BPG East Asian Scrolls

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Book and Paper Group Wiki > East Asian Scrolls

This page contains information on the materials, structure, and conservation treatment of East Asian scrolls, including hanging scrolls and handscrolls from China, Japan, Korea, or other East Asian countries. See also East Asian Book Formats.

• Examples of East Asian Scrolls. All images are open access.
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  Arhat, 1235. Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392). Hanging scroll; ink and slight color on silk; image: 52.7 x 40.6 cm (20 3/4 x 16 in.); overall: 140 x 54.1 cm (55 1/8 x 21 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1979.71

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  Vajrapani and Garuda, painting c. 1650; top and bottom borders c. 1350. Attributed to Choying Dorje, the Tenth Black Hat Karmapa (Tibetan, 1604–1674). Painting: gum tempera, gold, and silver on silk; lateral borders: silk damask with needleloop embroidery; top and bottom panels: embroidered silk, lead, and silver paper; curtain: silk tabby; dowels: wood, rawhide, and leather; overall: 114.6 x 44.5 cm (45 1/8 x 17 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1989.11

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  Conversation in Autumn, 1732. Hua Yan (Chinese, 1682–c. 1765). Hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper; overall- 218.5 x 71.7 cm (86 x 28 1-4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1954.263

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  The Bird's Nest Patriarch, early to mid-1600s. Tawaraya Sōtatsu (Japanese, c. 1570-c. 1640). Hanging scroll; ink on paper; image: 95.8 x 38.7 cm (37 11/16 x 15 1/4 in.); overall: 187.3 x 50.8 cm (73 3/4 x 20 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund 1958.289

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  Set of Four Painted Characters, early 1900s. Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910). Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper; unmounted; overall: 236.5 x 80.3 cm (93 1/8 x 31 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth in memory of Alan Priest 1998.119

Wiki Contributors: Melody Chen, Qian He, Ika Yi-Hsia Hsiao, Sun-hsin Hung, Grace Jan, Zhichao Lyu, Hsin-Chen Tsai, Jianxiang Zhou, your name could be here

Copyright 2025. The AIC Wiki is a publication of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC). It is published as a convenience for the members of AIC. Publication does not endorse nor recommend any treatments, methods, or techniques described herein. Information on researching with and citing the wiki can be found on the Reference and Bibliography Protocols page.

Cite this page:

American Institute for Conservation (AIC). "BPG East Asian Scrolls." AIC Wiki. May 20, 2025. https://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/BPG_East_Asian_Scrolls.

Terminology

• Chinese hanging scroll terminology and diagrams
  
• Chinese handscroll terminology and diagrams

Handling

In the videos below, conservators demonstrate safe handling of Chinese and Japanese handscrolls.

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. 2010. "Safe Handling Practice for Chinese Handscrolls" and "Safe Handling Practices for Japanese Handscrolls."

Bibliography

Mountains of the Immortals, 1300–1370. Chen Ruyan (Chinese, c. 1331–1371), calligraphy by Ni Zan (Chinese, 1301–1374). Handscroll; ink and color on silk; painting only: 33.4 x 97.3 cm (13 1/8 x 38 5/16 in.); height: 35 cm (13 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry, 1997.95

Conservation, Display, Handling

Belard, Regina et al. 2009. "Furunori (aged wheat starch paste): challenges of production in nontraditional settings". Journal of the Institute of Conservation. 32:1 pp. 31-51. DOI: 10.1080/19455220802630735.

This article examines the use of furunori (aged wheat starch paste) to bond the layers of paper and silk in Japanese scrolls. The authors noticed a lack of publications on the topic of making furunori outside of a traditional studio setting. The article covers the chemistry behind wheat starch paste, its manufacture and its ageing into furunori. It also discusses the ways into which conservators have been making aged wheat starch paste in their studio, often following a training in a Japanese studio. This has been a particular challenge for western conservators, this article therefore goes into depth on the topic of where the possible causes of paste failure might originate from. Furunori needs high heat and appropriate, non-porous containers for storage.

Bruce‐Gardner, Robert. 1988. "Himalayan scroll paintings: Conservation parameters". The Conservator. 12:1. pp. 3-14. DOI:10.1080/01410096.1988.9995030

Robert Bruce-Gardner expresses in this article the important of understanding the context in which eastern scrolls-paintings have been created before attempting conservation treatments on them. He describes the different materials and techniques used in order to make scrolls in Tibet and Nepal, these scrolls also known as thankgas. He also talks about their function, deterioration, conservation parameters and treatments such as cleaning, consolidation and lining.

Burdett, Sara and Thomson, Sydney. 2002. "The Japanese Hanging Scroll: A Deconstruction". Studies in Conservation. 47:sup3. pp. 32-35, DOI:10.1179/sic.2002.47.s3.007.

