Hamyang-gun, Gyeongnam Intangible Cultural Property Lee Sang-ok Hanji Craftsman Public Event

Community Work in the Form of Village Mutual Aid, Including Dakmuji Tasks and Baekdak Processing Revealed

Isangok, a hanji craftsman, is holding a one-legged standing (Eumyangji) demonstration event.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] The 2022 Intangible Cultural Heritage Hanji Artisan Public Event held at the Lee Sang-ok Traditional Hanji Workshop located in Macheon-myeon, Hamyang-gun, Gyeongnam, was a great success.

This public event showcased all processes of traditional papermaking, including the one-legged beating technique (Eumyangji), the dakmuji work performed collectively by many villagers, and the baekdak processing work such as scraping the cheongpi, all presented as a cooperative community effort by Hanji artisan Lee Sang-ok and the villagers.

Hamyang traditional Hanji (Jirisan Dak Paper) is one of the proud cultural heritages passed down by ancestors for over a thousand years. The making of traditional Hanji naturally evolved into a cooperative community work as villagers cultivated dak trees in terraced rice fields and farms, performing dakmuji work and baekdak processing together.

Typically, this work is carried out from early December, after kimchi-making season, until mid-February, and has been preserved through these traditional methods to this day.

Among approximately 19 workshops nationwide that produce traditional Hanji, very few remain that produce the main raw materials of traditional Hanji (dak tree cultivation, dakmuji, baekdak work) in a village-level cooperative manner.

Hamyang-gun and Hanji artisan Lee Sang-ok organized this public event to promote the fact that traditional Hanji is created and passed down not only by the Hanji artisan but also through the joint efforts of many villagers, and to highlight the various food cultures using dak trees (dak tree sikhye, dak tree black pork boiled meat, acorn jelly).

A county official said, “We ask for your great interest and support so that Hanji artisan Lee Sang-ok can continue the legacy of our precious cultural heritage, traditional Hanji.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.