Most of China's paintings in the Tang and Song Dynasties were painted on silk, and only after the Yuan Dynasty did a lot of paintings on paper. Silk is a kind of silk fabric, which is rarely used now; Modern painting mostly uses Xuan paper. Xuan paper is produced in Jingxian County, Anhui Province, and belongs to Xuanzhou in ancient times, so it is called Xuan paper. This kind of paper is made of sandalwood as the main raw material. Paper is soft and tough, white and elegant in color, beautiful in texture, smooth but not slippery, soft but not brittle. Xuan paper, with distinct ink layers and smooth rhyme, has always been regarded as a good product.
Xuan paper can be divided into raw Xuan and cooked Xuan. The cooked propaganda is treated with alum, and the ink is not easy to penetrate. Therefore, the painting is neat and meticulous, and can be repeatedly rendered and colored. It is suitable for painting green and colorful meticulous landscapes, showing a brilliant artistic effect. Shengxuan is unprocessed, with strong water absorption and hydrophilicity, and it is easy to produce rich Mo Yun changes. By splashing and accumulating ink, the artistic effect of collecting water, blooming ink and emphasizing color is achieved. Used for freehand brushwork. Familiar with propaganda, it is easy to master ink painting, but it is also easy to have problems of fluency and stagnation. Although Sheng Xuan's paintings are full of interest in ink, they are written immediately, and ink permeates quickly, which is not easy to master. Therefore, general landscape painters like to use semi-cooked Xuan paper, because it has both Mo Yun changes and is not too transparent, and it is easy to master rubbing, rubbing, tracing and dyeing, and can express complex and rich brushwork. This kind of paper can be made by yourself: dissolve a little alum in cold water, dip it in water with a brush pen and brush it evenly in health care, pay attention to the brush, and there can be no leakage marks. Concentration of alum water. To determine the degree of raw and cooked rice paper, you can touch some alum water on your tongue before brushing your teeth, which will have a slightly astringent taste. If it is too astringent, it will be cooked. Xuan paper is easy to break when wet, so it can be put under old newspapers. After brushing, you can take it down and dry it with the newspaper.
Xuan paper is more expensive, and it can be replaced by Korean paper in Northeast China, Jiajiang Xuan paper in Sichuan, Liuji paper in Jiangxi and lining paper in Shaanxi, Sichuan and Guizhou. They are cheap semi-cooked rice paper.
The earliest rice paper was made of celadon bark fiber as the main raw material. Ebony is a deciduous tree with hard wood, which is unique to China. This kind of tree can be up to 20 meters in height and 1.7 meters in diameter. The bark is gray, the leaves are oval and the leaves have fine teeth. Flowers are unisexual, male flowers are clustered, and female flowers are solitary. Rosewood likes calcium and is rooted in calcareous soil and cracks in rocks. Pteroceltis tatarinowii has one characteristic. When you reach a certain age, the bark will naturally crack and fall off. So its bark has become a natural product dedicated to the cause of human culture. Sandalwood trees are distributed all over Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other provinces, especially in Jingxian and Xuancheng of Anhui.
After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, more than ten kinds of raw materials such as mulberry, hemp, bamboo and bamboo were used as materials for rice paper. The prepared Xuan paper is fine in texture, soft and tough, white in color, even in ink absorption, smooth but not slippery, thin and firm, non-corrosive, not afraid of water immersion and sun exposure, and does not change color for a long time. In painting and calligraphy, it can show the shade and wetness of pen and ink, and the changes are endless, which can make the picture interesting.
Both Sejong and Gaozong in the Ming Dynasty loved calligraphy and painting, which greatly increased the demand for Xuan paper and made the paper industry in Xuanzhou and other places prosperous. In Qing Dynasty, Xuan paper was exported to Europe, won the gold medal in Panama International Fair and won the world reputation.
