Woodblock printing writes a new chapter

Traditional style of bookbinding enjoys revival and connects with ancient craftsmanship, Li Yingxue reports.

Students and teachers from the United States took a course steeped in culture and history at a Beijing bookstore last month. The 22 students and four teachers from Sidwell Friends School in Washington learned the intricate art of how to make a thread-bound notebook from scratch.

Sun Ju, 49, one of the tutors and a bookbinding craftsman at the Mofan Bookstore in Beijing, taught the students and teachers the 10-step process. This involves folding the paper sheets, inserting a blank sheet between each one, trimming the piles of folded sheets, fixing, pasting, cutting, packaging, punching holes, stitching with needle and thread, and sticking the book name on the cover.