The authors of this paper talk about the history as well as the types and styles of scrolls. The paper describes the decorative elements such as silks and pommels and explains how they are chosen by the scroll makers. Scrolls are composite objects made from both textile and paper, but they also include the paste used to adhere those components together.

Catcher, Susan et al. 2017. "The problem of Chinese paper reinforcement strip repairs on a set of four hanging calligraphic scrolls". Journal of the Institute of Conservation. 40:1. pp. 49-63. DOI: 10.1080/19455224.2016.1267655.

The authors of this article describe the traditional technique of using tiaozi (reinforcing strips) to support and protect cracked or torn areas of Chinese hanging scrolls. This traditional technique can create many additional issues when used on a lower quality, acidic paper. This article therefore discusses four case studies of calligraphic hanging scrolls which saw their previous linings removed, lined again and remounted. Tests were made on tiaozi made using a variety of eastern papers and it was found that using a thinner but stronger Japanese kozo might be a good option to serve as tiaozi in Chinese hanging scrolls.

Hare, Andrew. 2006. "Guidelines for the care of East Asian paintings: Display, storage and handling". The Paper Conservator. 30:1. pp. 73-92. DOI:10.1080/03094227.2006.9638435.

The author addresses the issues surrounding storage, display and handling of eastern paintings, such as hanging scrolls, in the western heritage world. He presents relevant traditional methods and modern innovations that western curators and conservators should apply and utilize in the 21st century. He goes into depth on the topics of environmental guidelines and practical ways to determine them, display methods, storage enclosures and proper handling techniques.

Kaufman, Laura S. 1982. "The View of Enoshima: A Fragment of a Japanese Handscroll Painting". Notes in the History of Art Published by: The University of Chicago Press. Vol. 1, No. 2. pp. 10-14.

Emaki is the name given to Japanese handscrolls paintings from the Fujiwara (900-1185) and the Kamakura (1185-1333) periods and a lot of those scrolls now only exist in fragments. The author describes a few notable cases where emaki fragments were separated from one another and detached from the original mounts, maliciously or accidentally.

Koyano, Masako. 1979. Japanese Scroll Paintings: A Handbook of Mounting Techniques. Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation. Washington D.C.

This book was written in order to give western conservators the appropriate materials, tools and methods employed by Japanese scrolls painters in the construction of their objects. It is not intended as a self-instruction manual, Masako Koyano warns the conservator that remounting Japanese scrolls takes a great deal of practice and expertise. It is to be used as a terminology guide and gives the conservator information about how a scroll is put together.

Kusunoki, Kyoko et al. 2021. "Standing Courtesan Reading a Letter’: The Collaborative Conservation of a Master Scroll Painting and its Silk Mount". Journal of the Institute of Conservation. 44:1. pp. 47-65. DOI: 10.1080/19455224.2020.1863241.

This article discusses the case study of an 18th century Japanese hanging scroll in the British Museum. The decision-making process and conservation treatments are explained by the conservators, both from the British Museum as well as from the Association for Conservation of National Treasures (ACNT) of Japan. Note that there is also a short video on The British Museum youtube channel on that very same conservation project.

Lee, Kang et al. 2021. "Effect of Lining Papers on the Permanence of Painting Papers in Japanese Scroll Paintings During Moist Heat Ageing". Studies in Conservation. DOI:10.1080/00393630.2020.1870363.

This study looks at the effect that different lining papers will have on eastern paintings under moist heat ageing. The authors therefore compared lined and unlined painting papers under accelerated moist heat ageing and found that discoloration, oxidation, organic acids and the pH decrease in the painting paper was lower in the lined paper than in the unlined painting papers. This means that have a lining paper adhered to the painting paper overall decrease the loss of physical strength, the degree of polymerization and improved the permanence of the painting paper.

Lin, Huan-Shen. 2006. "Preservation and conservation of traditional antique Chinese painting and calligraphy seen through observation and examination of works of art". The Paper Conservator. 30:1. pp. 93-97. DOI: 10.1080/03094227.2006.9638436.

This article describes the typical deterioration of hanging and hand scrolls, as well as traditional storage enclosures and conservation techniques. It also provides multiple photos of the enclosures and the conservation issues. Some common conservation issues in hanging scrolls include the lower part of the mounted hanging scroll becoming tight and distorted when rolled for a prolonged period of time, improper amount of paste used, making the scroll difficult to roll and unroll which also damages it, and the joins of the elements being too hard, causing cracking of the seams in a rolled scroll.

Masuda, Katsuhiko. 2017. "East to West: The flow of materials and techniques in paper conservation". Adapt & Evolve 2015: East Asian Materials and Techniques in Western Conservation. Proceedings from the International Conference of the Icon Book & Paper Group, London 8–10 April 2015. London. The Institute of Conservation. pp. 1–11.

