A delicate masterpiece

Today, an regular stack of Xuan paper retails for 1,800 yuan.

Though the demand for gifting has experienced a sharp decline, the days of Xuan paper are far from numbered. A growing number of nouveau rich in the country have been picking up calligraphy which, like drinking tea and practicing taichi, has been viewed as a means of restoring inner peace.

Furthermore, in response to the call by President Xi Jinping to revive Chinese traditional culture so as to consolidate national confidence, an increasing number of primary schools in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing have also been introducing optional calligraphy and Chinese ink painting lessons to their students.

"Xuan paper might be considered the Lafite in the world of paper, used only by master painters and calligraphy writers," said Wu Zhangqian, spokesman of China Xuan Paper Corporation. "But the more potential users, the better."

Founded in 1951 following a merger between scores of family-style mills in the county, the State-owned company is now staffed by more than 1,300 employees and covers an area of about 3 square kilometers. It is located between two valleys where a creek called Wuxi runs through. This creek is the main water supply for the industry.

Zhou was raised in a family of farmers. He was led to the paper mill in the summer of 1985 after his attempt to become a carpenter failed. The working environment of a paper fisher, which featured cool water and air, was attractive to him as it offered him "the illusion of working in an air-conditioned room".

"Had I gone there in winter or been offered the position of a paper dryer who has to work by a steam-heated wall at a temperature of 70 degrees Celsius all year long, it might have been a completely different story," he recalled.

Zhou produces 1,000 sheets of Xuan paper every day. Unlike master craftsmen who make paint brushes or ink sticks, his name is never seen on the finished product. However, he can take pride in knowing that some of the country's most celebrated artists only buy paper from the factory that is made by him.

In 2015, Zhou was named as one of China's eight national craftsmen, alongside the engineer who builds China's high-speed trains and the technician who welds the nation's Long March V carrier rocket. But Zhou is hesitant to claim all the credit.

"It is a collective work of hundreds of people. No matter how skilled one is at his craft, he alone cannot produce a sheet of Xuan paper," he said.

His wife, Zhang Xiaoxia, also works at China Xuan Paper Corporation. Her job involves spotting clumps or impurities on the translucent paper. Those that fail the inspection are destroyed.

"My wife not only finds fault with me at home, but also at work," joked Zhou.

xujunqian@chinadaily.com.cn