学进去

The oil-paper umbrella has a history of over 1,000 years in China. There are different stories about the umbrella in China. The most popular one is related to Lu Ban.

One day, Lu Ban and his younger sister visited the West Lake. It started raining suddenly. The sister said, “Let’s have a competition, before sunrise tomorrow, who comes up with a way to make it possible for people to visit the West Lake even on rainy days will be the winner.” Lu Ban thought it was easy. He collected some tools and materials and spent the whole night building 10 pavilions (凉亭) around the lake.

The next morning, when Lu Ban talked about his achievements and felt proud, his sister held something unusual in her hand. It could be opened into a round shape. What is it? After a while, he found 4. the object which is made of silk and bamboo could be opened and closed easily. Lu Ban said “You win. It was light, beautiful and easy to carry. And it can also protect us from rain.” So the umbrella was invented.

Later when paper was invented, people used much cheaper paper to replace silk, cutting the cost of umbrellas. To make the umbrella waterproof (防水的), people brushed tung oil across the surface. That was how the oil-paper umbrella was invented.

With the passage of time, most people now use modern umbrellas in their daily lives, while oil-paper umbrellas have gone into decline. But in 1990, Dai Gensheng, a local of Jialu Village, founded the Jialu oil-paper umbrella factory in order to protect and pass on the traditional handicraft. So far, the oil-paper umbrellas produced by Dai's company have been exported to 28 countries. In 2020, Dai set up the Jialu oil-paper umbrella experience center for tourists to learn about the traditional techniques and to make oil-paper umbrellas themselves.

“We receives nearly 600 tourists a day. And the center also attracts many foreign tourists. 5. 它给人们一个机会去了解中国文化.” said Dai.