72 processes of ancient papermaking, fishing out "pulp" from the water, drying a kilogram of paper... On March 19, the reporter came to the Taigou Village of Meridian Street in Chang'an District to visit the ancient papermaking technique.
The elderly Ma Songsheng demonstrates the technique of copying paper.
On-site: Manual papermaking requires 72 processes
At 11:00 a.m. on the 12th, the reporter walked into the courtyard of Taigou Village with a "paper treasure" plaque and saw that there were stone mortars and large steamers on display in the courtyard, and there were paper hanging to dry. Master Ma Songsheng, 65, is bending down in front of the pulp pool to copy paper. In early spring, the water in the pulp pool is still a bit cold. Every once in a while, Master Ma would warm up his hands, which had been soaked white, into the hot water beside him.
"Cangjie characters, Lei Gong bowl, Feng out of paper, water drifting curtain, this is a song and ballad circulating in our Beizhang Village." Ma Songsheng told reporters that the "feng out of the paper" in the song refers to the paper.
The craftsmanship of papermaking is a traditional papermaking technique that is hand-made using the bark of the sycamore tree as a raw material.
"In the whole process of papermaking, there are 72 processes, and each process is indispensable." Ma Songsheng said that a series of preparation processes are quite cumbersome, including stepping, cutting, pounding, panning, troughing, cane trough and other processes. The natural paper fiber is long, tough, and has good breathability, which can also ensure that the paper is not moldy and non-rotten in a humid environment, not only does the calligraphy not smudge, but also can withstand a kilogram of pull.
The old man Ma Songsheng was ready to lift the pulp film.
Copy paper: "Pulp in the water" becomes paper
In the courtyard, Ma Songsheng stirred the pulp pool, skillfully opened the baffle, and gently swung the curtain made of bamboo wire in the pulp pool, after filtering out the water, there was only a thin layer of pulp film left on the curtain, and the bamboo curtain was buckled and evenly lifted next to it, and after drying it was the paper.
"This link looks easy, in fact, it takes accumulated experience, if the operation is not mastered well, the thickness of the paper is uneven, which is not good to look at and wastes materials." Ma Songsheng said that the process of paper copying is an important part of the ancient papermaking process, and the operation is good or bad, which directly affects the quality of paper.
The reporter saw that the door also wrote "Cai Lun a vein", according to Lei Linyi, director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection and Utilization Department of the Chang'an District Cultural Center, the current more official statement is that Cai Lun passed through this place on the way to depreciation, and found that there were ancient papermaking techniques circulating here, and after Cai Lun improved, it was produced from a curtain to a paper to a curtain of paper, Cai Lun is not the inventor of papermaking, but an improver, Cai Lun had a relatively backward papermaking technique circulating here before, as for how many years earlier, there is no specific evidence. However, to this day, Chang'an's ancient papermaking has been hailed as a living fossil of the evolution of handmade craftsmanship.
Wish: I hope that this craft will be passed on
At present, there are three inheritors recognized by the Chang'an District Cultural Center, one at the national, provincial and district levels, all of whom continue to continue the ancient method of papermaking, and Ma Songsheng is the inheritor of the protection of intangible cultural heritage at the provincial level. In 2012, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center of Chang'an District of Xi'an set up a workshop for the art of copying paper in Beizhang Village.
It is understood that the production of paper is an ancient technique passed down from generation to generation by the people of Beizhang Village. In the past, Chang'an spread the word "there are women who do not marry Beizhang Village, get up in the middle of the night to stand on the wall roots", because papermaking is indeed very hard. Papermaking tools may seem simple, but the process of making paper is very complex, and each process must be completed by hand. Now that Ma Songsheng is older, he and his wife can produce several knives (100 sheets/knife) of paper every day.
Ma Songsheng told reporters that his family has been making paper for generations, and now he and his wife live in a small courtyard provided by the local government, and continue to inherit the ancient papermaking skills.
What makes him most happy is that children often visit and study on holidays, and the handicraft workshop has become a non-genetic inheritance base, and the children can not only understand this ancient paper-making craft, but also experience it themselves, and he feels that he has made a contribution to society.
But Ma Songsheng also has troubles, because the income of papermaking is not high, the next generation is not willing to continue to pass on, although his son has learned, but the meager income is difficult to retain young people, he is still worried that this craft will be lost, hoping that someone can come to learn this craft, he does not want to see this old craft broken in his hands.
Text: Gao Le, all-media reporter of Xi'an Newspaper
Pictured: Li Ming, chief reporter of Xi'an Newspaper
Edit: Anzhi
Audit: Day B
Producer: Xi'an Newspaper Media Group
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