OBS Chapter 154 Xuan Paper
Chapter 154 Xuan Paper
"Yue'er, these papers?" Xiao Qinian asked, forcibly suppressing his excitement as he looked at the stacks of papers.
"Dad, I am paper that we made ourselves, Xuan paper." Xiao Siyue was very proud, as they had put a lot of effort into making it.
Xuan paper is extremely difficult to make, and the entire process takes almost a full year. However, because the time was relatively short, the paper she made wasn't very white, but it could still be considered white paper compared to modern paper.
"Xuan paper?" Xiao Qinian slowly uttered these two words; he had never heard of it before.
Nowadays, the best paper is white cotton paper, but it is extremely expensive and can only be afforded by the nobility.
There is also mulberry bark paper, which is generally used to make banknotes.
Then there's hemp paper, which was also a type of paper that ordinary scholars could use. People like Xiao Qinian used hemp paper.
"Dad, let me show you the production process," Xiao Siyue said, knowing her father was curious.
“Okay.” Xiao Qinian immediately agreed.
The group went outside, and Xiao Siyue led them through the production process step by step.
"Father, the main materials for making Xuan paper are the bark of the Qingtan tree and rice straw," Xiao Siyue said, pointing to the group of people who were processing the materials.
"First, soak the straw in water for about a month. Then, steam the tree branches in a pot for a day, and then soak them in water for another day. After that, take them out, peel off the bark, and then dry them in the sun."
Xiao Siyue then led the group to the next location. "Look," she said, "the next step is to soak the dried bark in lime water for three days to filter out impurities."
"Then put the sandalwood bark in a pot, add wood ash, and steam for two days." As the crowd approached, they saw several large pots covered with lids, and inside were sandalwood bark being steamed.
Xiao Siyue thought that it would be better if she had alkali, as alkali has a bleaching effect, but she didn't have any, so she had to use wood ash instead.
“The same method applies to straw.” Everyone listened attentively to Xiao Siyue’s explanation.
I couldn't help but sigh in my heart, "This is really not easy; no wonder paper is so expensive."
Xiao Siyue cleared her throat and continued, "After that, the steamed sandalwood bark and straw are washed clean in water and then naturally dried for a year until the black bark turns white."
"Little sister, do we really have to dry it for a year? That's too long. It'll take more than a year to make this batch of paper," Xiao Sisi said, taking a breath. She hadn't expected it to take so long; she already thought it would be too much trouble.
“Yes, Yue’er, I remember you said you hadn’t been doing it for very long!” Xiao Qinian said with a hint of doubt.
“Dad, brother, this really needs to be dried for a year. The paper I made isn’t white enough because it wasn’t dried long enough. If it were dried for longer, the paper would be much whiter,” Xiao Siyue explained. She did this mainly for the purpose of the experiment.
She will gradually increase the time spent on the subsequent production process to create a batch of clean, white paper.
"Oh, I see. But Yue'er, the paper you made is already very good." Xiao Qinian was telling the truth; this paper was much better than the ones he usually used.
Xiao Siyue naturally knew that what Xiao Qinian said was true. However, as a modern person who was used to modern, snow-white paper, she was still a little unaccustomed to seeing hemp paper after traveling to ancient times.
"Dad, let's move on to the next step."
"This step is also extremely important. We need to select the grass and pick out the black ones," Xiao Siyue said, picking out a black one from a pair of sandalwood bark.
This sight is enough to make one's scalp tingle; with so many, how long would it take to choose?
"The next step, which is also the most important step in papermaking, is to put the selected bark of the sandalwood tree and the straw under the wooden mallet and pound them repeatedly until they are crushed. This step is very important. If the pounding is not done well, the paper will have a lot of lint and will not be clean."
As Xiao Siyue was saying this, Xiao Siyu stepped forward, took the wooden mallet from the worker, and tried it out himself.
Xiao Siyue found it amusing but didn't stop her, continuing to the next step.
After seeing them leave, Xiao Siyu quickly handed the wooden mallet to the craftsman and followed them.
"This is mainly for making paper medicine. The starfruit vine is chopped up, filtered with clean water, and the filtered water is added to the pulp to disperse the fibers in the pulp, making it easier to roll out." Xiao Siyue's explanation left the group somewhat confused.
But before they could even ask, Xiao Siyue had already gone to the next step.
"Dad, look, pour the pulp into the pool and stir it. Make sure it's well mixed. Next is papermaking. Put the bamboo screen into the pulp and let the pulp adhere evenly to the bamboo screen. This step requires a steady hand. The pulp can't be too much or too little."
The crowd watched as the craftsman placed a thin layer of pulp on a bamboo screen in his hand, then turned it upside down onto the finished paper, removed the bamboo screen, and a sheet of paper was thus taken off.
"Next, we'll press this stack of paper down with a smooth, flat wooden board, place a large stone on top, and leave it for a day to press out the water. Dad, let's go see what's been done."
The area where the sun is drying is not in this courtyard, but behind a row of houses at the back of the courtyard, where there is a large lawn filled with wooden frames.
After the group went over, they saw several people drying paper.
"Miss," a worker greeted Xiao Siyue.
"It's alright, you all go about your business, don't worry about me." After saying this to the workers, Xiao Siyue continued to explain, "Look, this is the last step in papermaking. We take the pressed paper off one by one, stick it onto the wooden board to dry, and then we can take it off."
As she spoke, Xiao Siyue tore off a completely dry piece of paper and showed it to the others.
"This is the whole process of papermaking. No matter what materials are used, the basic process is the same. Finally, the paper is cut into the required size."
"Yue'er, this process is too complicated and takes too long." Although Xiao Qinian was very interested in and liked the paper, he still felt that making paper was too difficult.
"Dad, it's not that complicated. Each worker just needs to do their own job well, and that way a batch of paper can be made every day. It's just that it takes a long time in the early stages."
In fact, this is just an assembly line project; as long as there are raw materials, it can keep going.
These raw materials are also relatively easy to obtain.
Xiao Siyue also plans to work with bamboo, as bamboo has a short growth cycle and can be planted in many places, making it easier to obtain.