September, 2023 | Aimee Lee

Hanji Unfurled: One Journey into Korean Papermaking Reviewed by Minah Song

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Hanji formation comparisons: four papermakers

A comparative look at four different Korean papermakers, all using the traditional sheet formation style (webal tteugi): Jang Yong Hoon of Jang Ji Bang in Gapyeong, Shin Hyun Seh of Shin Hyun Seh Traditional Hanji in Uiryeong, Jang Eung Yeoll of Wonju Hanji in Wonju, and Jang Seong Woo of Jang Ji Bang in Gapyeong.

Shin Hyun Se makes hanji

A step-by-step documentation of how to make traditional Korean handmade paper (hanji), as filmed on a site visit in the southernmost mainland province of Korea.

Hanji screen making

A brief overview of making bamboo screens necessary for making hanji, Korean handmade paper. Only one master screenmaker remains in Korea, and he provides screens for papermills all over the country. Yu Bae Geun was also a papermaker and is currently Jeolla-do’s intangible property holder in screen making.

Jiseung: Korean paper basketry

Jiseung is the process of cording and twining hanji (Korean paper) by a master weaver, Na Seo Hwan. He is a 3rd-generation master who learned from his father, who learned from his grandfather. He has also developed a more effective and efficient way of cording paper, which is different from the way most jiseung artists work. This ancient paper craft, known formally as noyeokgae, still exists in Korea today but the intense labor, time, and strength required for it means that very few masters remain, and even fewer serious disciples.

Jang Yong-hun, National intangible property holder of hanji making

Jang Yong-hoon was appointed in 2010 as the national intangible cultural property holder of papermaking in Korea. He was the Gyeonggi-do provincial holder for many years prior to his national designation. The father of my teacher, Jang Seong-woo, at Jang Ji Bang, helped me “get” Korean sheet formation technique when I struggled at the vat. He has since passed away but will always be remembered as one of the last traditional hanji makers of the pre-internet age.

Building the first Korean papermaking studio in the USA

The process of building a hanji (Korean paper) studio at the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. This is the first facility of its kind in the U.S., dedicated to making and sharing the craft of Korean papermaking in a space that can also be adjusted to make other Eastern papers. Aimee Lee was the resident artist and hanji scholar who worked with Tom Balbo and his staff, volunteers, and interns, to create this unique studio.

Webal tteugi technique: hanji sheet formation

A video companion to page 61 of Hanji Unfurled (thelegacypress.com/lee_page.html), which describes in both words and images how two-ply sheets of hanji (Korean paper) are made. Aimee Lee demonstrates at the hanji vat in Cleveland at the Morgan Conservatory’s Anne F. Eiben Hanji Studio in 2013.

Papermaking in Korea

Scenes from a month in January 2009 at Jang Ji Bang, a Korean papermill in Gapyeong. A 3rd- and 4th-generation mill, I learned how to make hanji (Korean handmade paper) in a rich context of national and personal history.

Paper, Place & People

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