Today’s trip to the Jungshi Paper Making Factory was charming as they gave us a short and sweet presentation of how they make traditional Bhutanese paper. They begin by soaking the sweetly fragrant dried bark of native cypress trees in water for 24 hours. The wet bark is then dried again in a furnace before being processed through a machine which reduces the bark into pulp. The pulp is strained through mesh until it forms a thin layer, which is then transferred into a stack that is left to drip dry before being pressed to drain the paper further. The wet sheets are then separated and placed to dry on a heated metal drying rack. I enjoyed being able to experience the traditional methods they use to make paper because, with the technological advancements this world has made, many traditional and handcrafted methods are forgotten with each generation. In my short time here, I have grown to appreciate and admire Bhutan’s persistence on keeping traditions and maintaining their culture.
A notable detail of today which made the day all the more special to me happened at lunch. We have had the opportunity to mingle with students, but at lunch today, I struck up a conversation with a Bhutanese student named Rigzin about art and how many of the paintings in Bhutan have stories behind them. One that stood out to me in particular was the one about the four friends: an elephant, a monkey, a rabbit, and a bird. The tale of the four friends is a story about the spirit of cooperation and harmony, essentially coming down to the fact that they needed each other to grow a seed into a sapling and then into a full-grown tree. Then the tree was too tall for one to reach its fruit and together, they could reach the fruit by standing one on top of the other. Rigzin commented that of course the monkey could have just climbed the tree by himself and that would be that, but that wasn’t the point. They were supposed to work together to achieve a common goal. This story was depicted on several of the factory’s paper in the store, along with paintings of Tiger’s Nest, which we will visit, as well as paintings of dragons and other animals which depict the strength of Bhutan. Although all the paintings were beautiful, the depiction of the four friends captivated me because of its meaning and the harmonious spirit which I have felt here in Bhutan.
Kaley D.
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