One Artist’s Audacious Pursuit of Traditional Korean Hanji
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- In Korea, there’s a saying that “Good silk lasts 100 years, good hanji lasts 1,000 years.” Hanji, a special paper, is made through a complex, centuries-old process that combines mulberry tree pulp and hand threading. Aimee Lee, a Korean-American artist, received a Fulbright fellowship to learn the craft in Korea. There, she studied with master hanji-maker Jang Seong-woo. Despite being a male-dominated practice, Lee excelled. Her perseverance, audacity and aptness for hanji impressed her mentor so much, that he now refers to Lee as a colleague. Today, she’s the leading hanji weaver in the United States, and has dedicated her career to teaching others this ancient Korean practice.
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'The best way to keep tradition is to evolve it' I enjoyed when she said this
Why are people so hard on her craft? She makes art with specialty paper that's rooted in her culture and has been predominantly male focused. She wanted to prove to herself that she can also create beautiful work using hanji and she has. Of course, there's still so much for her to learn and more room to grow, but the fact that she found a way to let out her creativity while also not being put down by the criticism she faced solely based on her gender, is something that we should respect her for.
That being said, this video was very informative and I never knew about the art of hanji as a piece of Korean culture
Hanji is actually Chinese, not Korean.
Han in Korean means Chinese, and ji means paper.
Oh boy
If 'Hanji' is Chinese, then what even is 'Xuan paper'?
What's the point of using the internet if it isn't used to research accurate info?
@@devilhunterred sure idiot. I can't believe someone can even be this stupid.
@@ManBug-iu1fu Han is the name of Chinese, hence Han people, and the Han Dynasty. China also invented paper, not Korea.
@@devilhunterred What are you talking about? Hanji is a traditional Korean paper.
she's passionate about her craft, why is this getting so much hate?
glow milk because they hate women showing confidence , for some reason
Great Big Story is such a great channel that keeps everyone interested the only reason I didn't turn notifications on when I subscribed was because with the amount of content they produce daily my notification bar would be full every day!
This is so exceptional... i love when people embrace their cultural arts... all the best with your journey
Shout out to Aimee! All the best for being a pioneer for women and continuing your rich heritage and culture. Hope it pays off!
It's so sad how offended people get by confidence and self-assurance. It's fine if you think the artist came across as a little arrogant, but damn, crucify her why don't you? The enraged self-righteousness coming from these comments in response to a simple story of creativity and success is actually insane.
Some people in the comments...Realy. "Bitch, you make papers". Yes, she make papers, the traditional way, that requires a LOT of PATIENCE + trial and errors. Hell, even modern paper-making, even the DIY paper also requires PATIENCE to make, that clearly some of us don't have. Don't dismiss something so trivial when you can't even do it yourself.
Erry Purnawan I don't think you understand SHE MAKES PAPER. A machine can make better paper. It's not like she's making violins or something. It's PAPER. Hanji is not something valuable or rare. She's just making oragami. Actually, she might just be cutting out her sculptures.
Preach!
hanji is very durable and they are often used to in restorative art due to its durability. The oldest Hanji paper is still well preserved after 800yrs.
So incredibly beautiful, especially making cords and weaving with paper! I never knew that was a thing.
i don't get why you people hate on someone being proud of what they've accomplished with their life and someone happy in who they are and what they do to embrace where they came from, lol. maybe youre just not happy with yourself? have you thought about that?
Lol I thought it was about Hanja calligraphy at first
Me too
same
The women just said she's very creative & spends most her day on art. Stop bashing her.
That first line was enough to describe her passion "- I don't know how not to be creative."
한지가 저렇게도 쓰일 수 있네요!! 예뻐요
I don't understand, but yes
Malachi Farmer you're genius
I love traditional clothing. They're so cultural and beautiful!
Why so much saltiness in the comment section?
Hanji is actually Chinese, not Korean.
Han in Korean means Chinese, and ji means paper.
Midnite Reveries unfortunately, no.
english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/CU/CU_EN_8_1_4_1.jsp
@@devilhunterred why are you copying and pasting the same comment? And the stupid thing is that your comment is wrong.
@@ashkhri Han actually means China. Hence the people of Han, and the Han Dynasty. And then ask yourself, who invented paper?
@@devilhunterred I posted that 2 years ago 😭 idk
Where are the negative comment? All o see is people complaining about the negative comments.
Yes you are a incredible artist, what a amazingly gift and a beautiful life.
