De-Shun Papercutting Folk Arts Introduction
At the border between Changzhi and Pingtung City, there is a large temple known locally as the "burnt temple," which was set on fire during the Liudui Uprising. Near the temple, there is a family named De Shun that specializes in making papier-mâché houses. The papercrafts began with Qiu De Shun, and local villagers and regular customers refer to it as "De Shun Zi." Generally, Hakka papier-mâché artisans also dabble in traditional music, especially playing the suona. In the past, those who played the suona also had to make papier-mâché, although that's not always the case now—yet, people still consider them part of the same trade. Even if a hired suona master cannot create papier-mâché, they will still be asked to make purchases for the materials. Min Nan suona masters, however, generally do not engage in making the papier-mâché and rely on the master craftsmen to do so. Qiu Fengming and Qiu Fenglin began helping their father with simple paper crafting around the age of ten; it wasn't until after their father's passing that Qiu Fengming started learning to play the suona. The skills were nurtured from a young age. After Qiu De Shun passed away, the craft was passed on to the brothers Qiu Fengming and Qiu Fenglin, bringing with them approximately fifty years of experience passed down from their father, who died two years ago. Qiu Fenglin mentioned that their mother married their father ten years before he began making papier-mâché. In the past, Gangshan was the major hub for papier-mâché crafting. When they first started the business, their father hired skilled craftsmen from Gangshan to come home and teach them, which took around two to three years. These masters lived in their home and taught them while working. After finishing junior high, their father asked whether they wanted to continue the craft of papier-mâché, and if they were serious, he would send them to Gangshan for three years and four months as apprentices. In the earlier days of their father’s time, they would manually draw designs; later on, they utilized more printed products, merely cutting, pasting, and assembling them. The homes crafted at De Shun typically follow a one-story layout of three rooms or five rooms; to increase size, additional floors are added to create a two-story house style. However, the Hakka people are frugal and rarely order fancy two-story houses. A three-room house can take about eight hours to create, while a five-room house is more time-consuming, requiring a day and a half just for the framework, and two days in total for completion. The interior of the paper house features a main hall that extends outward; the left side houses the master’s bedroom and bathroom, while the right side contains the servant quarters and servant bathroom. The eaves of the paper houses should have an even number of lines—there are typically sixteen eaves for a three-room house and twenty-two for a five-room house. The materials are sourced from Taichung, Tainan, Fengshan, etc., with variations in printing quality; the brothers have established partnerships with certain suppliers. The paper house sizes have to conform to specific measurements: 4.2 feet for three-room houses and 5.8 feet for five-room houses. They still use the measuring stick their father left behind, marked according to these measurements, along with an old small chisel, which they continue to utilize as a way of keeping their father's legacy alive. The focus in making paper houses lies in ensuring the framework and paper are applied evenly and flatly—no slants or bumps are allowed. This requires years of accrued experience. The framework is crafted from bamboo strips—about eighty bamboo stalks can produce two paper houses; for three-room houses, thinner strips are used, while thicker strips are preferred for five-room houses. It is common to get pricked by the bamboo fibers during the crafting process. The framework is fixed together using rolled plastic, whereas previously, paper was rolled into thin strips known as "paper nails." The four main support poles are thicker bamboo strips, while the rest are thinner. The brothers mention that the roof is the most challenging part to create. Once the framework is complete, flower paper is glued on, along with large and small windows and flooring, each with specified patterns that must not be mixed up. Initially, the glued paper looks uneven, but Qiu Fenglin says it will flatten out once dried. They maintain traditional techniques while keeping up with the times. The brothers recall how their father developed rashes from prolonged use of chemical adhesives, leading them to create their own adhesive from flour and cornstarch, with alum used for preservation, wrapped in cling film to avoid drying out. Nowadays, some paper houses don’t involve gluing; instead, they are constructed using nail guns—though faster, they are not as solid as the traditional paper nails and manual gluing method. Thus, the brothers believe nail guns cannot completely replace the traditional paper nails. There is also a practice of creating entire paper houses from printed products, but these are too flat and not favored in the market. The brothers note that different craftsmen have different teaching styles and methods, which can be discerned even in the details. Small figures made from plastic serve as 'house servants,' displayed in front of the completed paper house; a three-room house typically features two servants, while a five-room house has four to six. Min Nan people believe the more servants, the better, as it signifies status; however, Qiu Fenglin notes that some Hakka people even ask if the figures can be removed because hiring a servant incurs additional costs, and later generations worry about not burning enough paper money for their ancestors. Moreover, Min Nan people often use golden boys and jade girls, while Hakka people traditionally use gold mountains and silver mountains as substitutes. In earlier times, when there were no vehicles, people relied on their feet for transportation or rode in a sedan chair if they belonged to a relatively well-off family. Therefore, the travel tools burned for the deceased would naturally include a sedan chair. Inside the paper sedan chair, there is typically a paper doll that serves as a double; likewise, a paper doll is placed within the completed paper house to signify the owner has moved in. The deceased come in various representations, such as elderly figures or younger boys and girls for those who died young. Paper trunks were used for clothing and were once hand-painted and cut out; now, they are folded from printed materials representing clothes. Some customers no longer use trunks, as Qiu Fengming mentions that modern paper sedans are made extravagantly large, with ample space in the back trunk to store items, seemingly eliminating the need for a trunk. Qiu Fengming recalls that their father used to create the Seven Stars Bridge for temple fairs and would go to funeral homes to measure casket dimensions, making a "casket surround" on-site, which was necessary because paper versions would easily get damaged. The purpose of the casket surround was to conceal the coffin during transport, respecting the deceased and avoiding bad luck for passersby due to prolonged exposure. Over time, fabric drapes replaced the paper surrounds, and now that coffins are transported in extended hearses, the use of casket surrounds has gradually diminished. Burning these paper items is essential for the rebirth in the papier-mâché craft, which does not experience significant seasonal fluctuations. Generally, there are more deceased before the Lunar New Year, possibly due to the cold weather, as the saying goes, "can't eat through the year." Qiu Fengming notes that, aside from funerals, another peak season is Qingming Festival; usage occurs year-round. He mentioned one customer who sought his help, saying a stranger appeared in their dreams, requesting a house because they lacked shelter or had a leaking house. The living person fulfilled the wish of the deceased by burning a house for them. When alive, people demand ownership of things, and it is no different for ancestors in the afterlife. Each papier-mâché house comes with a deed stating the ownership identity. This clarity ensures harmony and settles affairs in the afterlife. On the eve of burning the paper house,
