Handmade paper, as its name implies, is paper made by hand as opposed to machine-made paper. The most commonly seen paper is hsuan paper and cotton paper used for traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy work. In Japan handmade paper is called washi. Besides painting and calligraphy it is also used in handicrafts.
Techniques of making paper stem from the Central Plains along the down-stream regions of the Yellow River. At an early point in time on Taiwan, the town of Meinung was known for its fine paper. Puli County, Taichung, was the sight of paper factories during the Japanese Occupation. It's said that the underground water in Puli didn't contain iron so the paper made there would not fade with time. So, after Taiwan was recovered, paper factories were established in Puli one after another. Now, with more than a total of thirty such paper manufactories of various sizes, Puli has become the center of the paper making industry on Taiwan.
A small portion of the hsuan paper and cotton paper produced in Puli is sold on Taiwan. The remaining paper is mostly sold to Japan. Chen Tao Sheng, manager of the Chang Chuen Cotton Paper Manufactory, says it's more common for the Japanese to learn traditional painting forms, so the demand for handmade paper is greater. For this reason, Japan has become a large customer of the R.O.C. as exports increase at an annual rate of ten to twenty percent.
Behind this scene of flourishing exports there's a bit of remorse. You see, those who make handmade paper on Taiwan depend entirely on traditional ways, so in order to meet the great demands, the quality of the paper can not be assured. In view of this, a research laboratory was established in 1984 at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute to give the paper making industry on Taiwan a face-lifting. Besides this, the institute also aimed to develop handmade paper process and application methods, increase the value of handmade paper, and assist the industry in improving techniques.
More importantly, the institute's major task was to develop raw materials for the handmade paper industry.
The highest quality paper is that made from Broussonetia papyrifera, Edgeworthia papyrifera, and Wikstroemia sikikiana. The Japanese make use of these three kinds of tree bark as the major material to make their celebrated washi paper. Broussonetia papyrifera, also called paper mulberry, can be harvested one year after being planted, and may be grown in China, Japan, Thailand, and other southeast Asian countries. Since ancient times, paper mulberry has been used in China to make high-quality paper for painting.
Traditional handmade paper should be made in the most natural delicate manner. The process of making a single sheet of paper, from the collection of raw materials, washing, natural fermentation, natural bleaching to drying under the sun, may take as much as six months to complete.
Kuo-tsai Wang, from the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, says, "Without realizing it, the addition of something may affect the color of the paper or harm the quality of the paper." For example, alum is an acidic substance which causes paper to age rapidly, and starch will cause the paper to dry, crack, and grow bacteria. Bleaching agents destroy the fiber easily.
While in the laboratory, Kuo-tsai Wang often asks himself, "What's the right thing to add?"
"I've found a way of adding a type of AKD (a type of sizing agent) as a major neutral chemical agent into the paper as a substitute for traditional alum and glue. The results have been good." People on the sidelines haven't seen the years of hard labor Wang has spent in the laboratory.
If famous paintings had a mind of their own they would thank these silent heroes, because without them, what would such paintings look like if insects had their own way?
[Picture Caption]
National Chung Hsing University Forestry professor Chang Feng-jyi is a forerunner in the research of handmade paper.
A sheet of handmade paper with specially made glue must pass through natural warming and drying before its durability may be prolonged.
Before making a sheet of paper it must first be mashed, and then the fibre of the pulp must be thoroughly mixed together.
The main action involved in making a sheet of handmade paper is to slowly shake a wooden screen back and forth in pulp. This is also referred to as "dragging paper."
The fibre in the pulp, will form a thin membrane on the screen.
After the membrane is removed and set to dry, the birth of another sheet of paper takes place.
Besides being used for calligraphy work and painting, handmade paper may serve various handicraft purposes after being dyed and processed.
Resilient tree bark must pass through the process of being soaked, steamed, bleached, machine pounded and fibre separated before it is made into pulp.
A sheet of handmade paper with specially made glue must pass through natural warming and drying before its durability may be prolonged.
Before making a sheet of paper it must first be mashed, and then the fibre of the pulp must be thoroughly mixed together.
The main action involved in making a sheet of handmade paper is to slowly shake a wooden screen back and forth in pulp. This is also referred to as "dragging paper.
The fibre in the pulp, will form a thin membrane on the screen.
After the membrane is removed and set to dry, the birth of another sheet of paper takes place.
Resilient tree bark must pass through the process of being soaked, steamed, bleached, machine pounded and fibre separated before it is made into pulp.
Besides being used for calligraphy work and painting, handmade paper may serve various handicraft purposes after being dyed and processed.
