Tracing Roots: The Shangguan Clan’s Legacy

The history of a nation, the records of a locality, the pedigree of a family. As a people, the Chinese emphasise filial piety, as well as remembering ancestors and honouring brotherhood. Tracing the origin of one's family tree is an attempt to hold on to family traditions. Passing on the bloodline also means living up to the ancestors' teachings and expectations. Generation after generation, family traditions continue or evolve with the times. Extensive geological movement gave birth to the Wuwi Mountains, creating a natural barrier. Blessed with this geographic advantage, refugees fleeing warfare found shelter here. They settled down, cultivated the land, started families and established bloodlines. Over time, they came to be known as the Hakka people. The village is one of the hundreds of Hakka villages in Linghua, Fujian province. Today, a family meeting is being held in the ancestral hall of the Shangguan family. The Shangguan clan has decided to update the ancestral records which have been left unattended for nearly 80 years. Today, young people, especially the elderly, are unable to remember their ancestors' names. Last time, we had a relative who was able to remember his grandson's name, and his son's name. No matter how you look at it, it has been nearly 2,000 years. We have been discussing this with the clan members. If we don't repair the ancestral records today, we will not be able to face our ancestors and our descendants. So we must repair the ancestral records. The family meeting lasts until noon, with clan members engaged in a prolonged argument about whether to use wooden movable type printing or modern printing technology. The updating of the ancestral records is to be done through the collective effort of the clan. This task can't be accomplished without one individual, the professional genealogist, or as the locals call him, the record reviser. Shangguan Xiangxian, one of the clansmen in charge of the project and who is in his 70s, reaches out to Qiu Hengyong, professional genealogist, who is also of Hakka descent. As the local genealogist, he is the only one who can direct this task. Qiu Hengyong, a 39-year-old native of Ninghua, has spent over three decades learning wooden movable type printing from his father. He is the fourth generation heir to the family business, which has operated under the name Wenlin Tang for more than 100 years. With fewer and fewer ancestral records to revise, many genealogists have switched to other trades one by one. But despite experiencing his fair share of frustration, Qiu chose to stay put. An appointment has been made for updating the genealogy. What Qiu and his apprentice Wu Songgen need to do first is to print a memorial tablet of the founding father of their trade, and put it up in the customer's ancestral hall. This is a tradition that has been followed to this day to mark the beginning of a genealogist's work. The process is called kai shua, or opening of printing. The day of opening of printing quickly arrives. The members of the Xiangguan clan have been busy preparing for it since early morning. No one dares to neglect this important family responsibility. Such a ritual is unprecedented even for the oldest members of the clan. It will take more than one year from the day of opening of printing to the day that copies of the completed genealogy will be handed out. Everyone involved must strictly carry out their duties. Nothing, from the content to the mode of printing, can proceed without common consent among the clan. During the process, the genealogist is mainly responsible for collecting the information and writing it down, as well as providing instructions for compiling the genealogy. The Xiangguan clan has many branches that are widely scattered, and this poses quite a challenge for Qiu and Wu. It's why this job may take a year or more. Among all the projects Qiu Hangyong has undertaken in his career, this work involves the largest number of characters and requires the most typographic printing plates to be made. For this work, he turns to Xiao, a veteran carpenter. There are strict rules in making a typographic printing plate. It must be made from mulberry wood in a compact shape that will not easily warp. This is a temporary floor. Qiu inherited his wooden, movable characters from his father. Together with some that were carved later, he now owns more than 100,000 characters. After long use, some movable blocks become damaged, and the characters come out blurry. This means Qiu will have to make a new set of wooden characters. Making these small wooden movable blocks requires care and patience at every step. Writing characters backwards on the wood blocks, which requires hard practice, is a basic skill for genealogists. Every step in the procedure must be done