In history, the traditional papermaking industry enjoyed long prosperity in central Zhejiang. The paper produced there, called the "paper of Shan", was of excellent quality. "Shan" is the ancient n...In history, the traditional papermaking industry enjoyed long prosperity in central Zhejiang. The paper produced there, called the "paper of Shan", was of excellent quality. "Shan" is the ancient name of today’s Shengxian County in Zhejiang Province. There used to be a beautiful legend of Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao, natives of Shan, meeting the fairy maiden on their way to Mount Tiantai to get the bark of paper mulberry, which was good raw material of making paper. This legend came into being when the business of papermaking was thriving in central Zhejiang. This legend was altered later. It became Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao going to the mountain to collect medicinal herbs. This was caused through the misunderstanding of the meaning of the words "paper mulberry" in the Chinese language, and was also the result of the changes of times. This misunderstanding may eclipse the high position of central Zhejiang in the history of China’s papermaking, and also may give the legend a rich coloring of Taoism.展开更多
文摘In history, the traditional papermaking industry enjoyed long prosperity in central Zhejiang. The paper produced there, called the "paper of Shan", was of excellent quality. "Shan" is the ancient name of today’s Shengxian County in Zhejiang Province. There used to be a beautiful legend of Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao, natives of Shan, meeting the fairy maiden on their way to Mount Tiantai to get the bark of paper mulberry, which was good raw material of making paper. This legend came into being when the business of papermaking was thriving in central Zhejiang. This legend was altered later. It became Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao going to the mountain to collect medicinal herbs. This was caused through the misunderstanding of the meaning of the words "paper mulberry" in the Chinese language, and was also the result of the changes of times. This misunderstanding may eclipse the high position of central Zhejiang in the history of China’s papermaking, and also may give the legend a rich coloring of Taoism.
