Posted Monday, May 15, 2006; 20:00 HKT
One of the fundamental rules of publishing is the need for consistent cover design from issue to issue, enabling readers to quickly pick out a title from the confusingly colored wall of print that is the average newsstand. But thumbing its nose at conventional wisdom is Taiwan's Han Sheng, a bimonthly magazine, every issue of which is different. One might be tall and fat, with vibrant calligraphy on the spine; another could be thin and bound in corrugated cardboard, its title hidden. Commercial insanity? Hardly. This Chinese arts and culture bible, which has been going, in one form or another, for more than 30 years, can get away with iconoclastic covers because the stuff bound between them is invariably worth seeking out.

Documenting China's disappearing folk culture is Han Sheng's mission. Each issue focuses on a single subject, the topics as diverse as the cover art they inspire: 18th century kite patterns, Shanxi noodle-making, Fujian mud houses, decorative knot-tying. Issues are often closer to a book in length, packed with photos and hand-drawn diagrams. The research can take months, even years, says publisher Huang Yung-sung, and often involves tracking down the last surviving masters of a given art form: "Today, society may not take this very seriously, but if we preserve things well the magazine is like a gene bank for people to use in the future."

Han Sheng got its start in 1971 as Echo, an English-language magazine that explained Chinese culture to Western readers. Seven years later, the Chinese-language edition was introduced, and the magazine abandoned its original aims in favor of creating a comprehensive record of Chinese folk art. Three years ago, Han Sheng set up shop in Beijing, and has since put out four editions for mainland audiences.

Today, the magazine is eminently collectable, with back issues traded on eBay and Huang sometimes pestered by anxious callers seeking to plug the gaps in their collections. Han Sheng, in fact, has become a cherished cultural artifact in its own right: every issue is almost as reverently handled as the artwork and craftwork it seeks to preserve.

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