The Handmade Paper Industry in Western Fujian: A Social History Study

By Yao Chen

This book offers a comprehensive social history of Yukou Paper, a renowned traditional handmade paper from western Fujian recognized as a provincial intangible cultural heritage. Drawing on a rich array of local archives, surveys, newspapers, genealogies, contracts, ritual observations, and oral interviews, it explores the craft's terminology, production sites, and techniques. The study traces the commodity chain from production and transport to sales in both domestic and international markets. It examines the natural environment of its core producing areas, ethnic relations between She and Hakka communities, village clans, ritual alliances, and the industry's evolution from pre-modern times to the present. By situating Yukou papermaking within local socio-cultural contexts, national economic systems, and the global paper market, this work vividly reconstructs the rise, transformation, and enduring legacy of the industry and its homeland.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0G6564R3V
• ISBN13: 9798901860045
• Release Date: December 2025
• Publisher: Chicago Academic Press
• Length: 488 Pages
• Weight: 1.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.0"