U r such an inspiration. Your determination and talent is incredible. I am so grateful I stumbled across your story in a beauty video ad. I watched there and then came to the Big Story channel to find out more.
im so happy this youtube channel is growing ^ - ^
I don't like how you guys cut off the Korean talk before they even finish the sentence
I've been watching your vids and what I've noticed is that you guys cut off the Korean speakers before they finish their sentence and as someone fluent in Korean it's been really annoying me
Same tho
Chloe Kim the editor probably doesn't speak Korean.
Chloe Kim stop being so offended, everyone is like that these days
yes i thought i same what the fuck
@Sergio Burry He isn't offended. He is just clearly stating a fact about the video that he dislikes. If you watched an English documentary and the editors constantly cut off the guy they were interviewing, wouldn't you dislike that as well? I'm Korean too and its less about being offended and more about having a proper edits of the interviews, which would allow people who understand the language to enjoy it better.
Korea is beautiful
I loved this, but it would have been nice to see more of her works.
Don't trust edited comments.
THEBLOBISCOMING COM I see what you did there
Come up with your own jokes
Yes.
I trust you
THEBLOBISCOMING COM à
Congratulations Aimee, great job!
What a beautiful story. It's so nice to see a person full of determination sharing with the world the artist within in the artwork that is to be seen and touched in filth and viewed by others and appreciated by the ones who receive it as a gift or a trade.
The ducks are so cute!
Fact : Korea was the first country that made bulletproof vest with Hanji.
why are people salty whenever there's something gender related mentioned? In asia it's true that some people will look down on you (INITIALLY) if you're a woman doing typically man's work. she's just pointing it out. It is important to show that woman can do it too. who knows, this might encourage other girls who are interested to start practicing this craft.
Beautiful stuff! LOVE the ducks. In a world full of too many fools with no patience or class (just check out some of the sad tragics on this comment thread!) it is so nice to see someone reviving an old tradition and art and taking the time to get so much joy out of it. And bringing joy to others... congratulations Aimee!
Talented, super creative, strong personality, disciplined, willpower, hard working lady! Sadly I don't have to say this because she is aware that she is all that. I personally don't like people that are full of themselves.
Really good video
Wow this is amazing, back when i was a kid i love to recycle paper and mold it to different shapes. Haha
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
channel grew so big!
Beautiful story and art form.💖
You can't stop ambition.
I have met paper makers - this stuff is NOT easy. And doing basketry with it to boot? Well done, Aimee.
Why so much hate in the comment section
Beautifull!
This is fascinating. I like it
Wow,thank you for sharing your wonderful tradition with me. Thank you for been a strange beautiful bird.
Good video, but what does Audacity have to do with this? She doesn't seem like she would use audio editing software
AsterDXZ Lol.
AsterDXZ she can play a violin . im pretty sure she uses editing softwares
AsterDXZ she did something a man did, so she's special.
LOL oh no people aren't going to understand your joke and answer you seriously :s
kruton93 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I really like the ducks. Maybe someday I'll purchase one from her!
me too! I wonder how we can reach out to purchase them
its so pretty omg
This is very cool. ☺
wowwww this is so beautiful
Her work clothes remind me of Hostel.
A true inspiration
Thank you for sharing your passion Aimee. With so much modernization going on it is up to artists and craftsman to keep traditional trades alive. Now... where do I get my hands on some Hanji paper in the US??
It is really so funny to me how upset people are about somebody saying "I like to create things", and "I like this particular art form that is connected to my culture, and typically isn't practiced by women". Just existing as a woman is somehow offensive, and the comments here illustrate that nicely. There is literally no way that you could be offended by this woman or her art as discussed in the video unless you just don't like women. She is sharing her art for people that have asked her to share it- you need her to apologize or undersell her work, skills and excitement about something she loves? Women are people with personalities, flaws, and interests. They don't exist to make you feel better about being mediocre. Get over it.
Nice music :3
Both 漢字 (Chinese character) and 韓紙 (Korean paper) are read as “hanji”, which confused me at first.
漢字 is read as "hanja"
Those ducks....I NEED THEM
there had existed some method of papermaking in the korean peninsula for sure.
however, any paper they made were coarse and stiff like cardboards.
afterwards, sejong 世宗 (세종) was informed that WA (ancient japan) had thinner and flexible paper.
【和紙】世宗実録 10年(1428 戊申 / 善德 3年) 7月 1日(辛亥)
"上謂代言等曰: “聞日本國有百篇《尙書》, 可令通信使購來. 且倭紙堅韌, 造作之法, 亦宜傳習”"
"sejong sillok: washi (japanese paper)":
"the king remarked, "it is reported that japan has a hundred of shangshu (尚書, esteemed documents
of china). therefore, we should order tongshinsa to purchase those ones.
moreover, i hear that washi (japanese traditional paper) is not merely durable but really flexible.
accordingly, we may well order tongshisa to master the way of making it somehow, too."
