In a valley in the deep mountains in the west of Nangao Township in the north of Danzhai County, there is still an ancient papermaking technique, which people call Shiqiao ancient papermaking. Shiqiao is 30 kilometers away from the county government and 6 kilometers away from Nangao Township Government. This is a low mountain landform with high terrain in the east and low terrain in the west. The village faces south and north. Nangao River, a tributary of the upper reaches of Qingshui River, passes around the village in a shape. The mountains are beautiful and the climate is pleasant. The former site of Shiqiao white paper workshop is under the big rock wall 50 meters opposite the natural stone bridge. The "Draft of Bazhai County Chronicles" is called "Longteng Bi". Locals call it "Dayanjiao". The stone wall is about 100 meters wide and 80 meters high. The stone wall leans forward and completely blocks wind and rain. It is an excellent natural factory building with a clear spring inside, which is the best water resource for papermaking. Shiqiao Village, Nangao Township, Danzhai County, has completely preserved the ancient papermaking technology of my country. According to experts, the production of Shiqiao white paper belongs to the papermaking technology of the Tang Dynasty. It is said that Shiqiao papermaking originated from Cai Lun. Every year, the families of the papermaking workshop in Shiqiao Village would choose an auspicious day to hold a grand event to worship the ancestor of papermaking. Cai Lun was originally from Guiyang County in the Eastern Han Dynasty (now Chenzhou City, Hunan Province), which belonged to the Chu State and was the main long-term residence area of the Miao ancestors. In his hometown, he had contact with people of all ethnic groups at the bottom of society and accumulated folk papermaking experience. The ancient papermaking workshop in Shiqiao produced two types of white paper and colored paper. Its production process is basically consistent with the illustrations recorded in "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature" written by Song Yingxing in the Han Dynasty. The raw materials used to produce white paper are ramie and fir roots, which is very similar to the "Biography of Cai Lun in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty": "Use tree bark, hemp heads, worn cloth, and fish nets to make paper." It is determined to be the papermaking process from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, and it has a history of more than one thousand years. After the Revolution of 1911, schools were established in Nangao and the surrounding areas, folk contracts were widely implemented, scholars exchanged calligraphy and paintings, and folk embroidery and painting scrolls gradually increased, requiring a large amount of paper, and Shiqiao papermaking began to be in short supply. At that time, wealthy families in Shiqiaobao invested in the paper industry and recruited workers everywhere. The village opened slots to make paper, resulting in the development of more than 30 papermaking companies. After being purchased by merchants, the products were sold to Guiyang, Zunyi, Sichuan, or to Hunan through Tongren, Wuhan and other places. The white paper made by the ancient method of Shiqiao has a long production history and is a typical representative of traditional handmade papermaking. The finished white paper is required to be tough, tensile, smooth, glossy, and highly absorbent. There are two types of white paper and colored paper. Among them, colored paper can be divided into six series of products: Yunlong paper, wrinkled paper, convex and concave paper, flattened paper, flower and grass paper, and hemp silk paper. White paper is made of hemp, and then slippery medicine (roots of rock fir or kiwi vine, wild cotton root, pounded and drained) is added to make paper. After completing the preliminary process, 500,700 sheets can be produced a day. The whole production process mainly includes: 1. Hemp material production: peeling hemp, scraping off the outer layer to dry, water retting, pulp ash, boiling, river retting, ground ash steaming, rinsing, material selection, pounding, bag washing, etc. to become cotton wool; 2. Papermaking: adding slippery medicine to cotton wool pulp in a certain proportion according to water, stirring evenly, and then making paper, pressing paper, drying paper, peeling paper, and packaging to obtain the finished product. Hemp material production requires paper retort, treading and wooden pestle, material trough, material washing bag, material rake, material rod, lime, firewood ash, etc. Papermaking requires pulp trough, paper curtain, paper pressing rack, brush handle, paper baking, etc. The hemp used in Shiqiao ancient papermaking is produced in karst mountains, with the characteristics of uniform and fine fibers and high pulping rate. Papermaking is done in troughs under the cliffs on the shore or in natural caves. Except for the paper baking room, there is no factory building, and the workshop is simple and pollution-free. Its production skills are passed down from generation to generation by the master's words and deeds, and it usually takes 310 years to master it. The raw materials are processed by sun exposure, rain, dew, etc., all by hand, naturally formed, without adding industrial raw materials. It is flexible, has good gloss, a smooth surface, strong water absorption, good ink wetting performance, and white paper. It is the best paper for calligraphy and painting. Shiqiao ancient papermaking is a microcosm of ancient papermaking culture. It has preserved a precious cultural relic for mankind and is a living fossil for studying ancient papermaking in my country. The production of Shiqiao white paper can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty. The production process is complicated, and the delicacy and requirements of each process are relatively high. It is the crystallization of the wisdom of the Miao people's long-term labor. For a long time, papermaking skills were passed down from generation to generation through words and deeds between father and son or master and apprentice. After liberation, the production of white paper in Shiqiao developed. In 1953, it developed to 48 companies with 153 employees. At this time, Majiang, Leishan and Duyun established paper mills. Leishan Paper Mill went to Shiqiao to hire Wang Neng, Wang Xibin, Yang Guoqing and other 7 people for technical guidance. Duyun Wax Paper Mill hired Wang Shifang, Wang Zhongyong, Wang Wenke and other 6 people for technical guidance. In March 1955, Danzhai County established Tongxin Papermaking Industrial Cooperative. In October 1957, it was rebuilt into a public-private joint venture Danzhai County Paper Mill. In January 1958, it was changed to the state-owned Danzhai County Shiqiao Paper Mill. In June 1978, it was renamed Danzhai County Chinese Painting Paper Mill, the factory headquarters moved to Sankong Bridge, and Dashibi was abolished. Today's representative inheritor, Wang Neng, male, Miao, began to learn papermaking skills from his father Wang Zhenghai at the age of 13. It took him 3 years to master the entire process of papermaking skills. He then passed the skills to his son Wang Xingwu. Due to the continuous innovation of science and technology and the rapid development of the modern papermaking industry, powerful papermaking enterprise groups have seized the market with their cheap and good brands, leaving Shiqiao ancient papermaking with almost no foothold. The continuous impact of the modern wave of migrant workers has caused most young people to go out to work after graduating from junior high school or high school. They are unwilling to stay in the mountains to inherit their parents' careers. The development of Shiqiao ancient papermaking is difficult and its endangered status is difficult to change. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)