Seventy-seven-year-old Wang Yijun lives in Guangmingcun, a small village in the south of Zhejiang Province. He has just finished compiling a genealogy using the traditional movable-type printing method, and he says it will be the last one he ever makes. Taking account of his age, he is probably the last person in the country who compiles family trees using the movable wood type printing method.
A genealogy is a history book of a family, whose contents cover things such as the family’s origin and migration, marriage and culture, clan regulations and agreements. Traditionally, a standard version was briefly revised every 30 years, while a complete revision took place every 60 years. After the revision, only a few copies of the old genealogy were kept by the head of the clan and in the family’s ancestral hall. All the rest had to be destroyed and replaced by new ones.
Historical records show that the earliest genealogy in China dates back some 3000 years, but was restricted only to the nobles of the time. Genealogy thrived about 1500 years ago, and was regarded as an important reference for court nomination and marriage among the nobility. Since about 900 AD, ordinary families started to compile their own genealogies. But since each family regarded its family history as a secret, the exact number of genealogies in China has been hard to discern.
Wang says the tools he used to compile genealogies are more than 100 years old, and were passed down from generation to generation in his family. They include the wooden matrix, ink, Xuanzhi, or rice paper, and a special kind of tough paper made from the best fiber of mulberry trees, which is used for making the covers of the book.
The matrixes are all written in original complex Chinese characters, and are made from the wood of the pear tree. The wood is so hardy that it is almost impossible for it to be deformed or worm-eaten. It doesn’t even swell after being soaked in water. The rice paper Wang uses is specially made with cotton added to the ingredients. And the ink is not the ordinary ink used in Chinese painting. A special kind of oil is added to make it. Wang says that using these tools means the genealogy does not fade for 100 years.
When finished, Wang binds his genealogy with thread.
At the age of 13, Wang Yijun started to learn the art from his uncle, who left him all the tools needed to continue the craft after he died. At the time, it was a job reserved for intellectuals because only those who could read and write were able to do it. Wang’s fellow villagers all respectfully address him as “Zuo Pu Xiansheng,” or “Mr. Genealogy Compiler.”
Wang says he made a handsome income –- a daily ten kilograms of rice, which was double the income of a bricklayer in those days.
Since the 1950’s, however, Wang Yijun stopped doing this work. Three decades later, he decided to revise his own family’s genealogy and picked up his old tools again. It took him 17 years to complete the revision.
“Every family has its family tree. One of my ancestors used to serve in the imperial court. Later, after he was frustrated by politics, he became a monk. It’s all recorded in the genealogy. The more you read it, the more interesting you find it is.”
Two years ago, Wang Yijun met Wang Shengchao, who had been looking everywhere for someone to help revise his family genealogy. Wang Shengchao was very excited that Wang Yijun still employed the old methods to compile genealogies.
“My family history dates back over 1000 years. Every generation is recorded in the genealogy. You see, every country, every county, and every family in China all have books to record their history. The genealogy has great value in it.”
Wang Yijun echoes this point of view.
“Whatever you do, even if you go and settle in other countries, it’s important to bring the genealogy with you. It enables you to stay with your family and your roots. But if it is not printed in original complex Chinese characters, your relatives in Hong Kong and Taiwan might not be able to read it.”
Wang Yijun made over 30 copies of Wang Shengchao’s genealogy, and it cost about US$1,000. Wang Shengchao says it’s well worth it, and he likes them much more than the ones compiled using modern methods. He says modern genealogy is just too simple and doesn’t contain enough information. He feels both happy and sad that his newly-made genealogy may well be the last one made using the movable-type printing method.
But the sad fact is that nobody wants to learn the art, not even Wang Yijun’s son. In Wang’s house, some 24-thousand wooden matrixes lie quietly in the corner of the corridor, gathering dust. Will they be lost to history? Or will somebody come forth to save the art?
(Cri.com.cn April 27, 2002)
