Bi Liufu, representative inheritor of the water splitting oil paper umbrella

In front of the Oil Paper Umbrella Museum in Watershed Town, Jiangyang District, Luzhou, sichuan Province, 68 year old Bi Liufu (see picture, photo by Bi Yuanshen) struggled to hold up a 3.5-meter-diameter, 100 pound oil paper umbrella. Standing at the bottom of the umbrella and looking up, thousands of threads interweave with latitude and longitude, forming a unique geometric beauty.

Making a big umbrella is not for showing off skills. As a representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage of the technique of making water splitting oil paper umbrellas, Bi Liufu hopes to promote and showcase this ancient technique.

As the only type of oil paper umbrella in China that fully retains handmade production, Fenshui Oil Paper Umbrella has gone through 96 processes, from umbrella frame making to stone printing and plate making, to pasting, netting, oiling, and threading, with meticulous attention to detail step by step. Taking the example of "umbrella bucket fully penetrated", workers shuttle colorful silk threads back and forth through pre drilled holes on the umbrella frame, and finally hook seven different latitude and longitude patterns, which is dazzling and breathtaking.

A water separating oil paper umbrella, which can open and close 3000 times smoothly and smoothly, can withstand wind force of level 5, and is sturdy and durable thanks to strict material selection: the umbrella ribs are made of bamboo, and the umbrella handle is made of water bamboo. Both main materials need to grow on sunny slopes for at least 3 years to achieve a tight structure and strong flexibility; The umbrella holder is made of paulownia or fir wood, ensuring a tough and durable texture. Bi Liufu said, "All materials need to be prepared before the rainy season to prevent excessive moisture in bamboo and wood, which may affect the quality of oil paper umbrellas

Adhere to traditional skills only for better inheritance. The Bi family has been making umbrellas for generations, and Bi Liufu is already the sixth generation. Since childhood, he and his sister have helped their parents with tasks such as threading and polishing bamboo skin, and have "seen the whole process of making umbrellas".

In the 1980s and 1990s, with the popularity of nylon umbrellas, the oil paper umbrella industry went from prosperity to decline, with few umbrellas sold in a month. As the director of the Fenshui Oil Paper Umbrella Factory, Bi Liufu also wants to make some adjustments to cater to the market. For a period of time, in order to save costs, workers proposed to replace the tung oil in the batter with chemical oil, which caused the umbrella surface to stick and the customer to return the order. Faced with painful lessons, Bi Liufu firmly switched back to tung oil. Because 'this is the' root 'of the water separating oil paper umbrella!'

Perseverance brings rewards. In 2008, Fenshui Oil Paper Umbrella successfully applied for national intangible cultural heritage status. The government's promotion and media publicity have gradually made the oil paper umbrella famous.

While inheriting traditional umbrella art, Bi Liufu is also striving to explore the cultural heritage behind oil paper umbrellas. Dragon and Phoenix Bring Auspiciousness "is an umbrella pattern with a history of over 200 years, telling the love story between Nong Yu, the daughter of Duke Mu of Qin, and Xiao Shi during the Spring and Autumn Period. In order to achieve a vintage effect, Bi Liufu returned to the traditional stone printing technique. Nowadays, the "Dragon and Phoenix Chengxiang" series of products has become a hot selling item in his oil paper umbrella store. Some customers have commented, "Old patterns can also be so beautiful

In order to better embrace young people, Bi Liufu and his team are still trying to innovate. "Now, we have developed nearly a thousand styles of umbrella faces, designed and developed umbrella face patterns with themes such as Peking Opera face masks, giant pandas, and traditional Chinese culture. Printing methods have also begun to use various forms such as color printing and hand drawing, making their presentation more diverse," Bi Liufu said.

With the rise of the fame of water splitting oil paper umbrellas, the prosperous scene of "every household making umbrellas and weaving threads" has also reappeared in the local area. At present, the annual output value of the oil paper umbrella industry in Luzhou City exceeds 30 million yuan, and the number of oil paper umbrella brands has increased from 1 in the past to 15. With the revival of the oil paper umbrella industry, a oil paper umbrella industry chain has been formed throughout the province.