When traveling in Yunnan, we are often amazed by the magnificent natural scenery and delighted by the colorful ethnic customs. At the same time, the bright and profound cultural heritage is also unforgettable for us. For example, when we were traveling in Tengchong, there were not only natural resources such as volcanic heat and Beihai wetland sea, but also characteristic cultures such as Heshun Ancient Town, Caravan, Jadeite, and intangible heritage such as the ancient papermaking method of Tengyue.
It is understood that Tengchong Xuan paper began in the Qing Dynasty. It is also called "Tengchong Three Treasures" together with Tengbai and Tengyao. Tengchong Xuan paper is characterized by whiteness, fineness, flexibility, and good water absorption. It has remained unchanged for a hundred years and is widely respected by the painting and calligraphy circles. Famous calligraphers and painting masters such as Xu Feihong and Zhang Daqian once bought a large amount of Tengxuan in Tengchong for creation.
Tengxuan has a very long history, and there are still many small workshops that have been passed down for hundreds of years in Tengchong. In March 21, when we went to Tengchong Jietou Town to appreciate rapeseed flowers, we met a 50-something in Xinzhuang Village. The aunt who was 18 years old was making Tengxuan, so Yu Fan came forward to interview her, and she was also very happy to explain a lot of stories about Tengxuan to us, such as how to make the finished product step by step from cutting the bark .
It is understood that their family name is Long, and their ancestors came to Tengchong in the late Ming Dynasty (1628 A.D.) to guard the border and defend the country, and brought the hand-made paper craft of the Central Plains here. It is made into pulp and hand-copied into paper. For more than 400 years, the handwritten paper produced here has been passed down from generation to generation.
The aunt told us that the complete papermaking process is very complicated. From raw materials to finished products, it has to go through ten steps such as cutting trees and bark, selecting materials, soaking materials, cooking materials, beating, papermaking, pressing paper, backing paper, drying paper and exposing paper. The remaining steps, the operation of each step will affect the quality of the final paper.
After cutting down the tree and taking the bark, the bark is dried in the sun, and then the material is made. At this time, different raw materials need to be separated according to grades, tied into small bundles, and soaked in the pond. The soaking time varies with the variety of raw materials. These skins need to be soaked in water for more than a week. The purpose is to remove soluble impurities in the raw materials and lay the foundation for making good pulp. After soaking, it should be "cooked" at high temperature with an aqueous solution of alkali or lime to remove pectin and lignin adhered between the fibers, so that the fibers can be dispersed and become pulp. The cooking process will take several days, and it will be stacked and fermented after being taken out.
Next, the boiled bark should be washed, and then the washed pulp should be placed under the sun for about 2 to 3 months until the pulp turns white, which is the so-called sun-whitening. Handwritten paper is divided into two types: white and original color. White is bleached in water by adding bleaching powder.
The next step is beating, also called beating. The traditional method is to use manpower, water pestle, stone mill, etc. to pound the slurry into a mud paste. This was originally the most arduous process in manual papermaking. Now people use Blender for. Its purpose is to make the fibers in the pulp be divided into filaments and brooms, so that they can be interwoven into paper sheets with a certain strength.
The next step is the most important step in the ancient papermaking process, called papermaking. Many performance museums and exhibition halls usually show people the step of papermaking. Papermaking is to put pulp and water in the papermaking tank first. Inside, the pulp fibers are suspended in the water freely, and then the bamboo screen is lifted from the papermaking tank, so that the fibers are evenly spread on the bamboo screen to form a thin layer of wet paper, and then the wet paper is copied Go to the wet paper pile next to the papermaking trough, pour a ladle of water from above, and the wet paper will automatically fall on the wet paper pile.
When the copied wet paper sheets accumulate to a certain amount, it is necessary to press a thick and heavy flat plate on the wet paper pile, and then place a jack on top to squeeze out the excess moisture in the wet paper sheets. The process takes more than an hour. After squeezing 80% of the water dry, the next step is baking paper (or backing paper), also known as baking paper or drying paper. Separate it from the ground, then brush it on the wall and let it dry naturally (pictured above).
After pasting the rice paper on the wall for a period of time, it needs to be peeled off for drying. The purpose of this is to completely dry the moisture in the paper.
The next step is to peel off the paper, peeling off the dried paper one by one and stacking them together. Yu Fan noticed that this Tengxuan is very thin, but its toughness is very good. See any piece of rice paper is missing.
This is their family's warehouse, which stores Tengxuan of various sizes, and some have been stored for several years. It is said that the longer the storage time, the better it is for calligraphy and painting creation, and the price will be higher.
According to Aunt Long, their family has been making paper for generations, and her generation has been making paper for 20 years. He started making paper at the age of 16. Except for a few months of work in 2016, he has been doing it for decades Teng Xuan has never stopped. To do one thing with heart in a lifetime may be what people call the craftsman spirit.
It is understood that she can make 200 sheets of paper a day (simple papermaking), and a piece of Tengxuan can be sold for 10 yuan. The customers are mainly calligraphy lovers and some calligraphers and painters from all over the country, as well as some tea merchants in Yunnan for packaging tea. In addition to selling these papers in China, some foreign customers such as the United States, Japan, South Korea, Italy, and Canada will also order paper from him. And according to my aunt, there are still many family workshops in Xinzhuang Village like theirs who do ancient papermaking, and they are basically crafts handed down from generation to generation, which is really admirable.