meticulously. Qiu and his apprentice have carved several hundred new blocks, but it's still far from enough. After the printing plates are made, it takes over 40 days just to sort out these mini-sized movable blocks. To finish the year-long genealogy revision, Qiu treats every process with utmost concentration. All the preparations are now done. Yet one thing still gives Qiu a headache, and that is the paper needed for printing the genealogy. In this trade, fine paper means everything. It must be both durable and have a decent texture. For generations of genealogists in Qiu Hangyong's family, the yukou paper of Ninghua has been the material of choice. Yukou paper has a delicate and soft texture. With its even thickness and great resilience, as well as its jade-like pure white color, it's considered the best paper in the region. Yukou paper is made from Mosuo bamboo, which is found everywhere in the local mountains. Qikang village in the township of Zhuping is home to people of the She ethnicity. It's located deep in the Wuyi Mountains, over 700 meters above sea level. The warm and humid climate here provides the most suitable environment for the growth of Mosuo bamboo. Out of every ten fields in the area, nine are planted in bamboo. The whole area is thriving thanks to this bamboo. After a 60-kilometer drive, Qiu arrives in Qikang village. This is not the first time he's met with Hu Lanchan. I'm telling you, this is pure bamboo. This is pure bamboo. I've never seen Yukou paper or Qikang paper. I thought Qikang paper would be like Yukou paper. You can't look at it like that. Look at the texture of the bamboo. It's hard to see the texture of bamboo. But I've seen it. The texture of the bamboo depends on the material. If the material is good or bad, it will affect the quality of the bamboo. Yes, yes, yes. It's easy to make. But it takes a long time. In the old days, we used to make 80% of the paper. That's a lot of paper. Yukou paper is made from bamboo shoots with their stems and leaves. The best time to harvest the bamboo shoots is in early May, around the beginning of summer, according to the Chinese lunar calendar, and before the monsoon starts. The task of reaping thousands of bamboo shoots in a rather short time, whilst peeling off their green outer sheath, is a major challenge for Hu Lanchan and his son, Hu Chang. But this is only the first step in making yukou paper. The entire procedure from reaping shoots to turning them into paper takes more than six months. It involves some 28 processes, including immersion, peeling, stomping, and actual papermaking. Because it requires such sophisticated techniques and long procedures, few craftsmen are still making this kind of paper nowadays. To Chou's relief, he's lucky enough to obtain the last batch of yukou paper made two years ago from Hu Lanchan. However, in the next couple of months, he and his apprentice will have to work even harder day and night to print out copies of the Shangguan clan's genealogy. Like the Shangguans in Guandi village, he is also looking forward to the grand occasion of handing out the completed genealogies next year. The craft of papermaking was probably considered nothing special in the past, but in this fast-developing digital age, yukou paper has become more precious. Hu Lanchan feels this gives meaning to his otherwise ordinary life. Chou Hangyong's youngest son has begun his training in wooden movable type printing with his father. He's taking the very first step towards becoming a genealogist himself. After several southbound migrations, the Hakka people crossed the ocean to find their way back to China. The Hakka people, who have been living in China for more than 30 years, have been able to find their way back to their homeland thanks to the help of their ancestors. After several southbound migrations, the Hakka people crossed the oceans and scattered around the world. In doing so, they gave their culture a global significance, much like the Silk Road. Wherever they are, they retain the emotional bond of kinship. Since ancient times, there's been a close bond between words and paper. When the raised surfaces of the wooden movable type meet the handmade yukol paper, a special bond occurs, leaving unique marks that will withstand the test of time. Nature provides us with sunlight, air, and rain. We, on the other hand, inherit nature's legacy and create artifacts with our intelligence and creativity, as well as our knowledge and proficiency. A craftsman's skill embedded in the artifacts he makes can touch the depths of people's souls and open their eyes to the beauty of creation. This beauty comes from the craftsman's passion in drawing upon the original forms of nature, and through his amazing devotion and creativity, he gives them new form and new meaning. Let us honor the creators among us.