Robert Swinhoe, The rice-paper of Formosa

Swinhoe, Robert. “The rice-paper of Formosa,” The Scientific American n.s. 11, xiii (24 September 1864): 194.

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[16 May 2021 updated]

(A List of Taiwan-related Works by Robert Swinhoe is available here.) 

 

The Rice-paper of Formosa.

BY ROBERT SWINHOE, H. M. CONSUL AT FORMOSA.

The plant that perhaps produces the so-called rice-paper is the Aralia papyrifera of botanists, a low shrub with large leaves, in form not unlike those of the castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis). This plant has as yet only been produced from the northern end of Formosa, where it grows wild in great abundance on the hills. It is of very quick growth, and the trunk and branches, which are lopped for use, are not unlike those of an elder in appearance. The cellular tissue or pith attains its full size the first year. The trunks and branches are mostly procured from the aborigines of the inner mountains, in barter for Chinese produce. They are rarely straight throughout their length, and are usually cut into pieces of about nine inches long, and with a straight stick inserted at one end and hammered on the ground, the pith is forced out with a jump at the other end. The pith is then inserted into straight hollow bamboos, where it swells and dries straight. If too short to form the required breadth of paper, several bits are inserted into a hollow bamboo, and, by rods inserted at both ends of the bamboo, pressed together until dry. By this process the short bits are forced to adhere together and form one straight long piece of the required length. Thus paper of almost any size can be procured. The knife used in paring the pith into paper is in shape not unlike a butcher’s chopper. It is well sharpened on a stone, and, when not used, kept with the edge in a wooden groove held firm to it by two strings round the wood and the knife. Before using it, the edge receives a fresh touch-up on a small block of wood, usually a piece of the timber of Machilus ramosa, shaped like a large bone. The block on which the pith is cut consists of a smooth brick or burnt-clay tile, with a narrow piece of brass on the rim of paper pasted at each edge, on which the knife is laid, and is consequently a little raised above the bare tile itself. The block is laid flat on a table, and the dried pith rolled on it with the fingers of the left hand, and then the knife laid on the brass rims with its edge toward the pith, its handle being held by the right hand. As the knife is advanced leftwards by the right hand, the pith is rolled in the same direction, but more slowly, by the fingers of the left. The paring thus goes on continuously, until the inner pith, about a quarter of an inch in diameter, is left, resembling somewhat the vertebral column of a very small shark, and breaking into similar concave-sided joints. This is used by the Chinese as an aperient medicine. The paring produces a smooth continuous scroll about four feet long, the first six inches of which are transversely grooved and cut off as useless. The rest shows a fine white sheet. The sheets, as they are cut, are placed one upon another and pressed for some time, and then cut into squares of the required size. The small squares made here are usually dyed different colors, and manufactured into artificial flowers for the adornment of the hair of the native ladies; and very excellent imitations of flowers they make. The sheets most usually offered for sale; plain and undyed, are about three inches and a quarter square, and are sold in packets of one hundred each, at rather less than one penny the packet, or a bundle of five packets for fourpence. The larger-sized paper is made to order, and is usually exported to Canton, whence the grotesque but richly-tinted rice-paper paintings have long attracted the curiosity of Europeans. Some of us tried our hands at paring, but made most abortive attempts, producing only chips, though the operation looked so easy in the hands of the apprentice.