Narrator: Zhou Donghong, a paper catcher and "big country craftsman" of China Xuan Paper Co., Ltd
"One curtain of water leans on the body, and the second curtain of water breaks the heart."
What does it mean? You see: I'm facing my partner, a palm curtain, a lifting curtain, and the two have to be in perfect sync, sink the paper curtain vertically into the water, lift it out of the water to a 45-degree angle, then dip it into the water again, lift it shoulder-to-shoulder, and peel off the molded pulp from the bamboo curtain.
Some people say that the two of us are like dancing, and that is also the most monotonous dance. From 1986 to dry fishing paper, this "dance", I have been "dancing" against the paper trough for 35 years, and there are more than 10 million pieces of rice paper.
A piece of rice paper from feeding to paper, to go through more than 300 days, 18 links, more than 100 processes, the most technical difficulty is to fish for paper. The quality, thickness, texture and silk of rice paper are all on this "fishing".
No matter how the water in the paper trough "turns the river upside down", the heart of the paper catcher must not be messed up, because no matter what the pulp concentration, only two curtains can be fished. Every time we fish, there are subtle changes in the depth and posture of entering the water, which outsiders cannot see, and we rely on experience. Moreover, the thickness of the paper should be uniform, and the weight error of each knife paper (100 sheets) should not exceed 2 grams.
For paper fishers, the thinner the paper, the harder it is, and the bigger it is, the harder it is. In 1993, the company received an order to produce a long-lost "TieHua" rice paper, and the finished product weighed only half the weight of the normal variety. During that time, my partner and I stayed in the workshop all day, testing the strength and angle of fishing paper over and over again, and also participating in the mixing of pulp concentration, understanding the essence of "tie flowers" and understanding its production skills.
Later, we finally made the "tie flower" come back to the world. What's it like? Thin as cicada wings, white as snow, that's the thinnest piece of paper I've ever fished, it's beautiful!
Rice paper has a history of more than 1500 years, why is it unique? Just because it's all handmade. Such a unique craft, we really should pass it on from generation to generation.
(Interviewed and sorted out by Chang He, a reporter of this newspaper)
Source: Guangming Daily (February 27, 2022, 01 edition)
Editor-in-charge: Wang Yuanfang
Editor: Zhang Yongqun