Zhejiang Zhuji: 40 years after the Qingkou Paper is “out of the mountain”

In Wukou Town, Xiefeng Village, Qingkou Natural Village used to have a craft called “Qingkou Paper” which could be used outside the city. With the development of society, the method of papermaking with earthwork was replaced by advanced papermaking technology. Qingkou Paper was discontinued in 1967 and its final Only one or two people are still a generation away. This was the first time that the folk craftsmanship that had been passed for four or five hundred years had only been known.

In recent days, I heard that Yang Zhiyi, the last descendant of Qingkou Paper, once again made all the previous papermaking tools. He had to “recover” this folk craft and preserve the precious legacy left by his ancestors. I went to find out more about it.

A "tough" character makes the success of Qingkou Paper

After a lapse of more than 40 years, he picked up the twig again. Yang Zhiyi seemed a little excited. Yang Zhiyi, now 72, learned to make paper in the village's paper mill when he was 15 years old. He was also a good hand for making muzzled paper. However, with the closure of the paper mill, his good craftsmanship has also been shelved. This break is a full 40 years.

Yang Zhiyi's history on Qingkou Paper is as good as it is: “(The Qingkou Paper) is produced by hand, and its main raw material is eucalyptus, which is a type of shrub that grows on hilly slopes. There are rich banyan trees in the mountains along the Qingkou area. As a result, more than half of the people in the whole village engaged in this industry during its heyday."

Yang Zhiyi said that Qingkou Village has a history of five hundred years of papermaking. The gradual improvement and improvement of the three generations of Chen, Zhu and Zhang passed to the hands of Yang Xing in the early Ming Dynasty. On the basis of the predecessors, Young's made some improvements to the papermaking process. Using local eucalyptus, mulberry bark and other raw materials as raw materials, it was able to make extremely good abrasion resistant paper. This kind of paper is not only used for writing books. At that time, the finest quality paper was used to make lanterns, and then used to make umbrellas or bonnets. And can be customized according to the needs of the market. “How much larger size the buyer needs and what kind of quality is required, we will re-price it according to the specifications and quality that they need.”

It is understood that in addition to the sale of the Qingkou Paper in Zhuji, but also exported to Yiwu, Jinhua, Shanghai, Suzhou and other places. Yang's paper industry has thus gained fame and reputation. Yang Zhiyi had made papers and ran sales. He also had a sense of pride in talking about his own paper. "The toughness of this paper is enough. The painting will not be damaged after it has been peeled off after hundreds of years. Moreover, it will prevent any moths." He said that his paper is better than the current paper because of the machine-made leather paper. The fiber was chemically damaged, and his hand was pure, without any damage.

A "spell" word to complete the old artist's wish for many years

It can be said that Qingkou Village is famous for this piece of leather paper. This piece of paper bearing the history and glory of the Yang family of the Qingkou Group was painful if it disappeared. After years of preparation, Yang Zhiyi decided to This craft has picked up again. "Can't let this 500-year history break in me!"

For Yang Zhiyi’s decision, his wife, Hu Ailan, was in favor. Hu Ailan is also a paper-making expert and has always been a good helper for Lao Yang. Although the key step of this craft is to pass on men to women, some people who lay hands and help are still in need of help. After they got married, Hu Ailan quickly turned from a blind man to a skilled worker.

In Qingkou Village, there are many such husband-and-wife partnerships because papermaking was once the main source of livelihood and economic source for Qingkou. Hu Ailan told reporters that she had been married for more than 40 years. At that time, the Yang family had fourteen people who lived together. The eight sisters and six brothers lived on the paper. But later, none of them did. The husband insisted that he would give up at the end. Now, the state pays more and more attention to folk craftsmanship, and they all say that it is a treasure, so Lao Yang's heart is alive, and the loss of such a good cultural heritage is not willing. So I want to pick it up again. "Now we only have him here. He is the last one." Hu Ailan's tone is more about the decline of the once glorious industry.

However, if we lose 40 years of craftsmanship, it does not mean that we can get it. We only spend a lot of time on tools.