Premier Zhou Enlai once praised the raw lacquer of Maoba in Lichuan: "The lacquer of Maoba is as clear as oil. When you see the beauty's head, shake the amber and lift the hook. " Indeed, anyone who has used Lichuan Maoba paint knows that it is a very good paint. Its urushiol content is high, its fatness is particularly thick, its brightness is good, its dryness is good, and its concentration is high, which is incomparable to general synthetic paints. Maoba raw lacquer is not only an excellent lacquer material, but also a traditional economic forest. The combination of lacquer and wood has brought great economic benefits to lacquer farmers. Dam paints are divided into two categories: self-produced varieties and wild mountain paints, commonly known as small and medium-sized wood paints and mountain paints. Dam paint has a long history, which was first recorded in the early Qing Dynasty 1684. According to historical records, when the Qing Dynasty changed the land into a stream, the present Maoba Township in Lichuan City belonged to the then Tangya Tusi in Xianfeng period. Because Maoba Town is located in the ancient post road in the north and south of Xiangchuan, which is the only place for merchants, Maoba has become a distribution center for raw lacquer, hence the name of dam lacquer. In the second year of Guangxu, Kuang Erchuan, a Jiangxi lacquer merchant, first treated raw lacquer in Lichuan and set up a purchasing point in Maoba. Dozens of companies collect lacquerware, and their products are exported to dozens of countries and regions such as Japan, France, the United States, Germany, Britain and Hong Kong.

Before liberation, Professor Yan Wen Yoshida of Kyoto University visited here and praised Baqi: "White clouds turn to red clouds, and the sour taste is strange. The world is beautiful and the quality is super global. "

After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), China paid more attention to the development of dam coatings. 1952, Premier Zhou Enlai of the State Council personally wrote the award-winning flag: "Dam-building paint is world-famous". Dam paint has since become famous at home and abroad. According to records, 195 1 year alone, the output of Maoba in Lichuan reaches more than 5,000 tons. After that, due to the ultra-left route, the output once declined. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Maoba Township resumed production, with an annual output of 198 1 more than 1064 tons, becoming the leading exporter of agricultural and sideline products in our state at that time. The local people also composed the dam paint into folk songs to sing: "Maoba dam paint is as clear as oil, and the luster shines on the beauty's head." Shake the tiger's spot and taste the sour fragrance, and lift the elastic thread like a fishhook. Gradually, dam paint became a "golden" signboard in Hubei.

Maoba people transport raw lacquer to all parts of the country after processing, which is widely used in high-grade mahogany furniture, handicrafts, medicine, beer barrels, chemical industry, petroleum industry, mining industry, textile printing and dyeing industry. With the development of raw lacquer processing industry and the best-selling of raw lacquer products, the folk song "Mao Ba lacquer is as clear as oil, its luster shines on a beautiful person's head, its tiger spots taste sour and fragrant, and its elastic thread is like a fishhook" has also spread all over the country. Gradually, dam paint became a golden signboard in Hubei.

It has become the determination and understanding of successive leaders in Maoba Township and even Lichuan City to develop the lacquer industry with science and technology and make dam paint a pillar industry of Maoba. 1997, dam paint middle school was established here, and courses such as dam paint cultivation, processing and development were opened, and more than 1000 applied talents were trained successively. At the same time, Lichuan has established two paint factories, developed more than 10 varieties, and started the industrial production of dam paint. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Lichuan Supply and Marketing Cooperative also produced a scientific and educational film "China Raw Lacquer" by using Shanghai Film Studio, and allocated special funds to invite lacquer farmers to watch it, so as to popularize scientific and technological knowledge. The city has also trained 150 dam paint researchers through the Raw Paint Research Association. "The trademark of Dam Paint was sold as early as 1998." When the leaders of Maoba Township talked about this matter, their mood seemed very heavy.

"Dam paint, there is nothing' domineering'." In late April, I visited Maoba Village and Xianfeng Village in Lichuan, and the lacquer farmers all said so. When I was there, the reporter really felt that the dam paint was no longer brilliant.

However, after all, dam paint is famous, and there are still merchants from Henan, Shandong and Hunan calling to order. Someone in Shenzhen is going to develop a 3000-mu dam coating base in Maoba, because there is no land and no agreement has been reached. Gaoluo Township, Xuanen County, also came here to order lacquer seedlings of 65,438+10,000 mu forest, which was expensive, but there was no supply of seedlings. Finally, the required lacquer seedlings were purchased in Xiaocun Township, Xianfeng County.

In the past, raw lacquer furniture produced by Maoba was famous, and there were five or six raw lacquer furniture stores in a small market town. The reporter only saw one when interviewing in Maobaji Town. On the contrary, there are many chemical paint furniture stores in town. When the reporter asked why their furniture didn't use local raw paint, some shopkeepers said that chemical paint was economical, practical and beautiful, and its performance was completely comparable to that of raw paint, and it was also very environmentally friendly.

The investigation results show that the main reason for the deterioration of dam coatings is the large market impact. According to insiders, taking the production of an ordinary coffee table as an example, the cost of obtaining 30 yuan with dam paint is only about 10 yuan of chemical paint. From the technological point of view, it takes about 8 hours to use raw paint in seven or eight processes, while it takes no more than 3 hours to use chemical paint in four processes.

Dam paint is mainly exported to Japan. According to authorities of Lichuan Foreign Trade Department, the sales volume has dropped sharply now. Lichuan 1985 exported more than 50 tons, which was reduced to 20 tons last year.

According to reports, there are three main reasons for the decline of dam paint in the international market: first, the original paint does not meet the requirements of modern life, mainly because the film has poor ultraviolet resistance; Some consumers have skin allergies. The second is caused by comparative interests. Since 1996, the international and domestic market prices have been rising continuously, reaching the level of 6000 yuan per ton every year, thus increasing the unit cost of products and reducing the comparative benefits of manufacturers. In Japan, dam paint is mainly used in automobile manufacturing. Due to the increase of unit cost, dam paint is still only used in the production of luxury cars. Third, the application process is relatively complex, which increases the difficulty of production.

Baila Village in Maoba Township sold more than tons of raw lacquer 10 to the country in 1950s, and was named as "the first village of raw lacquer production in Hubei Province".