Xuan paper, which is the traditional paper for calligraphy and painting in China. One of the outstanding national traditional crafts of the Han nationality, originated in Jingxian County, Xuancheng, Anhui Province, and was named "Xuan Paper" after the government ruled Xuancheng. This kind of paper is also produced in the vicinity of Jingxian County.
Xuan paper originated in the Tang dynasty, with successive dynasties. Because Xuan paper has the characteristics of easy storage, durability and colorfastness, it has the reputation of "paper life for thousands of years".
Xuan paper is divided into base paper and processed paper according to processing methods. According to the degree of paper inking, it is divided into raw propaganda, semi-cooked propaganda and cooked propaganda. Calligraphy and freehand brushwork use raw propaganda, and meticulous painting uses cooked propaganda.
According to folklore, after the death of Cai Lun, a papermaker of the Eastern Han Dynasty in the first year of Jianguang (121), Kong Dan, a disciple of the Eastern Han Dynasty, took papermaking as a profession in southern Anhui, and wanted to make the best paper in the world, so as to trim the score of the master's portrait to show his nostalgia. But it's hard to get what you want year after year. One day, Kong Dan accidentally saw an old rosewood tree lying by the stream. Because of the year-round sun and water washing, the bark has rotted and turned white, revealing wisps of slender and clean fibers. Kong Dan made paper from it, and after repeated experiments, he finally made a kind of paper with excellent texture, which was later famous as Xuan paper. There is a kind of rice paper called "Four-foot Dan", which is to commemorate Kong Dan and has been passed down to this day.
according to the preface to the genealogy of Cao Shi in Xiaoling, which was rebuilt during the reign of Qianlong in Qing dynasty, "In the late Song Dynasty, when there was a struggle, there were all kinds of ghosts and spirits, so as to avoid being in a hurry. Sun Cao, a junior of Cao Shi Zhong Gong VIII, moved from Qiuchuan to Xiaoling, and was divided into thirteen houses. This is a mountainous area, and the fields are scarce, so it is impossible to cultivate. Because of Cai Lun's skill, he makes a living. " Cao Dasan inherited the paper-making technology of his predecessors, and after practice, he improved it step by step, and finally made good white and pure paper. Because the distribution center of paper is mostly in Xuancheng, which is governed by the state, it is named Xuan paper.
The fame of Xuan paper began in the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Yanyuan, a critic of Tang painting and calligraphy, wrote a book "Notes on Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties", which said, "Good people should buy hundreds of Xuan paper and wax it for imitation." This shows that Xuan paper has been used for painting and calligraphy in the Tang Dynasty.
According to the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty, in the second year of Tianbao (743), Jiangxi, Sichuan, southern Anhui and eastern Zhejiang all produced paper for tribute, especially Xuancheng County. It can be seen that Xuan paper had been crowned everywhere at that time. Li Yu, the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, personally supervised the "Chengxintang" paper, which is a treasure in rice paper. It is "skin like an egg membrane, as clean as jade, thin and smooth, and crowned for a while."
The so-called "ink is divided into five colors" means that it is completed in one stroke, with shades, visible textures, clear Mo Yun and distinct layers. This is an artistic effect achieved by painters and painters by using the ink-moistening nature of Xuan paper to control the ink-ink ratio. Plus aging resistance and no discoloration. Less worms eat, long life, so it has the reputation of "the king of paper, the paper with a thousand years of life". Won the gold medal in Panama International Paper Competition in the 19th century.
Xuan paper is the best paper for writing diplomatic notes and preserving high-level archives and historical materials, besides painting poems. A large number of rare ancient books and ink marks of famous paintings and calligraphy handed down in China are mostly preserved on Xuan paper, and they are still the same.
the birthplace of rice paper in China: Jingxian county, Anhui province.