Handmade papermaking land in Longwang Village, Shangshu: good mountain, good water, good paper
Papermaking is one of the greatest gifts given to the world by the Chinese people, and is an outstanding creation in the history of human civilization, which has a history of more than 2,000 years.
In the beginning, the raw materials for papermaking were mainly various barks and wheat straws. In our south, due to the abundance of bamboo resources, bamboo paper appeared after the Tang Dynasty. "Tiangong Kaiwu" records the manufacture of bamboo paper as follows: "Before and after the mango planting, climb the mountain and cut the bamboo, cut off five or seven feet long, soak it in the pond water for 100 days, process and wash it, and take off the coarse shell and green skin. Then use good lime juice to coat the pulp, put it in the barrel and cook it for eight days and nights, stop the fire for a day, take out the bamboo material and rinse it with water...... "The invention and promotion of papermaking technology plays a major role in the progress and development of society.
Traditional papermaking has the charm of the East. In Longwang Village, Shangshu, Anji, there are such ancient papermaking experience and display facilities, where you can fully experience the wisdom of the ancient working people. Longwang Village is a large forestry village in Shangshu Township, with abundant mountain forest resources and water resources, and the output of moso bamboo accounts for more than half of the township.
The village is surrounded by mountains and swaying bamboo seas; Longwang Creek runs through the village, and the stream flows day and night, which provides sufficient energy for the development of handmade papermaking. About 300 years ago, the Qiu family, Hua Shi and Xiaoshan Yunshi Zhu of Fujian Province settled in Longwang Village, and saw the abundant bamboo resources in the local area, so they set up several small papermaking workshops. It is said that in order to make better paper at that time, the village also introduced papermaking experts from Fujian to teach the villagers a complete ancient handmade papermaking technology. In the 21st year of the Republic of China, more Xiaoshan people came to Longwang Village one after another, and handmade paper became an important local industry, and it has been passed down from generation to generation.
Longwang handmade papermaking process is complex, there are more than 30 large and small, after cutting bamboo, breaking green, cutting bamboo, copying white, breaking material, slurry, steaming material, turning the beach, spring material and other main processes, the bamboo fiber is completely rotted, and then by the paperman by hand and experience, from the paper trough to pick up the uniform thickness of the wet paper, the use of the lever principle to squeeze out most of the water, and finally dry the paper.
In the past, Longwang handmade paper mainly produced three kinds of white paper: "Jingfang", "Yuanshu" and "Liuqian", which is a kind of writing paper equivalent to rice paper. After the scraps for the production of white paper are reused, "sea paper" can be produced. "Sea paper" is extremely flammable, and people often use it to start fires. It can also be used for the wick of kerosene lamps, commonly known as "coal head paper". After the liberation, the Longwang handmade paper industry was reformed, mainly producing a kind of toilet paper commonly known as "Siliuping".
Due to the large number of manual papermaking links, the papermaking cycle time is relatively long. Not only does "cutting bamboo" pay attention to time, but each other link has its own set of procedures. For example, "paper manipulation", the paper trough is a sink with a length and width of about 2 meters and a height of less than 1 meter. After controlling the water, scoop it up and buckle it back, and a piece of wet paper is done. The thickness and uniformity of the paper, and the quality of the paper depend on the experience and feel of the papermaker. Therefore, in order to truly master the handmade papermaking skills, it is necessary to continue to practice and accumulate.
The handmade papermaking skills of Shangshu Longwang Village, the process flow is roughly the same as that recorded in "Tiangong Kaiwu", which basically follows the relatively ancient traditional skills, and has the characteristics of complex process, long interval and high availability, and has high historical research value. From bamboo to a simple piece of paper, the painstaking efforts of many papermakers are condensed, and the wisdom of the people is fully reflected here. Today, the handmade papermaking skills of Shangshu Longwang Village have been included in the fourth batch of Zhejiang Province Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
Nowadays, the handmade papermaking workshop in Longwang Village has been well protected, and the village has also registered handmade papermaking craftsmen, recorded and sorted out the papermaking process, and built a handmade papermaking exhibition hall. When you stroll on the clean road of Longwang Village and watch the water of Longwang Creek flow by, you will feel the wisdom of the ancients: the forest is full of bamboo, and the stream is meandering, it is really a good place to make paper!
The number of tourists in Longwang Village is more than 10,000 every year. Especially on weekends, there is a constant stream of tourists. Here, you can interpret the ancient handmade papermaking skills while experiencing the joy of labor: wearing ancient costumes, cutting bamboo, breaking bamboo, cutting bamboo, and copying white...... Finally, the paper is polished, stamped, and the joy of the harvest overflows in my heart.
Good mountains and good rivers make for good paper.