Mad respect sis.
Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto
Im thinking of growing paper mulberry. Got few roots but afraid it will be invasive
What is the reson of ad
I want to know more about the paper making process than they cover in less than 3 minute film.
When I read the title, I thought it said "Hanja" which threw me off when I watched this.
Rudy you gotta dra- make some hanji!
Wow😌
Maybe
Two thumbs up for her
Wow the men were jerks on judging her.
Lyuis4115 I know right! I mean, she did what men have done. She's special. Men have been doing something for hundreds or thousands of years, and she actually came along and DID it. Inspirational!
ok. i don't think that either of you guys fully understand difference between gender roles in korea and western world, and i assume by these comments that neither of you are korean. i am korean, so i'll take this as opportunity to explain. (sorry for my bad english by the way)
in korea, gender stereotypes are much more prominent than in the west. what man does, man should do, and what woman does, woman should do. paper making is something man does. traditionally, woman has no place making hanji. for woman to show up making hanji is, for men, odd, because that's not something women really even have interest in, forget learn to do. in western world, woman can do almost all of the same things as man concerning work.
some men might see her as inspirational for taking the step and doing man's work. but she is from new york. other men see her as woman trying to spread western culture. maybe others just don't understand why she wants to do what she is doing. especially the older generations, they have a deep sense of tradition rooted in their hearts. to see american woman doing what is traditionally korean man's work might increase their tensions to america. tension to america is already rising because of thaad, and for american woman to take korean man's work might make the men feel as though they are losing their traditional culture.
next time, before you judge people for acting a certain way, maybe think about why they may act the way they do.
elizabeth well first of all I do understand about gender roles but it's not just korea that has gender role tradition. Many other cultures have gender roles and in the west they may have settle their difference in women's rights or let them what men can do but not always. even til this day not everyone is still gonna let women do what men do. I'm a women, I work in a somewhat mostly men environment job and a lot judged me saying that I can't do shit cause I'm a women and now im just as good as them or even better.
hey you don't even know how hard to make Hanji. Have you ever thought why only men do that work? Yeah, it is extremely hard to make that because it requires appropriate strength and also there has never been a girl who tried this. It is like that a baby just starts to speak English as soon as getting born. is it freaking weird right? This is the same thing.
I hope you don't jump to conclusions. It's actually a pretty big deal, because women in korea REALLY shun hard manual work, in fact, even the MEN shun hard manual work, because technical trades have been traditionally been seen as lower status compared to academics and scholarly occupations. Even for MEN, the parents would disapprove sons voluntarily going into paper making, or metal smithing, or ship building ,or whatever. But a WOMAN? This is just mind-blowing. Korean women of this generation would not touch a MAN that does technical trades with a 9 foot pole (as suitable dating/marriage partner). But a woman voluntarily going into do that herself? It's only possible because the woman was raised in America, and didn't have the same mindset of shunning technical trades.
It's not that the men didn't LIKE a woman doing the job. It's just mind blowing for them why a woman would WANT to, when she can have an easy life doing easier work. Aimie could actually be a poster girl of an ideal korean Mens' Rights Activist, because it breaks down the stereotype that men should do hard labor while women do easy work. (In fact, some feminist korean politicians have said, that if all the men do the blue collar work and all the women do white collar work, then we can solve gender inequality and the unemployment problem. The woman who said this is a congresswoman of the party in power right now actually). Also note that in korea, only men are required to serve in the military, and this frustrates many people. Men in korea WANT more women doing traditionally mens' jobs.
i love her, i want her to be my friend :)
Ah yes, the arts
อดีตอันสวยงามของหนู
I WANT A DUCKKKK
Hanji......Zoe...?
Yes? No?
Does anyone get the reference?
yes but like why
shitty glasses lol
Yes I do
Shitty glasses
... My name is amy li.... I've met too many Amy's in my life and I'm not even 20 yet
Ah, the fragility of the male ego. It's hilarious how many of them are triggered by her confidence as a female pioneer in her specialty 😂
Justus Yoon She makes hand crafts. That's nice, but it won't change anything meaningful.
Ah the comment seeking out a reason to claim "look at the make ego" When in reality, this woman is pretentious.
This.
"I am so special, i make something completely gender-unspecific"
Every male nurse and female engineer is more special than this little snowflake, and they are just doing their job and not trying to make themselfs into heroes.
