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A teacher introduces paper-making tools and processes to parents and kids in Jiading district of Shanghai. [Photo/jiading.gov.cn] |
Parents and kids in Jiading district of Shanghai recently had an opportunity to experience a paper-making activity and learn some of the craft's techniques.
A professional teacher was invited to demonstrate the paper-making process. A sieve-like screen made of bamboo splints and copper netting is used to collect separate fibers floating on the water, which is then drained. The randomly interwoven fibers are flattened to form a sheet of wet paper.
Water is further removed from this sheet by pressing, sometimes aided by suction or vacuuming, or heating. Once dry, a generally flat, uniform and strong sheet of paper is achieved.
Following the teacher's instruction, parents and kids had a lot of fun working together to practice the traditional craft.
The event was part of an intangible cultural heritage-themed activity series launched by Jiading authorities to arouse people's interest in traditional cultural heritages.
Paper-making technology is one of ancient China's Four Great Inventions, the other three being the compass, gunpowder, and movable type printing. Papermaking can be traced back to AD 105 in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220), when Cai Lun, an official attached to the imperial court, revolutionized the technology. He created a sheet of paper using mulberry and other bast fibers along with fishnets, old rags, and hemp waste, which was the origin of modern paper.