Dó paper (,

chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represented by new characters ...

: 𫷏𦾤 "mulberry paper") is a paper made from the inner bark of the dó tree and traditionally produced in many villages in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. It plays an important role in folk art, Đông Hồ painting in particular, because of its durability.

Production process

The production process includes some stages. First, the bark is soaked in

limewater Calcium hydroxide (traditionally called slaked lime) is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Ca( OH)2. It is a colorless crystal or white powder and is produced when quicklime ( calcium oxide) is mixed with water. Annually, approxi ...

for three months. Second, the black outer bark is husked off and ground by mortar and pestle before being blended with a viscous substance made from a plant belonging to the family

Verbenaceae The Verbenaceae ( ), the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs, and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell. T ...

. This mixture is diluted to form a slurry. A bamboo mold (

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

: liềm xeo) is dipped into the vat of slurry and removed. Paper fibers adhere to the mold in a thin sheet that is then pressed, dried, rolled, and dried again. The final product must be soft, light, and durable.

Applications

Due to its durability, this paper found many uses in traditional Vietnam, including the making of books, paintings, and documents.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Do Paper Paper Vietnamese painting