'Deluwang': An ancient form of Javanese paper

'Deluwang': An ancient form of Javanese paper

By Rosa Widyawan

JAKARTA (JP): Paper has long been the most important medium
for writing. But before the introduction of paper, people wrote
or engraved their messages on cave walls, stones, wood or leaves.

The need for a writing medium dramatically increased when
foreign traders introduced Islam through pesantren (Islamic
boarding schools), where students, traditionally called santri,
learned to read and write.

Santri were encouraged to make their own paper, locally named
deluwang, by hand. Deluwang was not made of pulp, but from the
bark of mulberry (Brocentia Papyrifere Vent) trees. During the
18th century, mulberry trees were planted on pesantren grounds to
meet the needs of students.

Deluwang no longer exists, but the remains of Arabic and
Javanese manuscripts written on the ancient paper can be found in
Tegalsari, a village in Ponorogo, East Java. The manuscripts were
written by King Ageng Ronggowarsito, a famous poet from Surakarta
in Central Java and an expert in Javanese literature. The
manuscripts were written on with kalam (a bamboo pen) and ink
made of soot blended with the sap of a petai cina tree.

Paper mulberry trees, believed to have come from China, have
several names. In Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, they are called
kembala, in West Java saeh and glugu in other parts of Java.
The trees, around three meters in height, grow in Basemah
(Sumatra), Central Sulawesi, Seram (Maluku), Garut (West Java),
Ponorogo, Pamekasan and Sumenep (East Java).

The advent of mechanically-made modern paper brought an end to
the production of deluwang. Still, compared to other types of
paper, deluwang was more durable and would not tear even after
being folded more than 30 times. It absorbed ink very well, and
writing on it would not fade easily. However, it was very acidic
and subject to pest damage.

Because people no longer use deluwang, paper mulberry trees
have disappeared from the yards of pesantren and madrasah
(Islamic schools) in Ponorogo. However, the art of making bark
paper remains a story. There is Pak Purwosuwito, an 80-year-old
peasant living in Tegalsari village, Ponorogo, who used to make
deluwang. He cannot remember when he last made the paper, but he
recalls having supplied some to Perhutani, a state-owned wood
company, to use for its manufacturing activities.

During the colonial era, Purwosuwito recalled a Ponorogo
regent ordering some deluwang. He never knew for what, but he
knew that deluwang was used as a raw material for paper money.

The paper was also utilized as for archival folders, with the
best quality Ponorogo deluwang (measuring 52 cm x 36 cm) costing
between 25 and 30 Indonesian cents in 1923.

Bidin bin Mahyo (45) and Deden bin Rd. Koko (40) from
Tunggilis, a village in the West Java town of Garut, learned to
make deluwang from Mak Enah, their mother-in-law in 1978. Their
family supplied paper to the administrations of Garut and Bandung
from 1975 to 1982.

Process

The process of making deluwang was relatively simple. Bark
from the upper part of a paper mulberry tree, aged no more than
two years, was peeled and flattened with a roller. The rolled
bark was then soaked in clean water.

The bark was then put on a table and pounded with a gedhog
(small copper hammer) until it spread to two or three times its
previous width. The bark was folded and beaten again and again
until the desired size was reached. It was then dried in the open
air.

The dried, beaten bark would then be soaked, pressed and
wrapped with banana leaf and fermented for three days. When it
began to smell like wine, it would be combed with coconut shells
and rubbed with jackfruit leaves to make it smooth.

After the initial treatment, the bark would be stuck to a
banana stalk until it dried and fell off. The surface that had
been stuck directly on the banana stalk would come out smooth and
shiny, while the other side had to be rubbed with a sea shell to
make it smooth.

The process of making deluwang in Ponorogo and Garut was
essentially the same, with slight differences in the finishing
process.