[ Where to see umbrella and Sa paper making ] [ Where to buy Sa paper products ]
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After the Burmese had returned home, the monk opened the umbrella in order to see how it was made, whether it was convenient to use, and whether it would protect him from both sunshine and rain. The monk decided immediately that he would travel to Burma, intending to investigate how the umbrella was made.
When he went to the place in Burma where umbrellas were made the monk saw the villagers making umbrellas which could protect the user from both sunshine and rain. Additionally he saw the villagers making large umbrellas, which they called 'ceremonial umbrellas', as they were used in various feasts and ceremonies and for religious ceremonies as well. This umbrella was made entirely of Sa (mulberry bark) paper, attached with rubber and suffused or coated with oil to help repel both sunshine and rain.
The monk was able to consider and asked the villagers what equipment was necessary in making the umbrellas. The villagers then explained the method of making umbrellas from beginning to end, including how to make Sa paper.
After the monk had made his observations, he wrote down everything concerning the method of making umbrellas, from the method of making Sa paper to the various steps in umbrella making. When he was finished he had it in mind to take the instructions and make umbrellas at home, as he saw that the various equipment needed for the process from the beginning to the end would not be difficult to obtain.
After that, the monk returned home. When he returned to the Wat (temple), the monk began looking for the various necessary equipment according to what he had written down. He persuaded the villagers to help him in his search and taught them every step of the method. He ordered a man to boil mulberry bark until it was soft, wash it, and then choose that which was soft and pound it until it was fine. He then instructed the man to use lengths of cotton cloth as a mold. Water to a certain level was put in a teak basin and then the cloths were placed in the basin.
They then took the finely pounded mulberry bark and put it in the water for the solution would adhere to the cloth mold. They stirred it so the fragments of the mulberry bark fell evenly over the cloth and then removed the cloth and dried it in the sun. When it was dry it could be made into Sa paper.
The monk chose women to be responsible for this part of the process because women are more perseverant than men. The Burmese relegated women to perform this step of the process, also. For making umbrellas the monk taught the men to make frames out of bamboo (in Central Thai this is known as Mai Pai but in Northern Thai it is called Mai Bong).The wood at the top and bottom of the umbrella was pine and the handle was made of a thin bamboo called Mai Ruak, and resin from the persimmon tree was used as an adhesive. Finally another kind of resin was used on the paper as protection against both sunshine and rain.