A husband is a thing, beautiful and precious, honest and upright, clean and chaste. It contains Zhang Yunzao, which is really gentle. Take the disadvantages of others and make them new. It's comfortable to take it, and it's rolled up when you give it up. Flexibility and extensibility, quietness and expressiveness. If you are a good girl, you will live alone. The weight is connected to the toilet, and the pen is used to fly books. Write your love in Wan Li and concentrate on a corner.
-Fu Xian's Paper Fu in the Western Jin Dynasty
Paper is something that can be seen everywhere and discarded at will. In ancient times, it was once a treasure that only nobles and princes were qualified to use. Papermaking has a long history. After Cai Lun's improvement, he finally stepped off the altar and gradually became a thing in people's homes.
In the hands of literati, paper is one of Four Treasures of the Study, which can not only support the deep friendship with friends, but also express feelings and happiness by borrowing books. Paper is the carrier of records, the sailing boat carrying civilization, and one of the forces that Chinese civilization influences the world pattern.
The ancients loved to study and create, and paper as thin as cicada wings could also play with flowers, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, famous papers were dazzling and colorful. Tu Long, a scholar in Ming Dynasty, once recorded precious paper notes at that time in Textual Research: Yongle Middle School, Jiangxi Xishan government-run paper making, and the thickest and best ones were Li Anqi and Guanyin paper. There is also a chapter about paper in Gao Lian's "Eight Chapters of Respect for Life", which records dozens of kinds of paper notes from ancient times to that time, such as concentrated paper, side-arranged paper and Cheng Xintang paper, which shows the prosperity of creation.
Today, let's take a look at some ancient notebooks that still exist.
Don? Powdered crayons
Powdered wax notes first began in the Tang Dynasty, also known as Powdered Wax Xuan, and were used to write imperial edicts. They are wax paper money with white mineral powder added. Because of the combination of art paper filling and wax paper, it has the advantages of both, so it is not only resistant to ink, but also convenient for painting and calligraphy, waterproof and can be preserved for a long time. Even after hundreds of years, it is still as tough as new.
Mi Fei's History Book records that Chu Suiliang's Ode to the Dead Tree was written in pastel paper. During the reign of Kanggan in the Qing Dynasty, pastel wax banknotes were popular, mostly made of five-color paper, pastel and wax paper, which was called "five-color pastel wax". Then use clay gold and other methods to draw patterns on it.
Pastel crayons have different styles and characteristics in different periods. If you paint gold and silver on them, it is "painting gold and waxing". If you use gold foil and silver foil, it is "golden powder waxed paper"; During the Qianlong period, a large number of ice plum patterns were painted for decoration, which were called "Plum Blossom Jade Edition Banknotes", and others included "Five-color Wax Banknotes for Un-yong Kim" and "Five-color Wax Banknotes for Un-yong Kim".
This pastel wax paper imitating the painting of Mingren Temple is a yellow pastel wax paper made of mulberry bark. Both sides of the paper are coated with yellow powder and wax, and then painted with clay gold into a desirable moire pattern. The back of the paper is sprinkled with gold flakes, which are smooth and delicate, and there are few fibers. 3-4 sheets can be opened layer by layer, and each sheet can be used. This kind of paper was collected in the national treasury during the Qianlong period, and the cost was extremely high, which was only used by the royal family.
Five-color wax notes sprinkled with gold and silver are often used to fill the wall of the palace and write Yichun post poems because of their brilliance. This colorful stationery sprinkled with gold or cold gold wax was an expensive luxury at that time. Unfortunately, the production technology of powder wax stationery was lost in the early 20th century.
Don? Hard yellow paper
Hard yellow paper, also known as "yellow wax paper", is also an artistic processing paper in the Tang Dynasty. For example, Zhao Xihu's Collection of Clear Records in the Cave records: "Hard yellow paper was used by the Tang people to write scriptures, dyed with phellodendron, and taken to avoid smoking. Because its paper is smooth, people who are good at writing often use it as a word. All the originals of the two kings in this world, or hard yellow paper, are imitations of the Tang Dynasty, but they are not originals. " It is known that hard yellow paper is made by soaking in phellodendron amurense juice.
In addition to phellodendron amurense, there is also a waxing process in the production process. Waxing can not only prevent moisture, but also reduce the water absorption of paper and prevent excessive smudging. At the same time, it can improve the transparency of paper and provide convenience for double-hook copywriting, which is called "Xiang Tuo".
