'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.