今年60岁的杨占尧是四川夹江马村乡有名的手工造纸能手,因为能抄出一丈二尺的大国画纸,曾被县里评为“纸状元”．他说,他家世代以造纸为生,终于得了个“状元”,也算可以慰藉先祖之灵了。其实,杨家是在三百多年前那场著名的“湖广填四川”的移民浪潮中,从湖北麻城孝感迁徙千里来到夹江的。但夹江造纸的历史,却是早在杨家等移民入川之前的若干朝代。有专家推论,其时随着蔡伦造纸术的日臻成熟和不断推广,两晋时期,我国开始出现“新式竹纸”,而夹江一带自古都用竹材造纸,或许多竹的夹江,其悠久的手工造纸史该从晋代算起．不过从今天可以询查的史料,夹江“竹料手工造纸”始于唐,兴于明,盛于清．康熙初年,夹江的“长帘文卷”和“方细土连”二纸经康熙亲自试笔后,被钦定为“文闱卷纸”和“宫廷用纸”,夹江纸更是名声大哗,除每年定期解送京城供科举考试和皇宫御用外,各地商人云集夹江,争相采购夹江纸品。夹江因此而自古享有“蜀纸之乡”的美称,是千年传统手工造纸的典范之地． Yang Zhanqi, 60, is a famous hand-made papermaker in Macun Township, Jiajiang, Sichuan Province. He can copy a one-foot-tall painting of Great China and was once rated as a “paper-like” by the county. He said that his family had been making paper for a living. He had finally won a “top lot,” and was also considered a relief for the ancestors. In fact, the Yang family migrated to Jiajiang from Xiaogan, Macheng, Hubei Province, more than three hundred years ago. However, the history of Jiajiang’s papermaking is a number of dynasties that preceded the Yang family and other immigrants before entering Sichuan. Some experts reasoned that when Cai Lun’s paper technology became mature and continued to be popularized during the period of the Jin Dynasty, China began to appear “new bamboo paper”, and in the vicinity of Jiajiang River, bamboo was used for paper making, or many bamboos were used in Jiajiang, which had a long history. Hand-made papermaking history should be counted from the Jin Dynasty. However, from today’s historical data that can be inquired, Jiajiang’s “bamboo material handmade paper” began in the Tang, Xing Yu Ming, Sheng Yuqing. In the early years of Kangxi, Jiajiang’s “Long Curtain Files” and “Fine Fine Soil Company” papers were personally tested by Kangxi. They were designated as “Wenshu Roll Paper” and “Palace Paper”. In addition to its reputation, in addition to the regular annual delivery of Beijing for the imperial examinations and imperial palaces, businessmen from all over the country gather in Jiajiang and compete to purchase Jiajiang paper products. Because of this, Jiajiang has enjoyed the reputation of “Hometown of Sericulture” for a long time. It is a model for thousands of years of traditional handmade papermaking.