The appearance of hard yellow paper after many processes is yellow or light yellow, which is not only shiny, elastic and hard, but also makes a crisp sound when shaking, which shows that the texture is excellent. Because Phellodendron amurense can also prevent moth and insect, and can be preserved for a long time, it is often used to write classics or copy ancient posts.
This roll of hard yellow paper in the Forbidden City is well preserved, with perforated edges and paper ropes connected in series. It is like a book, like a loose-leaf book, which is easy to carry and keep. It should be used to write scriptures or record official files.
Five Dynasties Cheng Xin Tang Zhi
Chengxin Tang paper is a famous paper in Huizhou during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It is famous for its excellent texture, such as preserved egg film and jade luster. According to the Records of Huizhou Prefecture, there are many good papers in the room, which have the names of frost and sincerity. At that time, Chengxin Tangzhi, Wei Long Zaoxin inkstone, Li Tingsi Limo and Wang Boli were also called "Huizhou Four Treasures of the Study".
Li Yu, the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, called it "the king of paper". He not only set the imperial supervisor in charge of production, but also set up Chengxintang, which was specially used by Dr. Li Sheng, the founding emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, to store this kind of paper, hence the name. Many of Li Houzhu's masterpieces were completed on this paper.
Tang paper also won the love of later literati, and many famous works were handed down on this paper, such as Li's Five Horses Map and Ouyang Xiu's New Tang Book. Cai Xiang, one of the four great calligraphers in the Northern Song Dynasty, even wrote Cheng Xin Tang Tie for it.
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the integrity paper was still very popular, and Dong Qichang didn't even dare to write on it when he got it. It can be seen that its quality is excellent, no wonder it was rated as the best paper in the history of papermaking.
The quality is extremely high, but it is rarely passed down from generation to generation, and later generations copy it frequently. In the Qing Dynasty, Ruyi Pavilion also copied the paper of Integrity Hall, and the production process was extremely complicated, which almost integrated all the processing technologies handed down from the Tang Dynasty. After modern restoration, the integrity paper has reappeared in the world and entered the international market.
Notes of Song Tan
Tan Sitong's notes were first seen in Su Yijian's Four Great Classical Novels's Study:
Shu people make ten-color stationery, and ten colors are a couch. At the end of each painting, bamboo is mixed with water of ten colors and dyed one by one. If you dye it, you will abandon it and bury it. If you catch it, it will be glorious. You can't name it! If you study it one by one in the text, you will find that flowers and trees have various ways. Use fine cloth first and make it stiff with batter. Those who hide characters are called "caviar notes" and "Luo (Wen) notes". Today, there is something wrong with the current.
It can be seen that Tan's lettering actually originated from the "caviar lettering" in the Tang Dynasty. Craftsmen carve patterns with fine cloth to make them float on the surface and make them more obvious. Today, we can still see Tan's figure in Mo Bao in the Song Dynasty, such as Cai Xiang's "Tong Jin Ding Chang", in which there are butterfly ribs.
In the Qing Dynasty, on the basis of this paper, the manufacturing technology was improved and developed. The paper is covered with gold foil, which is thicker and thinner than ordinary rice paper and is not easy to penetrate. During the reign of Kang Yong, Wang Chengzhi, a skilled craftsman in Hangzhou, made wide curtain rib paper with copper curtains, which is called "narrow curtain rib" in the world. Tam stationery is luxurious and lovely because it is sprinkled with gold foil, and it is one of the more popular paper products in Qing Dynasty.
This kind of ribbed gold paper hidden in the Forbidden City is also one of the best. Paper has an obvious pattern of intersecting thin lines in the horizontal and vertical directions, but it is different from the curtain pattern. Its paper color is light yellow, and it is made of fine gold foil, which is really the top grade of Tam stationery.
Huasong stationery
The technique of "flower carving" refers to pressing the impression of carved wood or other materials on the paper with strong force, so that the pattern is looming on the paper. The flower decoration technology recorded in the literature can be traced back to the Five Dynasties, but only the Northern Song Dynasty was found in the flower stationery handed down from generation to generation.
You Mei is a kind of paper with water patterns, which was very popular in Sui and Tang Dynasties. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Yang Shen's "Total Record of Dan and Lead" quoted Tang Taizong's poem "Water shakes the text, waves turn into brocade" and wrote: "There was paper in the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, this kind of paper is also called "Yan Bojian".
Imagine the white flowing water on paper, such as the small river of Linqing River, how can it not make people feel lyrical? Therefore, the ancient water-patterned paper is mostly used as stationery, which is precious because it sends feelings thousands of miles away.