The only audacity is her claim to somehow be audacious.
Do who is banksy
❤❤❤
i still don't get what makes this paper special. i feel like these videos always end right before they highlight anything interesting about the product that they've been hyping up this whole time is supposed to be.
The paper is strong enough to be used in craft, as shown in 3:16
Edward Yip it's strong, independent paper that don't need no man!
Erry Purnawan technically all paper can be used in craft lol
Yeah, GBS makes a lot of videos but rarely explains any of them fully.
Erry Purnawan yeah, but straw is also strong enough. And my grandma used to do it with just oragami papers and construction paper.
I want to know more about her craft and what makes it so great. Not about the politics behind her learning it. Your video would get less hate if you kept up that standard.
Woah
those are clearly rabbits not ducks
Saimdang bitchesss!!!!!!! woooooo!!!
Strong, independent paper that don't need no man!
She has a high opinion of herself.
Jacquelyn Merz I mean, she went to grad school, grew up in an immigrant home, broke gender barriers in Korea (which as a Korean I can assure you is incredibly difficult)...I think she has the right to be proud lol
Margaret Thatcher was the grocer's daughter, became the first PM of the UK, yet was very humble.
Seyeong Min lol
Jacquelyn Merz What now? An Asian person showing confidence is out of this world?
theworldhere247 just an observation.
Hey I'm early for once
5 minutes and already has a dislike? Who is that evil??
RavenGhoul Jealousy
I'm here because BTS 2019 summer package is going to be with Hanji and couldn't be anymore excited to see it!
Think I can do this living out of my van? :P
Lol why so much hate
I hate to make a AOT reference but-
YES IN FIRST
Waiting for chickie to hug herself
I love this channel, just its a huge stigma to be associated with cnn these days
I never heared an "artist" being this narcistic as telling that he/she is very "creative". You will only be creative and an artist when others recognise you as being an artist. It's something that you need to show not tell. I can call myself the best German painter, but that doesn't do shit.
Rational Eye, uhm, scuse me, where did she say she was the best or better or greater or anything like that? I've seen pretentious, and she is definitely not. She does traditional Korean fiber art and she faced an entry barrier to learn about Hanji because of her gender and tradition. That's all this video was about.
Rational Eye if you create art ,you're an artist , even if others don't understand your art
Mary S., Art is the application of creativeness. At the very start she also mentioned: "I don't know how to not be creative". Creativeness basically indicates the extent of human imagination. When something or someone is classified as being creative it usually indicates that someone is attaching value in a very positive context (signifying respect). Now, the only manner in which a person can be classified creative or attached human values to is through recognition of others. You may argue that one may recognise his/her own creations as creative, but that's not how defining human values (which establish through socialisation) and originality works.
Basically, I believe she shouldn't have been so pretentious. In argumentative speeches we humans usually make use of persuasive fundamentals such as authority to create attention. She has failed to do so since she hasn't been referring to any recognition from someone outside of herself.
Rational Eye it's called confidence, dont be triggered tf.
Rational Eye plus she said she is creative but she didnt compare herself to anyone unlike you acting so humble
hipsters see life different to us humans.
you can't just talk about the making of traditional paper..... why the hell do you have to bring sexism into the video >:( I was hoping for an educational video on paper making and got an earfull of the same shit that's tearing apart the world today. so sad for you
Because it's a relevant part of most women's lives, if you don't want to hear about sexism then be the change and don't be sexist.
말 그대로 전통 한지 공방이나 인간문화재를 소개해라. 이번편은 매우 실망이다.
2017: Breaking the gender barrier found in making paper.
A better video would simply focus on her craft, not spend a full minute about how great that she's a woman.
Not first. -_-
Hanji? Sounds like 韓紙
한지
Yes I'm early
theres a girl just like her in my grade. She thinks very highly of herself and subtly thinks she is better that everyone else. I think this is the product of having very strict parents. Too bad
Slater Freytag Was it something she said it is this really an attributional error on your part? Perhaps she is just really shy/socially inept and is just trying to cover it up.
Slater Freytag give her some plant fibers.
she went to grad school, grew up in an immigrant home, broke gender barriers in Korea (which as a Korean I can assure you is incredibly difficult)...I think she has the right to be proud lol
what's the problem with thinking highly of yourself? what the fuck- everyone should be confident with the thing they're working on. get the fuck out if you think it's wrong to be confident in yourself.
elise dugas there's a difference between being confident and just being arrogant. Being confident is KNOWING that you're ok. Arrogance is trying to, even if only subtly, making sure that EVERYONE also knows that you're ok.