La maison de la Corée

Hanji is one of the four traditional writing materials-paper, brush, ink stick, and ink stone. It was
also regarded as one of the three treasures of farming households, together with lacquer and hemp
cloth. Hanji was highly valued by Koreans in the past for its versatility. It was used as a window
covering, wallpaper and also floor covering, as well as a craft material for producing a variety of
items used in everyday life.

Japan has its own traditional paper called washi. There is little discernible difference between
hanji and washi, at least superficially, since they are both made from mulberry.

Hanji is much more durable than Western paper because its mulberry fibers are longer than the
fibers of typical Western paper. Because hanji consists entirely of natural materials, it is free
of synthetic chemicals. It has been scientifically proven that hanji produces almost no chemical
reaction, which is why it is often used to wrap food. In this regard, it is fundamentally different
from the Western paper widely used today.

The secret to hanji's durability lies in the natural fibers of mulberry bark. Hanji is produced by
beating mulberry bark into pulp with wooden mallets, which helps to maintain the wood's natural
properties to a large extent, in particular its long fibers. This production technique is different
from that used in China, which uses a millstone to grind the tree bark.

Japan's papermaking techniques also differ from those of China and Korea, the key difference
being in the structure of the woven mold used to scoop out the sheets of paper. To produce hanji,
long mulberry fibers are first mixed with mulberry glue and water. A mold is used to extract
sheets from a vat of liquid mulberry pulp. The mold is moved forward and backward as well as
sideways to collect the liquid pulp, which gives the paper a grain in all directions. On the other
hand, for Japan's washi, the mold is moved forward and backward only, giving the paper a grain in
mainly one direction. As a result of this structural difference, washi is far less durable than hanji.

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Hanji is used for two categories of traditional papercrafts: jeonji which involves the use of many
sheets of various colored hanji, and jiseung which involves twisting hanji into cords and then
weaving them into a broad variety of household goods, including kitchen items. These two types of
papercraft are still practiced today. Hanji is used for many other handicrafts, from fans to
umbrellas and from kites to artificial flowers.

Jeonji involves pasting multiple layers of paper onto a framework made of bamboo, bush clover or
wood to produce a chest or storage box for household articles, which is adorned with colorful
patterns.

The most common papercraft item would be the chest, some having frames which were covered with
paper, and others not having an original paper covering. As the frames made of woven strips of
bamboo or wood became worn and frayed, the outside surface would be pasted over with paper to
extend their useful life. Usually, scraps of paper or pages of old books were used. There was
nothing special about the process; scraps of paper were simply pasted on in multiple layers. The
advantages of these chests included their light weight and durability, as well as the economy of
recycling.

Hanji's soft texture exudes a gentle warmth. Because of this, items made from hanji were popular
among women, which also explains why the majority of these were household goods used by women. A
paper sewing box, which a new bride would bring with her for storing rulers, scissors, needles,
thread and thimbles, is an exquisite example of Korean papercraft, resplendent in the rainbow
colors of hanji.

In traditional Korean society, women lived under severe restrictions. Living as they did in a social
environment that allowed them so little freedom to pursue their personal interests or hobbies,
they turned to papercrafts that required only basic skills but were capable of producing beautiful
works. Among the different kinds of papercrafts, jeonji was the most widely practiced.

Despite its use of vivid colors, jeonji conveys a noticeable gentleness, highlighted by hanji's
distinct tones and texture. Jeonji making became a part of women's daily routine, with the vivid
colors and graceful forms being used to express their hopes and desires.

Jeonji is a creative art form in which colors play a particularly important role. Because items are
typically finished with patterns using the five basic colors of red, blue, yellow, white and black,
jeonji is also often referred to as five-color jeonji papercraft. The five colors symbolize the five
cardinal points that came to be widely known due to the influence of the Oriental ideology of
eumyang ohaengseol, which includes references to the dual negative and positive forces of the
cosmos, and the Five Elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth). Folk religions also associated the
five cardinal points with colors: east (blue); west (white); south (red); north (black); and center
(yellow). The obang sinjanggi, banners of five colors used as symbols in shamanic rituals, are also
grounded in this Oriental ideology. In five-color jeonji, the five colors are used only as a basic
concept, however, as a far more diverse range of colors is actually used.

Papercrafts predominantly consist of household items mainly used by women. Paper wardrobes,
decorated with colored paper pasted on the exterior surface, are among the larger items. The
most popular papercraft item is a lidded box that encloses three or five smaller lidded boxes, all
made of thick paper, and decorated with various patterns such as the taegeuk, (the symbol of yin
and yang), bats, butterflies, chrysanthemums, and Chinese characters. Another paper item women
used every day was a holder made of oiled paper for their combs and pins. Fans are another
excellent example which highlights the beauty of colored papercrafts.

Five-color jeonji incorporates symbolic patterns to signify auspicious meanings, such as mandarin
ducks representing the love between married couples, bats symbolizing hopes for the prosperity of
future generations, and the Chinese characters for long life and good luck.

Kim San-ki
Koreana, Spring 2001