74 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



The contents of these jars are stirred occasionally, and at the 

 end of thirty days the residue of the pulp is removed and the 

 resultant liquid, now a nearly colourless varnish, is poured into 

 other jars. To give the varnish a warm brown tint, the leaves 

 of Ligustrum lucidum, " La shu," sometimes erroneously called 

 the " Tung-ching shu," are steeped in the jars for ten days or 

 so, according to depth of tint desired. This varnish is used for 

 waterproofing purposes generally, its principal use being 

 in the manufacture of umbrellas. For this purpose it is 

 applied as a gum varnish between the several layers of paper 

 forming the screen of the umbrella, and serves to make them 

 adherent as well as waterproof. When completed, the 

 umbrella receives a thin outside coating of " Kuang-yu," or 

 lustrous oil [ante, p. 66). Persimmon varnish is widely used, 

 and is in great demand for the above purposes. It is produced 

 in most parts of China, but scarcely figures as an article of 

 export. 



The art of making paper in China dates back to about the 

 commencement of the Christian era. Previous to this, silk 

 and cloth were employed for writing upon, but the early annals 

 of the race were recorded on tablets of bamboo, and this latter 

 method obtained in the days of Confucius (552-478 B.C.). 

 What materials were first employed by the Chinese in paper- 

 making are not known with certainty, but were probably 

 bamboo or Paper- mulberry, " Kou shu " [Broussonetia papyri- 

 fera). A good case in favour of the latter could be made out, 

 since the inner bark of this tree requires less preparation than 

 bamboo culms. True paper money first originated in the 

 province of Szechuan during the reign of the first emperor 

 of the Sung Dynasty (a.d. 960). A certain Chang-yung intro- 

 duced it to take the place of the iron money then in use, which 

 was inconveniently heavy and troublesome. These notes were 

 called " Chih-tsi" or " Evidences," and were apparently made 

 from the inner bark of the Paper-mulberry. Marco Polo, 

 speaking of Kublai Khan's mint at Peking, says, " He makes 

 them take of the bark of a certain tree, in fact, of the Mulberry 

 tree, the leaves of which are the food of the silkworms — these 

 trees being so numerous that whole districts are full of them. 

 What they take is a certain fine white bast or skin which lies 



