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Show ParT Papermaking Material I the compilation of this book it is hoped that no undue pflrtia]ilyha been shown toward the paper of Japan; the truth remains, I do favo the Japanese so far as handmade paper is conc , and it is my opinio that the finest paper made at the present time in the Orient s produced i this small island empire. To China must go the glory of the invention o papermaking, and in ages past the Chinese have made fine papers, but th present-day aspect of handmade paper in that vast country is not encouraging. If Tam prone, therefore, to devote more space and enthusiasm to Japan it is through my keen appreciation of their superb papers s L have used the for many years and well know the admirablequzhms that they eml)od From early centuries the people of Japa had co Korea, and it was from that locality, then partof China, that the, _]apancsc in 610 A.D., gained their initial knowledge of paper, when sheets of thi subs nce fabricated from the bark of the mulberry tree were brought t Japan, in the form of books, by a native priest, named Doncho. The firs paper actually made in Japan was produced during the reign of Suik Tennd by a group of Buddhist priests whose work attracted the attentio of the crown prince, Shotoku (572-623 A.D.). Crown Prince Shotoku photograph 4, became decply engrossed in the art of papermaking. He no only accupied much of his time and spent considerable money in thi pursuit, but encouraged others to acquaint themselves with this new, elusiv craft. The empire was scarched for papermaking materials, and numerou experiments were conducted with the native wild plants and shrubs, suc as binan-kazura, nasi-kazura, hogari, tamo-no-ki, aka-ne, and others Thee plant v known nternatonally by and Latin appelons. Some of thse plan hic e foun only i appropriate than the numerous forms of English _ in Japan and China [11 Digitalimag © 2004 Marriott Library, Universiy of Utah. All ights reserved |