How were ancient umbrellas made?

Hand-peeled bamboo strips are used as the umbrella frame, and leather-cotton paper coated with natural waterproof tung oil is used as the umbrella surface.

The production process

The production process of traditional oil paper umbrellas is very tedious, and all of them are done by hand. There is a folk proverb: the process of seventy-two and a half, moving in and out not counted. Roughly speaking, it is divided into the following steps:

1. Bamboo: that is, selecting bamboo

2. Skeleton: cutting the umbrella bone, and water immersion, sunlight drying and other necessary technical processing, and then drilling, spelling, threading, stringing the umbrella handle umbrella head made of skeleton.

3. On the surface of the umbrella: the cut paper glued to the skeleton, trimming, shaping, exposure to sunlight

4. Painting: painted on the surface of the umbrella design, sun dry

5. Oil: Finally, in the surface of the umbrella brushed with ripe tung oil, to be completely dry can be used

Currently, the domestic inheritance of the better oil-paper umbrella workshops, such as Qinfeng Hanyue oil-paper umbrellas, Ruoshuitang oil-paper umbrellas, etc., are still the traditional ancient methods of manufacturing oil-paper umbrellas. The traditional ancient method of manufacturing oil paper umbrellas, 86 procedures all hand-operated, from peeling bamboo to drawing patterns are all hand-operated, without the use of machines. The materials also adhere to the tradition, in order to maintain the flavor of the ancient method and not to let it fall into industrialization. For example, the umbrella holder must be made of wood cut from the mountains. Production tools also have a long history, strict quality control, the requirements of the "four grooves" flat without revealing the joints, "teeth" without revealing the mouth, "embryo", "buttresses The "four grooves" are required to be smooth without showing joints, the "teeth" without showing mouths, the "embryo" and "buttons" without showing "pig's snout", and the coating of tung oil is required to be even. Umbrella painting is also very delicate, completed by professional painters, mainly from traditional Chinese painting themes. There are also a variety of folk themes, suitable for different festive occasions, such as wedding umbrellas.

Making umbrellas handmade high skill requirements, umbrella maker to their own skills and experience to complete the skills to master and apprentice, rely on teachers and apprentices to teach and personal understanding, long-term practice and experience mastery, apprenticeship shall be three years before the master. The tools used are specially made by blacksmiths, and the materials used for the umbrellas are also very delicate, with good peach blossom paper as the surface of the umbrellas, soaked in persimmon lacquer, and glued one by one to the bones of the umbrellas. The persimmon lacquer is the persimmon juice extracted from the persimmons when the persimmons are green, which is sticky and does not stick to the peach blossom paper. Bamboo, wood umbrella handle and umbrella bone, tied with hairline, umbrella surface paste after painting the pattern, coated with tung oil, and then hung up indoors to dry, at least after more than 70 procedures, including the selection of materials - sawing bamboo - planing the green - splitting strips - chipping bones -Sawing grooves - Drilling holes - Sawing gourds - Stringing gourds - Steaming - Solarization - Installing handles - Installing keys -Winding the umbrella ring - mounting the umbrella - gluing the umbrella edges - painting - winding up - threading the decorative threads - applying tung oil - putting on the handle -Knotting the top of the umbrella (more than eighty complicated processes).

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