There were many kinds of paper in ancient China, but hemp paper, bamboo paper and leather paper were mainly used for writing and printing. Hemp paper is divided into white hemp paper and jute paper. White linen paper has a shiny front and a slightly rough back; Jute paper is slightly yellow and slightly thicker than white hemp paper, but it is suitable for writing or printing, and this kind of paper is durable and highly valued by people. As early as the Tang dynasty, the imperial court drafted imperial edicts with jute paper, so it was later called? Cao Zhao?
For what? Grass hemp? , Song and Yuan Dynasties (including Liao and Jin Dynasties), many of them were printed on these two kinds of paper.
In the Five Dynasties, there was a kind of precious paper, which was called Honesty Hall Paper. The so-called Integrity Hall is the name of the palace of Li Yang, a martyr in the Southern Tang Dynasty. It can be seen that this kind of paper is specially made for the court of Southern Tang Dynasty. This is a kind of paper, produced in Chizhou and Zhangzhou, Anhui. It is said that this kind of paper should be made of water from knocking on ice in the twelfth lunar month, so Mei, a poet in the Song Dynasty, wrote a poem praising this kind of paper, saying: soak it in the plug stream, knock on the ice, lift the curtain and cut the fat evenly. Dry and smooth as jade, there is no doubt about it. ?
Later, this paper was only for literati to play with, because it was expensive and had no universal value.
In the Song Dynasty, bamboo was used to make paper, which was called bamboo paper. Zhou Mi, a poet in the Song Dynasty, said in the article Bamboo Slips before his book Return to the Heart and Miscellaneous Knowledge: In the last years of Xi Chun, bamboo paper was first used, which was several inches high and more than a foot wide? Bamboo paper is yellow in color, so it is also called? Yellow paper? . Bamboo is produced in the south of China, so bamboo paper is mostly produced in the south. Masha Town, Fujian Province, not only has a developed printing industry, but also a developed paper industry. The paper produced is bamboo paper. What is it called? Mashed paper? Most of them are used by local printing books, so there are many bamboo papers in Song Mashan. Bamboo paper is fragile. Wu Yueshu's bamboo paper is better. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Chen denied Lu and thought that the bamboo paper in Yue was better. A is elsewhere? And said:? Today, Wu people take bamboo, drench it with plum water, dry it in the sun, beat it repeatedly, and the velvet is gone, and the bones are bright and clean. It is called paste, and its color is like wax. If good ink is used as a word, its light can be distinguished. Therefore, it came out recently, so he competed with Shu production. ? In other words, Wu people reprocessed Vietnamese bamboo paper and made a kind of bamboo paper similar to that made in Sichuan.
Paper made of bark is called parchment, also called cotton paper. Common parchment and mulberry paper are smooth and white in texture. The Collection of Mr. Changli, which was carved by Liao Yingzhong in Stone Caitang in the Southern Song Dynasty, was printed on mulberry paper, which is a rare carving in the Song Dynasty.
Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, papermaking technology has been continuously improved, and the quality of paper has also been continuously improved. The famous rice paper is leather paper. In the past, it was thought that the raw material of rice paper was bamboo bark or mulberry bark. Today, Mr. Pan Jixing thinks it is green sandalwood bark made of elm bark. Because this kind of paper is produced in Jingxian County, Xuanzhou District, Anhui Province, it is called Xuan paper. This kind of paper is white, delicate and tough, especially with excellent ink absorption, so it is widely used for printing books and paintings. What happened afterwards? Cotton paper? 、? Half paper? 、? Tracts of paper? , are all different varieties of rice paper.
In Ming Dynasty, Ge used bamboo paper to print books. The paper used is specially made by Jiangxi 18 years old. What's thicker? Raw edges? , thin? Mrs. Mao? (See Chang Zhi Draft). Wool paper or wool paper is slightly beige, with smooth front and crisp texture. After washing and drying, most of the printed books are wool paper. Due to the improvement of papermaking technology, the Ming and Qing Dynasties
At that time, many new varieties of paper appeared, such as Hua Kai paper produced in Kaihua County, Zhejiang Province, also known as Peach Blossom Paper, with fine and white texture and strong toughness. In the early Qing Dynasty, Neifu and Wuyingtang carved books and printed them with this paper.
Another example is Taishilian paper, but the color is slightly yellow and the texture is similar to that of Hua Kai paper. During the Qing Dynasty and Yongzheng period, ancient and modern books were printed with copper movable type, that is, Hua Kai paper and Taishi Lianzhi paper were used.
In ancient times, paper was mainly made by hand, with unbalanced technology and different paper quality. However, the basic characteristics of hemp paper, bamboo paper and leather paper are generally mastered, which has certain reference significance for the dating of ancient books.