Taiwan Today

Taiwan is the kingdom of umbrellas. The mass-produced bumbershoot earned US$60 million in foreign exchange from exports last year. Yet in this outburst of umbrella making by some 80 companies there is just one paper umbrella man left of the many who were plying the an­cient art only a little over a decade ago. Um­brellas have been overtaken by machinery and the economies of mass production. The artistic paper umbrella sheds water well enough but it won't last as long as its steel and cloth cous­in and will cost about five times as much in a retail shop. The last of the paper umbrella masters is Lin Hsiang-lin of Meinung, an old Hakka town in southern Taiwan. He is seen here assembling the bamboo frames for his umbrellas.

 

 

 

Paper umbrella making is a true handicraft. Even today, Lin Hsiang-lin uses only one simple machine and it is foot-powered. In other times, four workers were involved. One made the frame, one applied the paper, a third ap­plied the wood oil coating to provide water­proofing and the last added the final touches. Lin learned umbrella handicrafting from his uncle, who in turn had been taught by masters in the city of Swatow on the mainland. Today Lin performs all the operations. His wife is his only regular assistant. Others may be hired if umbrella demand warrants. But Lin has no interest in mass production, even though the market might be greatly enlarged. The process­es shown on picture 1: clockwise from top left: Splitting bamboo to make the ribs; joining the ribs of partially assembled umbrel­la with twine; using a coir brush to smooth out the creases of the finished product; and in­specting the frames after the initial stitching. Picture 2: top, buttresses are crisscrossed with twine drawn through holes to provide add­ed reinforcement; bottom, several coats of oil are required to waterproof the paper umbrella. Japanese men like their umbrellas black. Soot is added to the final coats of wood oil to pro­duce the rich and shining blackness desired.

Ladies like colorful umbrellas. The specially made paper comes in a variety of hues. Below clockwise, from top left: two colors are attractively alter­nated; paper maker proudly imprints his trade name on the product that will go into umbrellas; colors of top and rim are matched with a broad alternate band of another color in between; the varicolored effect; rattan wrapping provides a grip for handle.