According to the processing method, rice paper can be generally divided into three types: raw Xuan, cooked Xuan and semi-cooked Xuan.
The categories of Shengxuan include Jiagong, Jade Edition, Jingpi, Danxuan, Mianlian, etc. Shengxuan is unprocessed, has strong water absorption and water-clearing properties, and is easy to produce rich ink rhyme changes. Use it to splash ink and accumulate ink, which can absorb water halo ink seals and create rich and colorful artistic effects. It is often used in freehand landscapes. Although Shengxuan's paintings are full of ink interest, they are fixed as soon as he starts writing. The ink penetrates quickly and is difficult to master.
Mature xuan is coated with alum during processing, so the paper is harder than raw xuan, and its water absorption capacity is weak, so the ink and color will not spread when used. Therefore, Shuxuan's characteristics make it suitable for painting meticulous paintings rather than freehand ink paintings. The disadvantage is that "alum leakage" or brittleness may occur if stored for a long time. Ripe xuan can be reprocessed. Coral, mica paper, cold gold, wine gold, wax gold flower rib, pink tiger skin, etc. are all types of paper that are reprocessed from ripe xuan. If it is born in Xuan, it has strong water absorption. When writing with light ink, the ink penetrates and melts easily. Writing in thick ink is relatively easy. Therefore, when creating calligraphy and painting, you need to master the shades of ink so that you can be handy.
Half-cooked Xuan is also processed from raw Xuan, and its water-absorbing ability is somewhere between the first two. "Jade Ban Xuan" falls into this category.
The rice paper varieties can be divided into three categories according to the raw material ratio: cotton, pure leather, and special pure; according to the specifications, it can be divided into four feet, five feet, six feet, eight feet, two feet, and six feet. There are many kinds; according to the thickness, it can be divided into tie pattern, continuous, single Xuan, sandwich Xuan, etc.; according to the paper texture, it can be divided into single silk path, double silk path, rib pattern, turtle pattern, white deer pattern, etc.; in addition, there are raw and cooked ones. There are about 60 kinds of them, such as alum embroidery, cicada robes, colored gold sprinkles, antique color embroidery, watermark tiles, etc. Generally speaking, cotton material refers to paper with a raw material sandalwood content of about 40%, which is thinner and lighter; pure paper refers to paper with a sandalwood content of more than 60%; and special paper refers to a paper with a sandalwood content of more than 80%. . The heavier the leather component, the better the paper can withstand tension and the better the quality. The corresponding effect is: paper with a higher proportion of sandalwood can better reflect rich ink levels and better moistening effect, and can withstand the force of writing. Rub it repeatedly without breaking the paper surface. This may be one of the reasons why cotton rice paper is mostly used for calligraphy and leather paper is mostly used for painting - it’s not that you can’t write on pure leather or special leather paper, but that cotton rice paper can basically meet the needs of calligraphy ( Unless your calligraphy style requires the pen to be applied over and over in the same place).