Saturday, May 30, 2020

Panda feces can be made into aromatic rice paper

Reporter / Images courtesy : Zhang Yuan / China News Network
Ref : http://www.chinanews.com/sh/2020/05-29/9197869.shtml
Extract translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan
                                             / KUCINTA SETIA

Image : The picture shows the feces of a giant panda. 




In a village in Shaanxi, a 71-year-old man Liu Xiaodong (above) has manufactured a "scented" rice paper out of panda feces.

The Shaanxi village in the subject is Qiliang Village, Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi Province. This village at the foot of the northern foot of Qinling Mountain has been a rice paper making town since the Han Dynasty and has a history of thousands of years.

The rice paper making technique improved by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty is one of the four great inventions in ancient China. The materials used are bark, hemp, cloth and fish nets, etc., which are made through the processes of frustration, pounding, frying and baking.

According to legend, because everyone in the Qiliang Village, the village dedicated to Cai Lun, is engaged in paper making and no one is farming, the village name was changed to "Abandoned Grain Village", which was renamed "Qiliang Village" according to homophony.

Liu Xiaodong, the inventor of "Panda Paper", said: "The giant panda is a national treasure, and ancient rice paper making is one of the four great inventions in ancient China. The combination of the two will turn feces into treasure."

In this village, the pandas' “produce” are made into “rice paper”, which not only does not smell, but also smells of faint bamboo fragrance.

Liu Xiaodong the former director of Caihou Paper Museum in Qiliang, has devoted to the protection and inheritance of ancient paper making for many years.

An accidental opportunity in 2016 made him wonder that the panda's feces contain a lot of bamboo fibers. Can the panda's feces be used to make paper?

So Liu Xiaodong went to the Qinling Giant Panda Breeding Base, brought the panda feces, and started the research and development of "panda paper". Two years later, a real "panda paper" was produced.



Image : The picture shows the staff showing "Panda Paper" fishing paper. 

The production of "panda paper" uses ancient techniques, and the production process is quite cumbersome. It is divided into manure sorting, elutriation, quicklime stirring, soaking, cooking, secondary elutriation, beating, mixing with pulp paper pulp, fishing paper, and drying step.

Because it is handmade by ancient methods, the production cycle of "panda paper" is as long as one month. In addition, the panda's feces can only be used in autumn and winter, because the pandas eat old bamboo in these two seasons, and the fiber of the feces is relatively thick. The "panda paper" produced in this way is flexible and delicate, and has the characteristics of bamboo paper and the advantages of pu paper.

Limited by the “supply” of raw materials, the output of “panda paper” in Qiliang Village has been low. The annual output of the “panda Paper” in the 50cm bucket square is less than 10,000 sheets, so its price is much higher than ordinary rice paper, but it does not stop panda fans in China from loving it.

Liu Xiaodong has received many calls from Beijing, Jiangsu, Shanghai and other places to buy "Panda Paper". Many netizens also asked about the purchase method and made fun on Weibo, and many cultural companies also had a strong interest in "Panda Paper".

This gave Liu Xiaodong great confidence in the spread and inheritance of ancient paper making. Liu Xiaodong believes that "panda paper" is both innovation and inheritance. All this is to pass on the ancient paper making skills of Qiliang Village, so that more and more people will contact and understand the ancient paper making.

Next, they will also develop various paper derivatives such as limited edition gifts and souvenirs to make this ancient skill "rejuvenate".

From the perspective of Wang Zhi, Deputy Director of the Xi'an Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, the inheritance of traditional skills also requires continuous trial and innovation, but it must be based on inheritance. "Panda Paper" follows the traditional paper making skills, makes new attempts in the selection of raw materials, and allows more people to pay attention to and understand the traditional paper making skills. The core is to pass on the ancient paper making skills.



Image : The picture shows a worker drying the  rice paper with "taste". 



Image : The picture shows the ancient papermaking in Qiliang Village. 



Image : The picture shows Liu Xiaodong and staff sorting panda droppings. 



Image : The picture shows the staff cooking the panda's excrement. 



Image : Panda paper pulp.


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