This article recounts the migration of eastern conservation materials and techniques from around 1960 to 2015. The turning point where western conservators started paying attention to Eastern materials and techniques was, according to this author, the Arno floods of 1966, which forced western conservators to reconsider their systematic processing of individual works. This issue then led to Peter Waters’s notion of "phased conservation" and to conservators such as Keiko Keyes to the study Japanese methods and a broader use of Eastern materials and methods in western conservation. During the 1990s, paper manufacturers also started to craft handmade Japanese papers for conservation.

Masuda, Katsuhiko. 1985. "Japanese Paper and Hyōgu". The Paper Conservator. 9:1. pp. 32-41. DOI: 10.1080/03094227.1985.9638467.

This article covers the history of Japanese papers, their fibres that they are made from, their ageing properties. The author goes into detail on the topic of usumino paper, misu paper, uda paper, sekishû-banhi and tengujô. This is a good reference to understand exactly how those papers differ from one another in their construction and their ageing.

Masuda, Katsuhiko. 2006. "Reflections on the spread of Japanese paper and conservation techniques". The Paper Conservator. 30:1. pp. 7-9, DOI:10.1080/03094227.2006.9638429.

This paper summarizes the spread of knowledge traditional Japanese mounting materials and techniques in the western conservation field and previous other papers on that same topic. It also briefly touches on some innovations in the eastern conservation field concerning an adhesion method, a rolled storage method and a way to reproduce a decorated paper from the 11th century. It must be kept in mind that those techniques were innovations at the time of that article’s publication, in 1984.

Masuda, Katsuhiko. 1984. "Vegetable adhesives used in the workshop of the Hyōgushi, restorer and mounter of Japanese paintings". Studies in Conservation. 29:sup1. pp. 127-128. DOI: 10.1179/sic.1984.29.Supplement-1.127.

Katsuhiko Masuda describes the different pastes used in Japanese hand scrolls and their specific properties. The author discusses shin-nori (jin-nori), furu-nori, funori and konnyaku.

Nishio, Yoshiyuki. 1993. "Maintenance of East Asian Painting (Examination)". Paper delivered at the Book and Paper specialty group session, AIC 21st Annual Meeting, May 31-June 6, Denver, Colorado.

Yoshiuyuki Nishio discusses the typical conditions of deteriorations of eastern scroll paintings and how western conservators can address them. The author details the common deterioration issues that scrolls can suffer, such as creases or cracks from rolling and unrolling the scroll. This happens because the outer layer is then stretched, and the inner layer is compressed when a scroll is rolled. More severe creases occur in Chinese paintings than in Japanese paintings, because of a shorter fibre length in the paper.

Nishio, Yoshiyiki. 2000. "Aesthetic vs. Ethics: Approaches to Remounting Asian Scroll and Screen Paintings". Presented at the Book & Paper Group Session, AIC 28th Annual Meeting, June 8–13, 2000, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Book and Paper Group Annual 19. p. 57.

This abstract discusses the traditional remounting techniques used for eastern paintings, which always use a same format, such as hanging scrolls, hand scrolls, screen and album leaves. These format use layers of backing paper, as well as silk brocade borders. This practice of remounting is referred to as hyogu, which wants to preserve the paintings and present them aesthetically in a historically appropriate manner. This clashes with the western conservation practices of trying to preserve all the original elements of an object.

Sanchez-Posada de Arteni, Myriam. 1988. "Tales of Japan’: A Travelling Exhibition of Japanese Art from the New York Public Library". Studies in Conservation. 33:sup1. pp. 95-97. DOI: 10.1179/SIC.1988.33.S1.022.

This article describes the storage and exhibition of a collection of Chinese and Japanese scrolls and book in the New York Public Library in 1986. This article gives an example of a conservation treatment on a 17th-century scroll that exhibited separation between sections, deterioration and unstable condition, which had its hyoshi changed, repairs made, stabilized, backed again and reattached. For the exhibition, the case interiors were covered in silk and contained a silica gel tray, the scrolls were exhibited on a flat or slightly slanted bottom, their rolled parts supported by Plexiglas shelves. Since the exhibition of the scrolls does not usually permit their display in its entirety, the exhibit also used videos to present the narrative of the scrolls to the viewer.

Sasaki, Shiho. 2006. "Sõura uchikae: Replacement of the final backing layer in hanging scrolls". The Paper Conservator. 30:1. 57-64. DOI:10.1080/03094227.2006.9638433.

This article discusses the conservation treatments of two hanging scrolls from the Edo period (1600-1868) which underwent replacement of the final backing layer instead of a complete remounting. Their conservation treatments and conditions are described, as well as compared to another hanging scroll from the same era which was completely remounted. These techniques can be used by western conservators when there are time and resource limitations. This article focuses on describing the decision-making process underlying these treatments.

