What is the most primitive papermaking process? Which raw materials are only available in China?

Zeya Millennium Paper Making

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auto.dayoo.com April 27, 2007 10 :51:10 Source: General

■ Glory of labor to explore the millennium paper village

In the mountains dozens of kilometers away from the city of Wenzhou, hidden in an ancient method of papermaking thousand-year-old village, which is known as the "Western Yandang" reputation of the Zeya. Full of bamboo and running streams and the ancient papermaking process can be seen everywhere here, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, as if in a paradise.

Zeya Shiqiao Village Nandou's four consecutive pestle and mortar papermaking workshop is known as the ancient papermaking "living fossil", Ming Dynasty ancestors in order to pound the paper can be repeated use of water resources, downstream built four water pestles, and thus named four consecutive pestles. It is this ancient village, but facing the danger of destruction of the traditional craft of papermaking. Maybe we miss it at this time, which will cause regret in this world! The ancient tradition attracts people's souls and the quiet world washes away the clamor of the world!

Zeya, as the name suggests, "Ze" for water, "Ya" for beauty. Here, of course, is more water: seven waterfalls, a waterfall is better than a waterfall, magnificent, very spectacular. Jinkeng Gorge Tianmen Peak wall, ghostly work of art. Gaoshanjiao scenic area has many caves, quiet and secluded, warm in winter and cool in summer. The water pools here are all as clear and green as warm jade, never drying up. Behind them, 245 kinds of plants grow in the boundless mountains, and a large number of wild animals also add to the charm of Zeya's landscapes. However, the most famous thing about this place is its thousand-year-old traditional paper-making process.

Zeya's ancient method of papermaking since the end of the Song and the beginning of the Yuan into the Zeya, so far well preserved, is China's current preservation of the most primitive, the most complete ancient method of papermaking, Zeya's mountain people have been known as China's living fossil of papermaking.

A few days ago, Zeya ShuiDuiKeng village and HuangKeng village as the most complete retention of the paper mountain culture of the ancient villages, through the provincial department of cultural preservation of the demonstration, formally included in the third batch of provincial historical and cultural protection zone.

I have long heard that the ShuiDuiKeng village is elegant and beautiful, the house is a black tile stone base, the mountains are full of green; people, or so simple and hardworking, families are still repeating the pounding pulp, fishing paper, living their own quiet negotiation life, the continuation of the story of the "paper mountain".

During the weekend, accompanied by Xiao Lin, a staff member of Zeya Scenic and Tourism Administration, we went to ShuiDuiKeng Village to feel the unique ink effect in the ancient village in the smoky rain, and visit the "living fossil of ancient Chinese papermaking" - the production of Zeya screen paper.

After Zeya Reservoir, drive towards Longjing Scenic Spot, which is one of the five scenic spots in Zeya that has not yet been developed, few people ask for it, and it seems particularly quiet. With the highway a creek apart from the mountain, has not seen the mountain of the Dragon Ridge, completely covered by the mountains of verdant water bamboo, the thin branches, the tender green leaves, with the breeze in the joyful jumping. Xiao Lin told the reporter that Zeya has a lot of water, water bamboo should be born of water, and it is the best raw material for screen paper. Water pestle pit village also named for paper making, water pestle, the tool of paper making, pit, watery place.

After more than 10 minutes, entering the entrance of ShuiDuiKeng village, we were "dong", "dong" sound of pounding mortar led to a water pestle room, the water pestle building is very simple, but the paper farmer's labor, the operation of the pestle is y attracted us.

We saw the running stream shooting at the watermill's cylinder car, which rotated and drove the teeth up and down in a perpendicular direction to the cylinder car. A large log is hung there in the shape of a lever, one end is tied to the pestle, one end is close to the wooden axle on the cylinder car, when the wooden axle falls down toggle the log to jump up, and then tied to the pestle's end to fall down heavily, smashed to the bottom of the stone pit. Paper farmers skillfully with the rise and fall of the stone pestle will be a pickled bamboo chips into the pit, not long, the bamboo chips into a flocculent crumbs. Paper farmers said that this process is called pounding brush, is the whole process of one, before the material (bamboo broken into two-foot-long bamboo bundled into a handful of shapes), pickling brush, and so on, and then there is pulp, paper, paper, paper and more than 20.

Ming Dynasty scientist Song Yingxing in his "Tiangongkaiwu" in the paper made a detailed record of its main processes are "Chopping bamboo drift pond", "cooking grasshopper foot fire", "drop material into the curtain "and" curtain pressure paper "over the curtain," "through the fire drying" and so on.

And this paper farmers to retain the papermaking process almost coincides with the process, and some processes are even older than the "Tiangongkaiwu" recorded. Xiaolin told reporters that families used to make paper, wait until the sky is clear, each family will be pressed good paper, placed on the mountain ridge to dry, the mountains are yellow paper, paper mountain therefore also named.

