Su mu

Language:

Chinese

Local scripture:

苏木

Botanical classification

Caesalpinia sappan L.

Order:

Fabales

Family:

Caesalpiniaceae

Plant growing area

Native origin unknown, maybe India.

Cambodia, China (Cultivated. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Sichuan, Yunnan), India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Vietnam.

Grows on hills in low and medium altitudes.

Use area in the manufacture of paper

China, Japan, Korea.

Plant cultivation and use

Sappan is a small evergreen thorny tree, 3 to 6 m tall. It prefers clay and limestone lands.

The heartwood contains a red dye and is used medicinally to relieve pain. It is also used as dye for textiles, for prints and in ink making.

Use of sappan wood in the Far East is probably ancient; archaeological remains (silk textiles from the Loulan site) attest its use in the 2nd century BC.

Red wood were imported into Europe from the Far East to the discovery of America.

The coloring matter contained in the wood are brazilin, present in all red woods and flavanoids which are not very much colored; the red dye, brasilein, is obtained after oxidation of brazilin.

This is a very sensitive dye to light; it is not easy to use and it fixes better on animal fibers than on plant fibers.

China:

Sappan wood was imported to China from India, 10 centuries before JC. Its use is mentioned in the "Jiangxi sheng dashi" or "Large annals of Jiangxi province" dating from the early 16th century.

Japan:

Used for dyeing Emperor Clothes.

Used for printing ukiyo-e.

Korea:

The dye is used during the Joseon period (1392-1910) because the red color is very popular for clothing. It is probably imported from China. This red dye was used extensively until the advent of synthetic dyes.

Preparation process for making paper

Wood is cut into small pieces so that brasilin oxidizes with air contact and to allow good extraction of the dye. It is allowed to swell for one day before boiling it for one hour. The dyeing is achieved by three successive extractions, reducing the amount of water each time. The three infusions are then mixed after filtering.

The mordants used are mainly aluminum (which gives a red color) and iron (which gives a brown color). A violet color is obtained by applying successively an iron mordant and then an aluminum mordant.

China:

Cutting takes place every six years. The heart wood alone is used. It is reduced to small fragments which are soaked for several hours in a heated bath.

After filtering, the liquid is ready for use.

The paper sheets are then soaked in the dye bath.

Japan:

The heart of the trunk and larger branches only are used for the extraction of the dye.

The wood is shredded and then crushed in a pestle. The powder can be left to ferment to increase its dyeing power.

The powder is mixed with water during 3 hours in a big amount of water (20 times its weight). Then the decoction is leaved for fermentation during several days according to the color expected to obtain.

After filtering, the liquid is ready for dyeing.

Dyeing of papers is performed in two ways: pulp dyeing (sukizome) or sheet dyeing (hitashizome by dipping or hikizome by brushing).

To dye paper by soaking, the sheets are plucked one by one between two wooden sticks by their small side. This will keep the sheet flat during soaking.

Usually the pulp is dyed in the vat before forming the sheets.

Korea:

Wood is cut in small pieces which are then boiled. The extract is filtered before using it to dye. Dyeing is usually carried out using a highly concentrated bath and then repeating the operation several times.

The papers are dyed in three ways: dyeing of the pulp (Seonyeombeop), dyeing of the sheet by dipping, brushing and spraying (Huyeombeop ), combination of the both methods (Honyeombeop). Then the paper can be hammered.

Vernacular names

Chinese

Su mu	苏木

Japanese

Suhou	スホウ
Suwo	スホウ

Korean

Somok	소목

French

Brésillet des Indes
Sappan (bois de)

English

Brazilwood
Red bud
Sappan
Sappan wood

Paper names

In Asia and particularly in China, Korea and Japan, the papers are intended for a wide range of use: Papers for calligraphy and art, Papers for ceremonies, Paper as a medium of exchange, money paper, Papers for making clothes, wall hangings and bedding, Papers for architecture, interior design, Papers for crafts of various kinds, for domestic purposes and leisure. The names assigned to the paper refers to different notions: The material used, The place of production, The method of production, Appearance, Dimensions, Use, The name of an artist or a studio etc.

Used part of the plant:

Wood

Use for paper making:

Dye

Mordant

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Su mu

Caesalpinia sappan L.