Schmitt, Camille. "The Presentation and Preservation of Chinese Scroll Paintings". In Masterpieces of Chinese Painting: 700-1900. V&A Publishing. London. 2013. pp. 107-103.

This chapter of this book on Chinese paintings describes the history and the characteristics of Chinese hanging scrolls, while providing a labeled drawing of a scroll to identify all the different components and their traditional names. The author also describes the type of texts that can be found on Chinese hanging scroll.

Stiglitz, Marinita and Bearman, Julia. 2016. "Of Earth and Sky: A Pair of Ming Hanging Scrolls, from Past Repairs to Present Conservation". Restaur. 37(3-4). pp. 309–327. DOI 10.1515/res-2016-0011.

The case study presented by this article is on the topic of a pair of Chinese scrolls donated to the Bodleian Library in 1684, which were previously trimmed, patched, backed and mounted in 1883. Conservation treatments were done on those scrolls in 2015 with the use of gellan gum and the Albertina Compress, amongst other techniques and materials. The scrolls were mounted with a western reinterpretation of the traditional Chinese mounting style.

Sugiyama, Keisuke et al. 2014. "Paper lining: Techniques based on knowledge and experience". Studies in Conservation. 59:sup1. S145-S148. DOI: 10.1179/204705814X13975704318830.

This article goes into great depth to discuss the notion of paper lining: its purposes, the papers and adhesives used, the different existing lining styles and their methods of application.

Sugiyama, Keisuke et al. 2014. "The study and conservation of the silk painting Death of the Buddha". The British Museum Technical Research Bulletin. Vol. 8. pp. 39-57.

This paper addresses the topic of a hanging scroll owned by the British Museum titled Death of the Buddha, which has been recently conserved and remounted. This is a very thorough case study describing the many different steps and the rationale behind these conservation decisions.

Storage

Carved Lacquer Scroll Box, 1736–95. China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong reign (1736–95). Red carved lacquer on wood; The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1969.32

Johnson, Jessica S. 1992. "A Storage System for Oriental Scrolls". Curator. 35/3. pp. 219-224.

This article discusses the storage methods used by the National Museum of History, Smithsonian Institution for Japanese scrolls. Traditionally, Japanese scrolls are housed in a double-box system of paulownia wood and suspended from the end knobs to avoid putting pressure on the scrolls themselves. This is an issue for the numerous amounts of scrolls in their collection that are missing their end knobs, so another storage method using metal drawers, polyethylene foams, cotton muslin fabric and stainless-steel pins were employed in these cases.

Kamba, Nobuyuki. 1994. "Performance of wooden storage cases in regulation of relative humidity change". Studies in Conservation. 39:sup2. pp. 181-184. DOI:10.1179/ sic.1994.39.

Wooden paulownia storage cases are traditionally used in the storage of Japanese scrolls and this article compares the different storage options and their buffering effects on fluctuations of relative humidity. Their experiment showed that well-made paulownia wooden cases have a two to six days hygrometric half-time period. The other cases, except for a wooden cashbox which performed very highly, were in the same range as the paulownia case tested. The author also found that a lacquer surface coated thick wooden cases helped improve the regulation of relative humidity by interfering with the diffusion of moisture through the case.

Lee, Kang et al. 2021. "Comparison of Degradation Behavior of the Painting Paper in Japanese Scrolls for Moist Heat and Sealed Tube Ageing Methods". Studies in Conservation. pp. 1-15. DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2020.1846931.

This article looks at the life expectancy of hanging scrolls in an airtight storage box with the stacked structure of rolled paper. It compared the degradation behavior and rates for the sealed tube and moist heat ageing methods. It found that the oxidation of the painting paper proceeded faster in the sealed tube method than in the moist heat method when the paper was immersed in a CuSO4 – 5H20 solution. The authors found that acids had migrated from the painting paper into the lining paper, except for oxalic acid, which accelerated acid hydrolysis. This also led to discoloration, a decrease in DP and a decrease in physical strength. Therefore, it can be expected from the results of that study that a scroll stored in a closed system would deteriorate faster than in an open system, although this does not necessarily invalidate the storage of hanging scrolls in a box. The authors mention the following storage recommendation: avoid high humidity, insert gas adsorption sheets to remove organic acids in storage enclosures and periodically take the scroll out of its box and unroll it to aerate, as is traditionally done in Japan in cool and mid-humidity weather.

"Making East Asian Scroll Storage Boxes" by East Asian Paintings Conservation Studio, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, Smithsonian Institution

"Making Ethafoam Preservation Rollers for Storing East Asian Scrolls" by East Asian Paintings Conservation Studio, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, Smithsonian Institution

"Mylar Preservation Rollers for Storing East Asian Scrolls" by East Asian Paintings Conservation Studio, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, Smithsonian Institution

History of This Page

This page was created in August 2020.