Types of rice paper
The main raw materials for papermaking are mostly plant fibers, mainly bamboo and wood. The fiber of wood is elastic, which makes the paper have strong ink absorption. Bamboo fiber is brittle and hard, and the paper made of it has weak ink absorption, so it can be divided into two categories:
Weak blotting paper: made of bamboo fiber, the paper is smooth, the ink floats on the surface, and it is not easy to open slowly, so the color is bright. Mainly paper, such as Tang paper, clay paper and today's foreign paper also belong to this category.
Integrity paper: a famous paper used by Li Houzhu in the Southern Tang Dynasty, which is as famous as Tingguimo. It is characterized by smoothness and compactness, and is known as "as slippery as spring ice and as dense as a seal". It is the top grade of weak blotting paper, which is almost called jade water paper, and the inferior one is called cold jade. "Light and crisp" is its characteristic.
Shu Gui: According to legend, the ancient papermaking method of Cai Lun was spread in West Shu, and the Shu Gui produced by it was quite famous since the Tang Dynasty, such as Xue Taogui and Xie Gonggui. It is said that its water quality is pure, so its paper is great. "Thank the official document" is named after the teacher's creativity, because it has ten colors, also known as ten-color text. "Xue Taogui" is named after pottery, but this kind of colored paper is made according to the ancient method, which is easy to dye and cannot be circulated for a long time. Just for fun.
Tibetan scripture paper: Tibetan scripture paper is a paper used by Buddhist temples to write or print Buddhist scriptures, also known as Jin Sugui, which is available in yellow and white.
Clay gold and wax jars commonly used in Ming and Qing dynasties are rare today, and cold light jars are rare even if they have the lowest appearance. Bird paper made in Japan is widely used now, but it is expensive, not durable and really not practical.
Strong blotting paper: mostly wood fiber, with strong ink absorption and rough surface. When ink falls off the paper, it is easy to disperse, and writing is often done with paste or wax. The paper is bright and delicate, mainly Xuan paper. Although it appeared late, it has replaced paper and become the most valuable writing paper.
Xuan Paper and Imitation Xuan: The most valuable writing paper today is Yupan Xuan. Lime for yubanxuan, mulberry, short wood, straw and sandalwood skin has the strongest ink absorption and the best texture. Xuan paper is named after Xuancheng, Anhui Province, but Xuancheng itself does not produce paper, and the paper around it is scattered. Jade board rice paper is not used by everyone, because it absorbs ink, so it is very hard for people who use it too slowly: as long as they stop writing, the ink will seep out and form a big ink ball! However, some people use its characteristics to write distinctive characters, such as Bao's light ink book and Qi Baishi's freehand brushwork.
Because rice paper is too ink-absorbing and difficult to write, some people have improved it: either calendering, adding glue alum or adding pulp. After improvement, the ink absorption of rice paper is slightly reduced, making it easier to write.
Wool paper, Yuan Shu paper and cotton paper: Xuan paper is expensive and is often used when learning Chinese characters. This kind of paper was originally used to print books, but because of its good paper quality, some people bought books and cut them out to practice writing, so it is called "pleated paper". This kind of paper is mainly made of bamboo, which is yellow in color and excellent in texture, which is very different from the machine-made selvage paper used by primary and secondary school students now. Yuanshu paper is similar to fringed paper, but it is unknown today. The cotton paper produced in this province can also be regarded as this kind, with good texture, toughness and low price, which can be used as calligraphy.
China's paper culture has a long history, and there are many famous papers in the past dynasties. Early paper, such as wadding paper, Baqiao paper, Juyan paper, Chinese paper, Robnaoer paper, dry beach slope paper, Cai Hou paper, etc. , in the description, but also in modern archaeology. Due to its long history and limited production at that time, these papers were not passed down from generation to generation.
Introduce some famous papers after Tang and Song Dynasties.
