Once Zhe Zhi, Then Orikata:
Or "How Folding Paper Became An Art"
At 55 years of age, the fascinating life of a Chinese eunuch would be marked into history for the creation of paper in 105AD. Although not the first to invent a paper of sorts, Cài Lún is credited with the process and fibrous quality still used in today's paper. In his lifetime, perhaps he thought his deeds of espionage, intrigue and ultimate suicide would have left a deeper impression on later generations. But Cài Lún died in 121AD and did not live to see the birth of Zhe Zhi, the Chinese Art of Paper-folding.
Many are not aware that Origami, while made famous by the Japanese, originated in China as Zhe Zhi, which it is still called by the Chinese to this day. The history of this delicate art began shortly after Cài Lún's paper invention in the 2nd century. Not until the 6th century did it travel by the hands of monks to Japan. Although given many names, including "orikata," "orisue," "orimono," and "tatamigami," Japan and the world came to call this paper-folding art "Origami." The word has its roots in two words; "oru," meaning "to fold," and "kami," meaning "paper." Some speculate that origami won out as the more common term simply because the written characters were easier for children to write and remember.
Initially the cost and availability of paper made it a commodity of the upper classes. Often valued gifts would be accompanied by "Origami Tsuki," a decorative certificate of worth; or "Noshi," a token of good fortune and a predecessor to today's greeting card. Those who could afford one, would hire "Tsutsumi," professional giftwrappers. Eventually, Origami traveled out of the far east along the silk-routes and was introduced to Europe. Some historians, however, believe that paper and paper-folding arts may have developed independently in Spain between the 8th and 12th centuries.
Origami has had many star moments in history. The first being in 1797AD with the printing of "Senbazuru Orikata," (Folding of 1000 Cranes). This book professed a legend that whomever folded 1000 paper cranes would receive one wish. The legend was revisited in 1955 with a dying Hiroshima survivor named Sadako Sasaki, who folded her 1000 cranes and more before she passed from leukemia at age 12. A memorial to her still stands in Hiroshima today, and is always surrounded by paper cranes. Come the 1960s a standardized set of symbols was established for recording and teaching Origami patterns. This symbol set is referred to as the Yoshizawa-Randlett set, although Akira Yoshizawa and Sam Randlett never met. Yoshizawa developed the simplistic symbol-set in the 1930s which Randlett and author Robert Harbin improved upon.
Origami is also used to study and glorify mathematics, a practice believed to have been started with the Arabs in the early 8th century that flourishes still today. Origami's use in geometry took a wild turn into advanced mathematics after Artist and Mathematician Josef Albers developed and taught an origami model of concentric circles. Thoki Yenn furthered the concentric circle model in 1989 and it has since evolved. Math Professors Thomas Hull and Erik Demaine are among the many who not only incorporate Origami into their classes, but into their more advanced mathematic research as well.
Centuries past its invention, many people still associate Origami as a children's art and craft in spite of the dozens of International festivals, conventions and exhibitions held. Among the more famous celebrations are November 11, which is Origami Day in Japan. On this day the paper crane is celebrated as a symbol of peace. Preceding the holiday this year is World Origami Days, October 24-November 11, a two and a half week long Origami Festival. The 2008 OrigamiUSA Convention is being held on June 27-30, 2008 at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. The British Origami Society Autumn Convention runs September 12-14, 2008 at the Liverpool Hope University, in Liverpool, England. The Math community has their yearly convention as well and this year is the 11th Annual Bridges Conference: Mathematical Connections in Art, Music, and Science. The event is July 24-29, 2008 in Leeuwarden, Nederland. Festivals and events are held all over the globe throughout the year. Origami-usa.org keeps up to date with a global calendar and links to event information. As evident by the more than thirty conventions and festivals held this year alone, and an history more than 1500 years long, Origami is unlikely to die out soon. Be it a paper airplane, an elegant paper crane or a dodecahedron made up of five interlocking tetrahedrons, Origami's legacy is not only for children.
(for fun)
Full text of the original “How to Fold 1000 Cranes“ (Senbazuru Orikata), printed 1791AD: http://www.origami.gr.jp/Model/Senbazuru/index-e.html
Photos from top to bottom by: Chris Palmer,Green Fuse Films, and Michael Lafosse.