"ASongDynastyPaperMillatSizhouinFuyan":TheSizhoupapermillislocatedtothenorthoftheFuyangCity,inthenorthernfoothilloftheFenghuangMountain,atailbranchoftheTianmuMountain.Surroundedbyhillsonitssouthern,western,andnorthernsides,itsitsinavalleythatopenstotheeast.Thesitearea,whichbelongstoSizhouVillage,wasonceusedforgrowingriceandvegetables,butnowlaidtowaste.Initssouthernpartasmallgroveofbambooremains.Thesite,whichis30°06'13"Nand119°54'33"Eand17.6mabovesealevel,is16000squaremetersindimension.InSeptember2008,ajointfieldworkteamconsistingofHangzhouMunicipalInstituteofCulturalRelicsandArchaeologyandFuyangMunicipalBureauofCulturalRelics,duringthesurveyprocesalongthenewrouteofStateHighway320,discoveredtheSizhousite.SincethenthroughMarch2009,itcarriedoutarescueexcavation.Altogether21excavationpits(T1-T21)and24testtrenches(TGI-TG24)wereexposed.Plustheexpandedportionsinsomeareas,theactualexposureamountsto2512.5squaremeters.TheSizhousiteturnsouttobeaculturallyrichone.Belowthesecondlayerwediscoveredacomplexofwaterpools,canals,alargestove,abuildingfoundation,andheat-conductingwalls,allofwhicharelinkedwitheachother.Basedonthesefeaturesandsubsequentanalysisofresiduetakenfromthem,textualrecordsandlocaltraditionofpapermaking,wehavecometotheconclusionthatthiswasapapermilloftheSongDynasty.Thevarioustypesoffeaturesandartifactsfoundheredisplaytoustheentireprocessofpapermaking.TheSizhoupapermillsitefacesanancientriverbedtothesouthandtheBaiyangxiBrooktothenorth.Theancientriverbedwaslinkedupwithoneeast-westcanalandtwonorth-southcanalsofthesitetoformacircularwaterflow.Locatedinthisnetwork,themajorfeatureswereusedforbringingwaterintothemill,decomposingthefiber,addinglime,boilingandcleansingthefiber,poundingtheslurry,makinganddryingthepaper,anddrainingthewastewater.Theentiresiteisthuscomposedofquartersofsuspending,lime-applyingandboilding,poundingandmaking,drying,anddraining.Watercanals:Twoofthem,G2andG9,arelinkedwiththeancientrivertothesouth,andathirdcanalG8tothenorth.Theywereprobablyusedtobringwaterfromtheancientrivertothemill.Decomposingpool:PoolC4islocatedinthesoutheastoftheexcavationzone.Theextantpartofitisroughlysquare,itseasternwall317cmandsouthernwall432cmlong,and28cmdeep.CanalG5toitssouthfunctionedasitsdrainage.Suspendingpool:PoolC3,whichislocatedinthesouthofthesite,istrapezoidinshape,240cmlong,94-132cmwide,and50emdeep.Itswallsarefinelylinedwithboulders,althoughtheeasternwallispartiallydamaged.Thefloorisflat,formedofyellowishsandysoil.Insidethepoolsomelimeparticlesarefound.TroughG7,whichconnectstoC3,isfinallycutoutofaslabof233cmlong,31cmwideand15cmdeepandslantedeastward.Withinitsomegrassashisfound.Attheeasternendofthiscanalisalongtrumpet-shapedtroughformedoflongbricks;thewesternendofitisblockedwithtwolongbricksof6cmwide.FromthelimeparticlesandgrassashweinferthatC3wasasuspendingpoolfilledwithlimyorlimyalkalinesolution.AncientworkersplacedbamboomaterialsuponthefacilitytothewestofG7andpouredthesolutionuponthem;theextrasolutionthenflewbacktoC3.Boilingstove:StoveZ7islocatedinthesouthofthesite,ellipticalinshape,540cmlong,455cmwide,and65cmdeep.Itislinedwithbouldersofvarioussizes,andpresentlyonlythebottomispreserved.Inthecentralpart,wherebouldersareneatlylaid,apileofbouldershascollapsedintoit.Thefillcontainsalotofburnedtiles,charcoallumps,andgrassash,andwhenitcomesnearthebottom,alotoffiredclay,morecharcoallumps,andlimeparticles.Z7wasthereforethefiringchamberbelowtheboilingvat.Toincreasethevolumeofthevat,theancientworkersputabucketuponthevat,filleditwithbamboomaterials,andsealedthetop.Thebuckethasaholedmatsothatitacceptsthesteamfromthevat.Ifthiswasthecase,theoriginalheightofthebucketwasremarkable,andthebeamsofBuildingF3werepossiblyraisedtoaccommodateit.Cleansingpool:PoolC1,alsolocatedinthesouthofthesite,sitsatCanalG2andconnectstoG5.Rectangularinshape,itis280cmlong,130cmwide,and15cmdeep.Thewallsarelinedwithboulders,butthoseofthesouthernwallarepartiallylost.Thebottomisflatandformedofclay.Atitswesternwallthereisapileofstonepounders.BecauseC1sitsneartherunningwaterofG5,itwouldhavebeenusedforcleansingslurry,.Ofcourse,theoptionofcleansingthemintheancientriverisalsoopen.Poundinghouse:BuildingF1islocatedinthenorthofthesite,comprisingapillarnetworkof23basestonesand9pillarpits,15.8mwide,and12.17mdeep.Inspiteofthedensepillars,thebuildinghasnowallaround.Ityieldsover20stoneimplements,includinggrinders,mortars,andpounders,mostofwhicharelocatedinthenorthernpart.Thebuildingcouldhavebeenapoundingfacility.AsoilsamplefromapotteryurninthenortheasterncornerofF1hasbeenanalyzedtocontainbamboofiberandothervegetablefiber;theurnmusthavebeencontainingpulp.Poundedpulpwasthencleansedbeforeitwasusedforqualitypaper.Thebuildinghastwocontainers,C2andC6,formakingpaperandtheyconnecttoCanalG4.C2is1.75mlongand1.25mwide;CanalC4nearbyhasawater-controlfacility.C6onlypreservesitsfloorplanks,1.46mlong,1.35mwide,andhastrenchesalongthefoursides,wherestoneorwoodenplankswouldhavestoodtoformthewallsforthecontainers.Thepapermadeatthisstagewaswet,andtheplankshelpedtodehydrateit;yetitstillrequirespressingtoquickentheprocess.G4andG6nearC2andC4mighthavefunctionedthisway.Dryinghouse:BuildingF2,locatedinthewestofthesite,consistsofaeasternandawesternwallandtwopoststands.Theeasternwall,about85cmwide,hasapebbl6~-pavedsurfaceoutside.Theinnerwall,Q2,ofF2ishollowbetweentwoboulderwalls.Theextantpartis5lOomlong,40cmwideforthehollowinterior,and80cmfortheexterior,and25cmhigh.Theeasternendofthewallretainssomefiredclayandcharcoallumps,whichsuggeststhattherebeastovehere.Q2wasthereforeaheatconductor,andF2wasadryinghouse.Drainagecanal:CanalG8,locatedinthenorth,connectstothetwoprincipalcanalsG2andG9,andcarrieswaterfromeasttowest.Onitsbottomsomeyellowishresidueisvisible,whichresembleswhatwefindinthecanalsofmodernmanualpapermill.Theresiduemusthavebeentheresultoflong-termpollution.Thecanalthereforemusthavebeenusedtotakeawaythewastewaterfromthemill,whicheventuallypouredintotheBaiyangxiBrook.TheSizhousiteyieldsagreatamountofartifacts.Apartfromtheabovementionedstoneartifacts,ityieldspotteryarchitecturalfittings,porcelainfragments,andcoins.Amongthearchitecturalfittingstherearetiles,rectangularbricksandelongatedbricks.Twobricksbeartheinscriptionsof"thesecondyearoftheZhidao~_reign"and"thesecondyearoftheDazhongXiangfu大中祥符reign".Amongtheporcelainfragments,thereareblue,blue-white,white,black(brown),rice-yellowishtypesandcrudetypes.Amongthewareswhoseformsaretellible,therearebowls,platters,cups,dishes,washes,pitchers,incenseburners,vases,cosmeticcases,lamps,andlids,andthenoteworthyonesaretheblue-whiteandwhite(imitationsoftheDingKiln)typefromtheJingdezhenKiln,celadonincenseburnersfromtheLongquanKiln,andblackcupsfromtheJianKiln.Somewaresbearinkinscriptionsof"Kusi库司","wu五",and"shang商".Amongthecoinsfoundhere,mostareofNorthernand-Southern-Song,includingXianpingYuanbao,JingdeYuanbao,XuanheTongbao,ChunyouYuanbao,KaiqingTongbao,andJingdingYuanbao,tonameafew.Overall,theSizhoupapermillisrelativelyawell-preservedone,displayingnearlytheentireprocessofancientpapermaking,includingdecomposing,suspending,boilding,cleansing,pounding,andforming,whichwellmanifestswhatisrecordedintheTiangongKaiwuandwhatwehaveknownfromourinvestigationoflocaltradition.Theheat-conductingwallismostnoteworthy,indicatingthattheadvanceddryingtechniquewasalreadyinuseduringtheSongDynasty.Thesiteasawholeiswellplannedandlargeinsize,anditwasnotanordinalTmillduringitstime.TheartifactstellusthatthemajorfunctioningtimeofthismillwastheSouthernSongperiod,althoughbricksthatbeartheinscriptionsof"thesecondyearofZhidao"and"thesecondyearofDazhongXiangfu"maypointbacktotheNorthernSongperiod.ThesiteassuchwastheearliestandbestpreservedpapermilleverfoundinChina."ASongDynastyPaperMillatSizhouinFuyan"authorTangJunjie.
|