1, rice paper. Named after being produced in Xuanzhou. It was made before the Tang Dynasty, and sandalwood bark was used as raw material. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, it was made of more than ten kinds of raw materials such as bamboo, hemp and mulberry. Xuan paper is soft and tough, beautiful in texture, white and delicate, and its rubbings are undamaged, which is beneficial to writing and painting. Mo Yun has distinct layers, unique penetration, initial absorption of moistening ink, dripping ink and coloring, which can show the unique style of painting and calligraphy, writing with backbone and drawing with charm. In addition, it is aging-resistant, moth-proof, heat-resistant and light-resistant, suitable for long-term preservation. Xuan paper, which has the reputation of "Millennium paper" and "king of paper", can be divided into raw Xuan paper, cooked Xuan paper and semi-cooked Xuan paper according to its processing technology. Raw rice paper, also known as base paper, is used directly after production, with strong water absorption and ink wetting, and is strongly used for splash painting and freehand painting. The brush strokes are clear, dry, wet, thick, light and changeable. Cooked rice paper is called cooked rice paper or alum rice paper by soaking alum in raw rice paper. It is made by adding alum, calendering, pulping, filling powder, dark color, sprinkling gold, waxing and sizing. It is not easy to smudge when painting and calligraphy, and it is suitable for neat and meticulous meticulous meticulous painting and writing official script. This paper will leak over time. Hard yellow paper used to write scriptures in the Tang Dynasty and honesty paper in the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty are all cooked rice paper. Semi-cooked propaganda is a kind of raw propaganda soaked in various plant juices. It has weak water resistance and is used for writing or painting. It's getting dark, and it's slowly dispersing. Suitable for writing small screens, album pages or drawing part-time Xuan paper is divided into three categories according to the proportion of leather: cotton, clean leather and extra clean leather. Divided into two feet, three feet, four feet, five feet, six feet, seven feet, eight feet, two feet, six feet, four feet, six feet and eight feet. According to the thickness, there are single announcement, double announcement, second floor, third floor and fourth floor. The thinnest rice paper is specially made, which is mainly used for rubbing, copying, printing ancient books, binding and printing spectrum; The product names include Lian Mian, Zhahua, ribs, turtle back, cicada and so on.
2. Xue, a famous paper in the late Tang and Five Dynasties. It is a processed dyed paper, named after Xue Tao's invention. Xue Tao, a native of Chang 'an in Tang Dynasty, lived in Sichuan with her father in her childhood, but after her father died, she became a prostitute. She was good at writing poems and lyrics. At that time, she thought the paper was too big and personally instructed the workers to change the small paper. It is also called "Huanhua Stationery" because it is made by Huanhuaxi near Xue Tao's residence. According to legend, Xue Tao once scattered plant petals on paper and processed them into colored notes. This paper many-hued is exquisite and delicate, also known as "Songhua Stationery". There were imitations in later dynasties.
3. Water pattern paper, a famous paper in the Tang Dynasty, is also called "flower curtain paper". This kind of paper can display bright lines or patterns except curtain lines when viewed in light, aiming at increasing the potential aesthetic feeling of the paper. There are two methods: one is to weave a texture or pattern with thread on the paper curtain. Because of the curtain, the pulp here is thinner when making paper, so the texture is brighter and appears on the paper; Secondly, molds made of wood or other materials engraved with textures or patterns are pressed on paper with hadrons, just like the watermark patterns of securities paper and currency paper now. Shen's "Total Record of Dan and Lead" said: "In the Tang Dynasty, there was a kind of paper called' Yanbojian', which was covered with water-like paper patterns."
4. Chengxin Tang Paper Industry. The Xuan paper produced in Huizhou in the Southern Tang Dynasty is as thin as an egg film, as clean as jade, as thin as 50 feet of paper, and even and thin from beginning to end. Li Yu, the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, especially loved this kind of paper, and deliberately used the place where he read the memorial to store it for long-term use in the palace, so it was called "Cheng Xin Tang Paper" and was regarded as an artistic treasure by later generations.
