Expert strives to revive forgotten forms

Several years ago, Tang Shukun, an expert on handmade paper at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, Anhui province, viewed a map that showed what were believed to be the world's most renowned papermaking areas.

"Japan and South Korea, whose papermaking history originated from China, each had several names on the map, while China only had one - Jingxian county in Anhui," he said.

Cai Lun, a eunuch who served at court during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) and used his position to perfect the art of papermaking, is regarded as the inventor of ancient paper and the papermaking process.