The handmade paper that lasts 800 years

In the remote Vietnamese village of Suoi Co, a young woman with a vision is keeping an ancient tradition alive

On the veranda of a home in Suoi Co, a rural Vietnamese village about 45km southwest of Hanoi, two women were squatting around a plastic bucket, dipping their fingers in murky water to select strings of fibrous white pulp. Behind them, tree bark was soaking in three metal water tanks – the first step in this long process – to separate out the fibre. They expertly assessed the mushy pulp’s consistency, making sure it was ready to be pressed into giấy Dó (Dó paper), a handmade, chemical-free paper that can last up to a staggering 800 years.

One woman stood up, grabbed a ball of fresh pulp out of the bucket, and started beating it with a wooden pestle. As soon as she was happy with the consistency, her partner started layering it on a framed screen, flattening the first coating of a soon-to-be page with a bamboo mat. In this ancient papermaking process, patience is key.
I’d come here with Tran Hong Nhung , a young entrepreneur from Hanoi, who founded social enterprise Zó project in June 2013 to help modernise this dying art.
Dating back to the 13th Century, Dó was largely used in Vietnam as a canvas for folk artwork, but was dying off in the face of Vietnam’s rapid industrialisation that had rendered handmade crafts almost obsolete over the last few decades. By producing notebooks, postcards, calendars and several different types of rough, robust paper that artists can use as canvases, Zó project helps support the livelihood of impoverished villagers and preserves a forgotten but invaluable art.
We’d left the concrete-lined avenues of the capital that morning, zooming along the highway past tall and narrow houses that slowly thinned out into lush green trees and rice paddies.
“[From] a papermaking perspective, [a natural environment] is a very good thing,” Nhung told me.
Produced from the bark of rhamnoneuron balansae, a highly cellulose tree found in Northern Vietnam and China’s Yunnan Province, Dó papermaking needs abundant water, space and time. Traditionally, the tree bark would soak in limewater for about three months until it was soft enough separate from the pulp – though today, papermakers have managed to shorten this phase to just 24 hours. The pulp is then pounded flat and smooth, and layered to form sheets of paper that are dried naturally in the sun for weeks. The result is beautifully soft, rustic paper that does not smudge ink, is highly resistant to humidity and acid-free, attracts fewer termites, and most surprisingly, can last for centuries.
Nhung started worrying about the state of Dó when she visited Duong O, the village where the art originated, about 40km northeast of Hanoi in the Red River Delta. There she found that just three families of papermakers remained. Challenged by the village’s rapid urbanization, they were struggling to make ends meet, to the point that they were about to give everything up and look for other, more stable jobs.
Making this paper the traditional way requires water, space, time — and patience
I struggled to convince [the villagers] the tradition was worth saving, especially because nobody from the younger generations was interested in keeping up the hard work,” she explained. “The whole village had already transformed into a small town surrounded by factories. The space needed to produce handmade paper was no longer available, and on top of that, the water sources were completely polluted.”
Zó project started working with the remaining papermakers of Duong O, but encountered problem after problem. The solution came when Nhung discovered a local NGO project, JICA foundation, which had previously worked with the impoverished village of Suoi Co. To help create jobs, the organisation had brought in a Japanese expert to teach Suoi Co’s villagers how to produce handmade paper.
“I admire the way Japan transformed their washi papermaking into a Unesco intangible cultural heritage, making it a desirable form of art in their society,” Nhung said. “But Vietnam is different. We don’t get any help from the central government here.”
She realised that with their new set of skills, Suoi Co’s villagers could be the perfect match to revive Dó. Not only did they need jobs, but they already had the natural resources – clean water and plenty of space – required to produce the ancient paper.
– BBC 

The handmade paper that lasts 800 years

In the remote Vietnamese village of Suoi Co, a young woman with a vision is keeping an ancient tradition alive

On the veranda of a home in Suoi Co, a rural Vietnamese village about 45km southwest of Hanoi, two women were squatting around a plastic bucket, dipping their fingers in murky water to select strings of fibrous white pulp. Behind them, tree bark was soaking in three metal water tanks the first step in this long process to separate out the fibre. They expertly assessed the mushy pulps consistency, making sure it was ready to be pressed into giấy D (D paper), a handmade, chemical-free paper that can last up to a staggering 800 years. One woman stood up, grabbed a ball of fresh pulp out of the bucket, and started beating it with a wooden pestle. As soon as she was happy with the consistency, her partner started layering it on a framed screen, flattening the first coating of a soon-to-be page with a bamboo mat. In this ancient papermaking process, patience is key. Id come here with Tran Hong Nhung , a young entrepreneur from Hanoi, who founded social enterprise Z project in June 2013 to help modernise this dying art. Dating back to the 13th Century, D was largely used in Vietnam as a canvas for folk artwork, but was dying off in the face of Vietnams rapid industrialisation that had rendered handmade crafts almost obsolete over the last few decades. By producing notebooks, postcards, calendars and several different types of rough, robust paper that artists can use as canvases, Z project helps support the livelihood of impoverished villagers and preserves a forgotten but invaluable art. Wed left the concrete-lined avenues of the capital that morning, zooming along the highway past tall and narrow houses that slowly thinned out into lush green trees and rice paddies. [From] a papermaking perspective, [a natural environment] is a very good thing, Nhung told me. Produced from the bark of rhamnoneuron balansae, a highly cellulose tree found in Northern Vietnam and Chinas Yunnan Province, D papermaking needs abundant water, space and time. Traditionally, the tree bark would soak in limewater for about three months until it was soft enough separate from the pulp though today, papermakers have managed to shorten this phase to just 24 hours. The pulp is then pounded flat and smooth, and layered to form sheets of paper that are dried naturally in the sun for weeks. The result is beautifully soft, rustic paper that does not smudge ink, is highly resistant to humidity and acid-free, attracts fewer termites, and most surprisingly, can last for centuries. Nhung started worrying about the state of D when she visited Duong O, the village where the art originated, about 40km northeast of Hanoi in the Red River Delta. There she found that just three families of papermakers remained. Challenged by the villages rapid urbanization, they were struggling to make ends meet, to the point that they were about to give everything up and look for other, more stable jobs. Making this paper the traditional way requires water, space, time and patience I struggled to convince [the villagers] the tradition was worth saving, especially because nobody from the younger generations was interested in keeping up the hard work, she explained. The whole village had already transformed into a small town surrounded by factories. The space needed to produce handmade paper was no longer available, and on top of that, the water sources were completely polluted. Z project started working with the remaining papermakers of Duong O, but encountered problem after problem. The solution came when Nhung discovered a local NGO project, JICA foundation, which had previously worked with the impoverished village of Suoi Co. To help create jobs, the organisation had brought in a Japanese expert to teach Suoi Cos villagers how to produce handmade paper. I admire the way Japan transformed their washi papermaking into a Unesco intangible cultural heritage, making it a desirable form of art in their society, Nhung said. But Vietnam is different. We dont get any help from the central government here. She realised that with their new set of skills, Suoi Cos villagers could be the perfect match to revive D. Not only did they need jobs, but they already had the natural resources clean water and plenty of space required to produce the ancient paper. BBC