Wang Peikuan (R) creates an artwork at a workshop of Huamao Renjia, or "Huamao Family," a souvenir store nestled in Huamao Village, southwest China's Guizhou Province, July 23, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Ziyu)
GUIYANG, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- As I stepped into Huamao Renjia, or "Huamao Family," a souvenir store nestled in Huamao Village, southwest China's Guizhou Province, my eyes were immediately drawn to a captivating artwork that resembled Vincent van Gogh's masterpiece "Starry Night."
Upon closer inspection, I found the entire picture was actually made of flower petals and leaves that had been fused into a piece of paper. "This is our proprietary form of art, pressed flower pulp picture," said Zhang Mengying, an employee of the store.
Developing the art form is just one of the efforts the store has put forward to revive the village's traditional papermaking technique, which has a history of about 400 years. Zhang, 26, has been fond of the ancient craft since her college years.
"Since ancient times, local people have been using the bark of paper bush to make papers," said Zhang. She said that she was acquainted with the craft in 2016, and was now familiar with most of the procedures.
In that very year, Huamao Renjia was established by Huamao villager Zhang Shengdi. In order to start this business, she gave up her job as a baijiu maker in the famed Maotai Town, home of China's most prestigious liquor Moutai.
For her, the decision to return to Huamao and revive the centuries-old tradition of papermaking was rooted in her fond childhood memories.
"I still remember how my grandmother made paper when I was little," she said. "We used to dry the pieces of paper by plastering pressed pulp on walls, and grandma would give us needles and teach us how to peel the dried paper off."
However, when returning to Huamao in 2016, Zhang Shengdi found the ancient craft was sinking into oblivion. "When I told my family and friends about my decision to pick up traditional papermaking, nearly all of them discouraged me from doing so, saying that it would never be a lucrative business."
Nevertheless, Zhang was determined to reintroduce the craft to the village and the wider world. To achieve this goal, she gathered nine local artists and calligraphers to explore the best way to breathe new life into the craft.
In the workshop next to the store's main building, I met artist Wang Peikuan, who specialized in traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy. Now in his seventies, Wang was one of the artists Zhang sought help from when she started the business.
"As of 2016, the villagers only used the paper for two things: making family tree diagrams and wrapping renminbi bills," said Wang, highlighting the paper's remarkable durability.
"At first, I experimented with painting traditional Chinese landscapes on the paper, but the results were unsatisfactory," he said. Later, inspired by the art of pressed flowers, Zhang came up with the idea of creating patterns with flower petals on wet raw paper and then pouring a thin layer of pulp on it. This innovative method allowed for the pattern to be fixed on the paper.
"The picture 'Starry Night of Huamao' is my work," said Wang proudly, referring to the Van Gogh-style artwork I saw earlier.
Not only that, Zhang and the artists also made full use of the paper's toughness and created a plethora of products, including paper fans, lampshades, bookmarks and book covers.
With these efforts, the popularity of the ancient paper began to grow again. According to Zhang Mengying, visitors from all over China were eager to travel to Huamao and see how the patterned papers were made.
"Today, apart from selling bark paper products, we also provide visitors opportunities to participate in papermaking process and create their own work," said Zhang.
The centuries-old craft even attracted visitors from foreign countries. "We've just received a group of guests from Britain, Australia and Pakistan a while ago."
By developing tourism and local specialty businesses such as papermaking, the economy of Huamao village has continued to improve in recent years. In 2023, the per capita disposable income in the village was 24,958 yuan (about 3,500 U.S. dollars), more than doubling that of 2014.
Inheriting the craft, Zhang Mengying said that she intended to master it in a more comprehensive fashion. "Some procedures, such as the selection of bark, were done by our fellow villagers," she said. "I expect to participate in these procedures as well, so I can gain more knowledge about the art of papermaking." ■