5. Thank you. This is a processed dyed paper, which was invented by Xie Jingchu (10 19- 1084) in the early Song Dynasty, hence the name. Inspired by Xue Tao paper stationery, Xie designed and manufactured "ten kinds of stationery" in Yizhou, that is, ten kinds of special paper for letters. This kind of paper is colorful, novel, elegant and interesting. It has ten colors, such as crimson, pink, apricot, bright yellow, dark blue, light green, light green, green and light cloud, which are just as famous as Xue Tao's notes.
6. Korean paper, also known as Korean paper and Korean tribute paper. Paper produced in ancient Korea (also known as Koguryo, South Korea). Chen's "Negative Record" in the Northern Song Dynasty said: "Korean paper is made of cotton cocoons, white as silk, tough as silk, used for writing, and the ink color is lovely. This China has nothing, which is also a miracle. " This kind of paper is mainly thick curtains, and the spacing between paper lines is larger and thicker than that of white paper. Through careful study, most of the Korean paper used for writing in China during the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties was mulberry paper. In the Qing Dynasty, China had imitation Korean paper.
7. Golden millet paper. Song Taizu and Zhao Kuangyin advocated Buddhism, and the wind of sutra printing prevailed all over the country. In order to meet this need, at that time, she specially made a kind of hard yellow paper with thick and light stripes, also called wax yellow warp paper, or Jinsu stationery. Jinsu Temple is located at the foot of Jinsu Mountain in Haiyan, Zhejiang. Because copying scriptures in the temple requires a lot of paper, it is named "Jin Su Notes". It is characterized by hard and dense texture, light transmission, moth-proof and waterproof, beautiful color and long service life. Although it has lasted for thousands of years, it is like a new system.
8. Bai Luzhi, ancient paper. Supreme Treasure: Biography of Bai Luzhi was written by Hushan. There are three kinds of products: blue, yellow and white. White is bright, clean and lovely, and its toughness is better than Jiangxi paper. Zhao used to write and paint, which was wide and called white by his elders. Later, it was renamed Bailuyuan. "
9, tracts of paper, ancient paper. An excellent white strong writing paper. Huang Songting's poem "Zhang Yuji, the Second Rhyme of Wang Bing's Huiyu Board Paper": "Gutian Xiaojian benefits me a hundred times, and I believe Xi Weng can solve jade." Yuan Fei wrote "Shu Jian Pu": "Today, wood bark is used as paper, and Cai Lun's method is used in Shu. The paper has jade plate, tribute, classics and luster." Shaoxing official records: "Jade plate paper is as smooth as jade." Since the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, great breakthroughs have been made in papermaking raw materials and production technology, and many fine products have appeared, which have become precious works of art for people to watch. The "Xuande Tribute" made in the Ming Dynasty has outstanding production skills. There are many kinds of processed paper, such as five-color art paper, Jinhua five-color paper, five-color curtain paper, magnetic blue paper and so on. Xue Tao's notes in the Tang Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty and Jin Sushan's classic notes in the Song Dynasty were also copied. Adding mica powder to this imitation paper reveals bright and dazzling particles on the paper, which is an innovation of the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, a kind of golden stationery in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province was once famous. Since the Qing Dynasty, there have been many kinds of paper copied and processed, especially during the reign of Kanggan (17-18th century), and the products were the most exquisite, with paper products handed down from generation to generation. During the Qianlong period, the imitation of "Chengxintang Paper" was mostly bucket-shaped, with thick paper, which could be uncovered layer by layer, mostly colored powder notes, and also painted with mud, gold, water, flowers and birds. There is a rectangular seal of Li Shu Zhu Xiao on the paper. The seal is "Ganlong Integrity Hall Paper" and the paper is leather. Qing imitation "Xue Tao Notes" is a small rectangular pink note with a small rectangular seal and "Xue Tao Notes" printed on it, which is mostly used for stationery. During the Qianlong period, he copied Jin Su Jing Paper. Emperor Qianlong liked to write with this kind of paper and printed the Paramita Sutra with this kind of paper. Some