Inheritor in SW China's Sichuan passes on oil-paper umbrella craft, brings wealth to local people

Photo shows Bi Liufu and a huge oil-paper umbrella made by him. (People's Daily Online/Guo Ying)

Bi Liufu, a 65-year-old national-level inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage of Fenshui oil-paper umbrella making techniques, demonstrated his mastery by putting up a 50-kilogram oil-paper umbrella at the oil-paper umbrella museum in Fenshuiling township, Luzhou city, southwest China's Sichuan Province.

"This umbrella was on show at the 31st summer edition of the FISU World University Games held in Chengdu, the provincial capital, last year. But it was not the largest umbrella I made," Bi said.

He set the Guinness World Record for creating a mammoth umbrella weighing over 500 kilograms with a 16.2-meter diameter, which is now displayed in Yangshuo, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

With the popularity of Fenshui oil-paper umbrellas rising, Luzhou's oil-paper umbrella industry, with a history of more than 400 years, has made a remarkable comeback. The industry generated over 30 million yuan ($4.14 million) in revenue last year.

Bi Liufu prepares materials for making oil-paper umbrellas. (People's Daily Online/Guo Ying)

Each handmade Fenshui oil-paper umbrella requires 96 meticulous steps and uses carefully selected materials, including 3-year-old bamboo harvested at an altitude of 800 meters and wood of specific tree species.

Bi is the sixth-generation inheritor of the craft in his family. However, the road to success wasn't always smooth sailing. In the 1970s and 80s, the traditional oil-paper umbrellas nearly vanished from the market. Meanwhile, the oil-paper umbrella making techniques were dying out.

The turning point came in 2007 when the craft was recognized as a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage, followed by national recognition one year later.

China has attached unprecedented importance to intangible cultural heritage in recent years, and Fenshui oil-paper umbrellas have become a calling card of Fenshuiling township, Bi said.

A kid paints an oil-paper umbrella at the oil-paper umbrella museum in Fenshuiling township, Luzhou city, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (People's Daily Online/Guo Ying)

Bi's son, a computer science graduate, modernized the family business after establishing a company. To attract young people, he has established a design team, which has developed over 1,000 patterns of oil-paper umbrellas. He has also built an e-commerce team consisting of 40 members, with the team generating over 10 million yuan in online sales last year. In addition, he has cooperated with local elementary and secondary schools and educational tour institutions to organize regular educational tours on the oil-paper umbrella culture, and collaborated with brands to hold exhibitions and performances on the oil-paper umbrella culture, enabling more people to learn about oil-paper umbrellas.

"Our company employs about 80 permanent employees, each of whom earns a monthly salary of 5,000 yuan to 8,000 yuan," Bi said, adding that the company has cultivated a batch of young craftsmen.

Chen Siyun, a veteran artisan with 40 years of experience, and his wife work in Bi's company. They can earn about 20,000 yuan a month during peak seasons.

To pass on the craft of making oil-paper umbrellas, Bi has provided free training sessions for students over the past decades and nurtured more than 1,000 skilled craftsmen so far, Bi noted. He has also given regular lectures at Southwest Medical University, Sichuan Normal University, and Luzhou Vocational and Technical School.