Traditional ancient papermaking uses a natural drying process.
Cultural and creative products made of handmade paper.
The paper made by Master Cao Yi can be stored for hundreds of years.
Book lamps and packaging made of flower and grass paper.
Cao Yi scraped the newly cut trees.
The raw materials are crushed with stone grinding to refine the tissue fibers.
Workers use the "frog-style" papermaking technique invented by Master Cao Yi to stir the pulp evenly.
Ancient papermaking does not add chemicals and is made by hand.
Traditional ancient papermaking uses a natural drying process.
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Cultural and creative products made of handmade paper.
" />
The paper made by Master Cao Yi can be stored for hundreds of years.
" />
Book lamps and packaging made of flower and grass paper.
" />
Cao Yi scraped the newly cut trees.
" />
The raw materials are crushed with stone grinding to refine the tissue fibers.
" />
Workers use the "frog-style" papermaking technique invented by Master Cao Yi to stir the pulp evenly.
" />
Ancient papermaking does not add chemicals and is made by hand.
" />
In the late spring afternoon, in the Rihe Folk Craft Society in Banjiulin Village, Qingping Town, Lianjiang City, workers cooperated in pairs to pour pulp, form paper, dry paper... Everything is in order.
At the drying field, the teacher Fu Cao Yi is patiently answering his granddaughter's papermaking doubts. As the fifth generation inheritor of the family's traditional ancient papermaking skills, Cao Yi not only inherits the ancient papermaking skills, but also continuously innovates on the basis of the original, inventing the frog-style handmade papermaking techniques and grass and wood paintings. Exquisite ancient papermaking skills have attracted many merchants at home and abroad to purchase.
Different from modern papermaking technology, the paper made by using ancient papermaking techniques does not add any chemical agents, and is strictly in accordance with the 9 complex processes of cutting and stripping, scraping, soaking, cleaning, pounding, papermaking, art making, paper drying, and paper disassembly.
"As a wild plant, the tree is not only adaptable to the environment, but also has the characteristics of long fiber, low lignin content and high cellulose content, which is a common material for our papermaking." Cao Yi casually picked up a tree branch, used his thumb to cut the crack, and his index finger hooked the core of the tree to pull it, and the core and bark were smoothly separated, and then scraped the outer surface of the bark with a knife, which was the first two procedures of Lianjiang's hand-made papermaking technique.
"The bark is then buried in water and soaked to block out the natural decay of oxygen, and after a few days it is taken out and washed with clean water, and then beaten by hand, mixed with water to make pulp." For every step of Lianjiang's hand-made papermaking skills, Cao Yi is familiar with it.
In the craft club, Li Shimei and Xie Sanmei are famous golden partners. Li Shimei poured the pulp into the paper cylinder and mixed it with an appropriate amount of water, and Xie Sanmei then used the "frog-style" papermaking technique invented by Master Cao Yi to stir the pulp evenly. For about ten seconds, the pulp floated on the surface of the water, only to see the two men skillfully holding the bamboo curtain with both hands, and tacitly lifting the bamboo curtain to the side to drain the water.
The drained bamboo curtain is then transported to the outdoor drying, and after drying, the paper can be removed, the paper is separated from the net, and a pure leather paper is born.
Walking into the Rihe Folk Craft Society, I saw several centuries-old mahogany tables and chairs "sitting" next to the display cabinet, and a variety of works were placed around the wall, "200 years, six generations, in order to make a good piece of paper." "These big words on the wall are very eye-catching.
Under the large characters, hang the research achievements of the six generations of the Cao family on ancient papermaking. Interestingly, the ancestor Cao Stirrup was the first to run the Spotted Dove Forest Oil Mill, and in order to produce the best and preservable cooked peanut oil, Cao Stirrup invented the oil filter yarn paper made of yarn paper and pine needle leaves. After the inheritance of the descendants of the Cao clan in successive generations, the ancient papermaking technique of "Lianjiang Hand Papermaking Technique" has been created today.
Pure leather paper is the most basic and important type of papermaking in the ancient method, on this basis, adding sisal or white orchid leaves, rhododendrons and other materials can be made into a variety of novel paper such as hemp silk paper and petal paper. "The paper we make can be stored for hundreds of years, even if it is wet by rainwater, it is still the same after drying." Cao Yi said that the paper produced by the Rihe Folk Craft Society has the characteristics of high density, not easy to breathe, resistant to water, soft and not easy to crack.
Because the tree is used as a raw material, the paper itself emits a natural camphor flavor, so it also has the characteristics of insect moth resistance, corrosion resistance and durability. Therefore, most of the paper produced by the Rihe Folk Craft Society is processed into book lamps, business cards, clothing tags, gift boxes, instant seeds, etc., and some products are even further processed into palace lamps, envelopes and other ancient objects for export to foreign countries, with an export amount of up to 5 million yuan.
In 2019, the "Lianjiang HandMade Papermaking Technique" was successfully included in the Zhanjiang Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage List, and Cao Yi also became a non-hereditary inheritor.
As the sun sets, Cao Yi sits on an antique bench and teaches his 2-year-old granddaughter the ancient papermaking techniques hand in hand, and after a while, the ground is covered with tender green leaves and milky white tree cores. Golden sunlight sprinkled on the two of them, "This is the seventh generation of Cao's ancient papermaking heirs!" Cao Yi looked at his granddaughter lovingly and said.
Author: Xu Xiaoqian Photo: Guo Longbi