famous paintings in the Forbidden City also use this paper as a "preface", which is still preserved in the Palace Museum. During the Qianlong period, the famous paper "Mingren Temple Paper" in the Yuan Dynasty was also copied, such as "Qing imitation Mingren Temple painted wishful powder wax paper". Paper is made of mud gold ruyi moire, with thick paper, smooth surface, even paper and few fiber bundles, belonging to mulberry paper. This paper has fine processing on both sides, yellow powder and wax on the back, and gold foil on it. Athena Chu is printed on the official script of "Imitating Mingren Temple Paper in Qianlong Year" in the lower right corner of the front of the paper. This kind of paper is the treasure of the inner government, with extremely high cost and high technical level. In the Qing Dynasty, besides antique paper, there were some innovative products. For example, the "Plum Blossom Seal" preserved in the Palace Museum is made of paper. The leather paper and paper are coated with powdered wax, and then the ice plum pattern is painted with clay gold or clay silver, and the square "Plum Blossom Seal" is printed on it. This kind of paper was created in Kangxi period of Qing Dynasty, and became popular in Qianlong period, which is thinner than the imitation paper of Mingren Temple. "Five-color powder wax banknotes" were newly created in Qing Dynasty. This kind of pastel paper, which started in the Tang Dynasty, is a multi-layer rice paper with the advantages of both art paper and wax paper. The backing paper is powdered and dyed into five colors: blue, white, pink, light green and yellow. Calendering by adding wax by hand is called "five-color wax paper". Some use rubber powder to coat paper with fine gold and silver powder or gold and silver foil to make it shine like gold and silver powder or gold and silver foil on colored powder wax banknotes, which is called "sprinkling gold and silver five-color wax banknotes"; There are original clay paintings depicting landscapes, Yunlong, flowers and birds, broken branches and other patterns, which are called "golden lacquer five-color wax notes" This paper is waterproof, smooth, transparent, moth-proof and can be hung for a long time. After writing and painting, ink easily condenses on the surface of paper, making calligraphy as black and bright as pigment. Because of its high price, it is often used to write Yichun stickers in palace halls, as a supplement to walls or as a preface to calligraphy and painting, and also as an indoor screen, which is more common in writing plaques and wall stickers in palace halls, but rarely circulated among the people. Gan Long Neifu is the most exquisite, also known as "Ku Lashu". Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, a new kind of processing paper has appeared, that is, decal paper. Paper material is fine and tough leather paper, thick and thin. Patterns are mostly landscapes, flowers and birds, fish and insects, dragons and phoenixes, moire patterns or water patterns, and there are also stories or characters. When this paper is transparent, it can show a beautiful dark picture. The Story Notes of Flower Wax Printing preserved in the Forbidden City is made of fine curtain leather paper with evenly knotted fibers. The paper is thick and mostly khaki in color. The paper is covered with dark lines of characters' story patterns such as Fu on the red wall and Lu Tong making tea. Painting styles are all influenced by court painting. The surface of paper is pink and fine, which is suitable for writing with pen and ink. The processing method of this kind of paper is to add powder and dye, then carve the picture on a hard mold and wax the paper. The pattern displayed on the mold presents a bright and transparent picture due to pressure. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has also produced ribbed paper, hair stationery, muscovite stationery, and various carved and printed wallpapers. The processing technology of paper has created various technologies, such as dyeing, waxing, calendering, powder application, gold tracing, gold and silver sprinkling, alum glue and so on. People describe the complexity and hardship of the process as "it is not easy to cut paper, but it is seventy-two." During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the paper industry in China reached a high level in all aspects. Anhui rice paper, Jiangsu pastel paper and Fujian, Zhejiang and Shaanxi bamboo paper were all famous varieties at that time, which spread abroad and made great contributions to the development and exchange of human culture.