Both of these two types are cooked rice paper. The cicada-winged rice paper is a very thin rice paper. The mica rice paper means that the rice paper is mixed with thin mica fragments. The paper looks a little silvery, so it is called It has pearlescent luster and is better for calligraphy and decoration. It is better to use cicada wings for fine brush painting.
Ripe xuan refers to raw xuan that has been dipped in alum, which can be understood as the surface of raw xuan is brushed with a coating. The characteristic is that the paper is harder than raw paper and does not infiltrate for a long time after being exposed to water. It is suitable for every stroke to be clear, focusing on retaining and reflecting the subtle brushstrokes. It is mostly used in fine brushwork flowers and birds, small regular script, medium regular script (Zhiyong, Chu Suiliang, etc.), small running cursive script, individual exquisite official script (such as Cao Quan stele, ritual stele, etc.) and small seal script.
The difference between raw Xuan and cooked Xuan and half-cooked and half-cooked rice paper:
1. Raw Xuan absorbs water, cooked Xuan does not absorb water, and half-cooked and half-cooked Xuan absorbs water in between. 2. There are many kinds of raw materials, such as pure leather and special pure leather. They have strong water absorption capacity and are very sensitive to the shades of ink. They are suitable for freehand painting. Although cotton is also very absorbent, it is not sensitive to ink and is more suitable for calligraphy. 3. Ripe rice is generally divided into cicada and mica, which basically do not absorb water. It is generally used for Gongbi painting, because Gongbi requires multiple passes of coloring and repeated rendering. It does not absorb water and is suitable for this painting technique. Small regular script can also be written on cooked paper. 4. There are many kinds of half-cooked rice paper, including leather paper, yuanshu paper, and boiled hammer paper. Generally, paper with rough edges for calligraphy practice can be classified as half-cooked.
Landscapes in ancient times were generally drawn on half-cooked paper. Half-cooked rice paper is suitable for writing calligraphy and painting landscapes. You can also draw other things, it is very widely used, easy to master, and suitable for beginners.