There are various patterns of flowers, and the rib stationery mentioned above is actually a kind of flower stationery. In addition to butterfly patterns, there are grass patterns, broken branches and tortoise shell patterns of the phoenix wearing peony.
At present, most of the discoveries are in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but the crafts in the Ming and Qing Dynasties are different from those in the Song Dynasty, with different patterns and styles. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was possible to print complex pictures of people and famous story notes on tough leather paper with different thicknesses. Only when you put the paper in a well-lit place can you see it fully. This kind of paper is very suitable for pen and ink.
When processing, the paper is probably powdered and dyed first, the drawings are engraved on hardwood molds, and the paper is waxed. The convex pattern on the mold presents a bright and transparent picture due to the pressure. Careful observation can also find wax residue in the depth of the paper.
Ming? Porcelain green paper
Porcelain green paper, also called magnetic green paper, is named porcelain green because it is made of indigo dye and its color is like Xuande blue-and-white porcelain.
Porcelain green paper was not first created in Ming Dynasty. In fact, the paper dyed in the same way was also used from the Five Dynasties to the Song Dynasty, and the color was very similar to porcelain green paper, such as crow green paper and ivy paper. Huang Tingjian once wrote a poem "Begging Fan to Dye Crow Green Paper": Dye three hundred vines and brush a book in the canal.
Porcelain green paper is often used to write Buddhist scriptures or draw Buddha statues, generally written in clay, gold and silver. Only in this way can we be worthy of the preciousness of paper and the solemnity of Buddhist scriptures.
Porcelain green paper can be processed into another kind of paper-sheep brain paper, which is also an extremely precious paper for writing classics. A Qing Shen Chu recorded the method of making sheep brain notes in Xiqing Notes:
Sheep brain stationery is made of Xuande magnetic blue, sheep brain and top smoke (pine smoke) stored in a kiln for a long time, coated with paper, calendered and rolled into forged patterns. Black as paint, bright as a mirror, from the Xuande period, the scriptures were written in clay gold, which lasted for a long time and could not be eaten by insects. Today, the only way of inner city is still passed down.
The color of sheep's brain note is deep and subtle, and the light and shade are distinct. Unfortunately, this technology has already spread all over the world.
Tsinghua Kaizhi
Hua Kai paper, named after it was produced in Hua Kai, Zhejiang. Fine texture, extremely white, no obvious cord, thin and elastic, is the most precious paper in Qing Dynasty. Because of its pure white, it often has a faint color and reddish color, which is also called "peach paper"
From Shunzhi to Qianlong, this kind of paper is often used for publishing books in the court. For example, when Wu Yingtang carved books, he used more paper to make the books stand out. The precious paper used in the first edition of Kangxi Dictionary is also imperial paper. Xiang Tao, a famous bibliophile in modern times, also likes to collect printed editions of Hua Kai paper, and people even call it "Tao Kaihua".
This coral-colored paper in the Forbidden City is painted with coral-colored powder on civilized paper, which is bright and eye-catching, and does not change color or fade. It can be used as the title page of books and picture albums to prevent insects and moths. In ancient times, this method was often used in southern provinces. This kind of paper is similar to the "wannian paper" produced in Foshan, Guangdong. Modern technology has successfully copied this kind of paper.
Civilization list paper appeared later than Hua Kai paper. During the reign of Jiaqing and Daoguang, the imperial court printed books with Hua Kai List Paper. Although it has not been circulated so far, it is not as good as Hua Kai Paper in evaluation.
There were so many famous notes in ancient times that the note-taking industry reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, a number of notes appeared, such as China's first ancient color-printing note "Notes compiled by Luo Xuan", and the author Wu Faxiang also left his name in the history of the Qing Dynasty. Notes on Nanjing Dianzhuzhai compiled by Hu at the end of Ming Dynasty is the pinnacle of China's watermark woodcut format, and Mr. Lu Xun even called it "the highest achievement of literati's Qing opera culture".
In the Qing Dynasty, the stationery industry was dominated by Li Yu, and Li Weng opened a mustard garden bookstore to sell books and notes. He also described the experience of taking notes in "Essays", beginning with this: notes and note-taking systems have been in the tens of millions since ancient times.
Unfortunately, paper is thin and fragile, and most of the notes of ancient masters have been handed down for a long time, but they remain in the vast amount of ancient books. Paper lacks love, but it smells good.