–1392 AD), and was sought after as the best paper available in the world.

Koreans have incorporated Hanji into home decoration, clothing and architectural elements.

Hanji’s gentle conquest of Korea was organic. The fact that mulberry pulp paper accepts colour with an eager grace made it an appealing canvas for art. It evolved into Jumchi-Hanji panels, made by squeezing out the water form Hanji fibres, and flattening it by hand.

Then there are the Hanji paintings that have a unique pictorial and textural effect, made by putting together bits of hued Hanji.

The textures of Hanji lent it to the sculpting of natural elements like flowers and leaves. The fact that these exquisite paper flowers would never fade or wilt led to their entry into Korean monasteries and Buddhist temples as offerings of worship. The monks developed their individual and unique processes of making Hanji and passed it on to chosen successors.

Koreans began to incorporate Hanji in armor suits, after varnishing it with lacquer. In fact, its use continues to evolve in the electronics era of today. Hanji has been used to make single-sheet speakers that incorporate all four channel functions — high, middle & low tones and woofer functions — because of Hanji’s capacity to clearly process sound vibrations.

It’s quite remarkable that a Hanji survives for centuries. This is attributed to the resilience of mulberry fibres. The bark of the mulberry tree can survive for more than a year without succumbing to decomposition on immersion in water.

While mulberry silk is said to last 500 years, Hanji paper easily lasts for over 1,000 years! “There is evidence to support it. The oldest woodblock print, The Mugujeonggwang Great Dharani Sutra from Seokgtap of Bulguksa temple, has been intact for more than 1,000 years,” Eonhee shares.

Printed on Hanji paper in 704 AD, it is now treasured as Korea’s ‘National Treasure No 126’ and continues to be in excellent condition, and even bears the Hanji papermaker’s name. Jikji, a guide for students of Buddhism, printed on Hanji in 1377 AD, is the world’s oldest extant book printed using metal movable type.

Experts reckon that this specimen of Hanji, which is now in the National Library of France, puts Korean foray into moving, metal-type printing much before that of Gutenberg’s.