Old paper making: a historical cultural heritage
- By Jason Lee
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E-mail China.org.cn, February 16, 2016
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Deng Dingliang, Deng Xiuzhen's son. [Photo / chinadaily.com.cn] |
Deng Dingliang, Deng Xiuzhen's son, held the frame of a screen sifter with his hands and agitated it in the pulp pool; then, he turned around and tore off a piece of wet coarse paper from the sifter and piled it neatly behind him. It looked like a large chunk of yellow cake. His action was proficient, producing one piece of paper every few seconds.
"I have made rough straw paper most of my life. The young people normally go to work in the cities, but this is all I can do," he said.
Deng has made paper for more than 30 years. He starts working at 6 a.m., and works till 3 p.m..
Deng Yizhu, the village head, said Shentan Village was moved from Chaozhou of Guangdong Province to Guangxi more than 100 years ago. "Our ancestors were all skilled paper makers. Later, the villagers started growing bamboo in Guangxi, and the straw pulp was replaced by bamboo pulp.
"With the development of the society and improvement of people's livelihood, the people only burn the coarse paper as a sacrifice to the Gods or in praying for the dead or at memorial ceremonies."
Deng Dingliang learned paper making from his father Deng Hanfu when he was 16, because his father did not have enough money to send him to school. He and his father can make more than 10,000 pieces of straw paper in 12 hours. Deng Hanfu, meanwhile, had learned the skills from his own father.
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