Looking up from the watermill, the old buildings of ShuiDuiKeng Village are visible, more than 20 of them, all of them are two-story houses, which are built on the mountain in a staggered manner. The layout of the houses is a simple triad style, with the main house being the main house, and the two side houses and the gate deck being simpler in structure. Although the houses are stone black tile simple, even a little simple, but look closely, that has turned black wooden beams, doors and windows, are beautifully carved. According to the villagers, its residents are all Pan family, the ancient village has a history of more than two hundred years. The village originally more than 500 people, all for the Pan family, but the young Pan clan for development have moved out, the current resident population of 76 people. But the villagers left behind are still tirelessly operating the papermaking process, retaining a more complete paper mountain culture village form. The village now has 3 intact water pestles, 27 paper troughs and 39 curing ponds.

In order to let more tourists better understand the paper mountain culture of Zeya, Zeya Scenic and Tourism Management will open up a special area based on the protection of the ancient village to provide tourists with hands-on contact with the ancient papermaking activities. Cutting bamboo, drowning bamboo, pounding brushes, fishing paper, pressing paper, splitting paper, tanning paper, take your pick, and the enthusiastic mountain people will teach you how to do it.

Zeya's ancient method of papermaking since the end of the Song and early Yuan into Zeya, so far well preserved, is China's current preservation of the most primitive, the most complete ancient method of papermaking, Zeya's mountain people known as China's living fossil of papermaking reputation.

In order to enable tourists to better understand Zeya's paper mountain culture, Jinkeng Gorge scenic area to take advantage of the existing conditions to provide a hands-on contact with the ancient method of papermaking activities.

The water bamboo on the mountains provides ample raw materials for Zeya screen paper. Farmers use local materials, the bamboo leaves are swept away, chopped into more than 1 meter long, and then split into small bamboo strips thick finger, tied into bundles, this process is called cutting bamboo.

Cut after the bamboo strips into the lime, pressed on the stone soak, time about three months. Each pool can dissolve about 1500 kilograms. After soaking the water bamboo fishing, sun-dried, and then dipped in clear water for a month, remove lime impurities, and then sun-dried. This process becomes flooded bamboo.

The bamboo strips are put into the water pestle pit, pounded into yellow paper floss, next to someone to constantly sub-turn. This is a boring, hard and dangerous process that requires patience and care. It takes about three hours to make one piece of bamboo, and this process is called pounding.

The paper curtains will be lifted to the paper embryo next to the cover, the paper mold will be iterated together, like a wall, vertical and neat, and then, then stranded with a winnowing machine to winnow off the water. This process is called cut paper wall or paper bank.

The cut paper wall, the use of the principle of leverage, the moisture of the paper wall pressure dry, this process is called pressure paper.

The pressure-dried paper one by one out, this process is called paper.

The paper will be divided in the sun on a sunny day, and then organize the flat, bundled together can be shipped out for sale. This is the whole process of Zeya's original paper making.

The Jinkeng Gorge scenic area retains a number of primitive papermaking workshops, where visitors can come and experience it for themselves.

Handmade paper process

1. The mountains of bamboo for Zeya screen paper provides sufficient raw materials, mountain people on the ground, the bamboo leaves swept away, chopped into 1 meter long, and then smashed into a finger thick strip, commonly known as the "brush", and then tied into a bundle of sun-dried.

2. Cut the bamboo strips into the lime pressed stone soaking, time for 3 to 5 months, each pool can put down about 1500 kilograms.

After soaking the brush out, sun-dried, and then wash with water for a month, remove lime impurities, and then sun-dried. This process is called curing bamboo. Lime pickled bamboo odor is very pungent, as long as there is a pickled bamboo pit, a large village will be filled with this stench, so some villages will be pickled bamboo pit concentrated together.

3. The brush is put into the water pestle pit and pounded into yellow paper floss, next to someone to constantly sub-turn. This is both boring, hard and dangerous process, which requires patience and care. This process is called pounding brush.

4. The gold-colored paper wool melted into the water, stirring well, let off the water, so that the paper wool into a uniform paper wool pulp. The next day, batch by batch dilution of the proportion of paper velvet and stirred vigorously.

5. With very fine bamboo wire woven into the curtain in the pulp pool gently swing, filter out the water will be left with a thin film of pulp, after drying is a piece of paper. The thickness of the paper depends entirely on the paper master's level of control, light swing is thin, heavy fishing is thick. In order to get a thin paper, the ancients summed up the three elements of "soft and light beat the waves", "holding the curtain to meet the waves", "copied pulp with the curtain of the moment to vibrate the paper curtain". This process is called paper fishing. Thousands of paper film stacked together, like a wall, vertical and neat, called "paper bank" or "paper wall".

6. The use of leverage, the paper bank (or paper wall) on the spot with the winch to squeeze off the water, and then broken into three or four sections.

7. Will stick together the paper paging. This work seems very simple, but it is not easy. Because the paper film is wet, if only by hand one sheet to open, often broken scrap. Experienced people with special hand hoops similar to the thing in the paper blanks on a few strokes, one side of the corner of the paper will be warped, taking the opportunity to separate one by one. The separated paper was then put on the ground to dry in the sun. Nowadays, most of the people who do this work are old people and women.