Analysis:
Taking Baqiao paper in the Western Han Dynasty as an example, the characteristics of this early China paper are as follows:
(1) The paper is thick (0. 1.4 mm thick) with wrinkles on the surface;
(2) There are many fiber bundles on the surface, even unbroken hemp rope ends;
(3) The fiber structure is loose, the knot is not tight and the distribution is uneven;
(4) Under the microscope, the degree of fiber brushing is low, and the cells are not damaged by force;
(5) When fibers are interwoven, there are many penetrating eyes.
(6) Pale yellow in appearance;
(7) Without writing, wood is easy to write and can only be used for wrapping.
The above shows that the Western Han Dynasty is the embryonic stage of hemp paper, the output is not too large, the origin is not wide, the quality needs to be improved, and it is still not enough to replace silk slips. However, there are traces of polishing on the paper of Rob Naoer in the Western Han Dynasty. It can be seen that the calendering of paper began in the Western Han Dynasty.
The manuscript paper of the Eastern Han Dynasty is an immortal work.
According to "The Biography of Deng in the Later Han Dynasty", Deng was located in the 14th year of Yongyuan (102). Prior to this, "all nations made great efforts to seek treasures, and then acceded to the throne, banning them, but only for paper and ink." "Taiping Yulan" Volume 6O5 quoted the Eastern Han Dynasty Ji as saying that after Deng acceded to the throne, "all countries were forbidden to offer gifts, but only paper and ink were provided at the age of six. "This record dates back to the first year of Yuan Xing (1O5), when Cai Lun presented the paper to the court. It can be seen that there was already good paper in the Eastern Han Dynasty. According to "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Guan Bai", the Shaofu Palace-keeping Order "governs the use of paper, pens and ink, and the wealth of ministers is sealed by mud"; Shangshu ordered Cheng to "forge printing materials and store paper, ink and pens". It can be seen that there are officials in charge of paper and ink in the court. "The Biography of Yan Dou in the Later Han Dynasty quoted the sage's behavior and said," I want to write the Biography of Zuo's without paper. Tang Xidian [his teacher] wrote this story by abolishing "scraps of paper" and insisted that "scraps of paper" should not be written, so he borrowed it. "Bei Tang Shu Chao" (volume 1O4) quotes Du Yan (who died in 167) and replies to Zhang Huan's book: "Only three years later, I dreamed of it, but I didn't do it. Boying (Zhang Zhi) came to benefit from four pages of books, and I read them over and over again, which was beyond words. "
Eastern Han paper
In addition to being unearthed in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, manuscripts of the Eastern Han Dynasty were recently unearthed in Gansu. 1974 1.8, members of Er Qiao Brigade of Wuwei Cypress Commune discovered a Han tomb, in which wooden figurines, ox carts, wooden boxes, pottery and five baht money were unearthed. Interestingly, ancient paper (Dangshou Mountain: ancient paper found in the tomb of the Eastern Han Dynasty in Hantanpo, Wuwei County, Gansu Province, with the cultural relic number 1977) is still pasted on the wooden ox cart model. According to the investigation of tombs and unearthed objects, archaeologists infer that the tomb belongs to the late Eastern Han Dynasty, that is, the second half of the 2nd century. After the excavation, the slope paper on the dry beach has been broken into several pieces, the largest of which is about 5×5 cm, which exists on both sides of the trunk of the wooden ox cart. Three layers of paper are glued together, and there is a large piece of Han Li ink on the paper, which can clearly distinguish the word "Qingbei". The raw material is hemp (Pan Jixing: talking about hemp paper unearthed on the dry beach slope of O.O7 in the Eastern Han Dynasty), the paper is thin (0.07mm thick) and the surface is smooth; There are few fiber bundles and few fine fiber bundles; The fiber structure is compact and evenly distributed; The degree of fiber broom is high, and the cells are destroyed by force; The penetrating eyes are small and few; Most of them are brown and aging, and a few are white and soft; Used for writing. These characteristics of dry beach slope paper can be seen at a glance as high quality. It can be inferred that in the paper-making process, raw materials such as chopped hemp and rope are cooked with alkali liquor, finely beaten and repeatedly rinsed to make highly dispersed pulp, and then copied with fine paper-making equipment with good drainage.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, papermaking was further improved. There are also famous papers, among which Zuo Bo Papers is one. According to Zhang Huaiguan's Judgment of the Tang Dynasty, Volume I said: "Zuo Bo, a native of Donglai, ... is famous for the late Han Dynasty, and he is very good at making paper." At the end of the Han Dynasty, Zhao Qi quoted Dan Wei (179 ~ 253) in San Fu Lu: "If a husband wants to do well, he must sharpen his tools first. Zhang Zhi's pen, Zuo Bo's paper and Chen Mo's are all ancient methods. " With these three weapons, I can get them, and then I can say as many words as I can. "
In the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D., "Zuo Bo Paper" was as famous as "Zhang Zhibi" and "Shan Weimo" and was loved by people at that time, especially calligraphers. In the 5th century A.D., Xiaoliangzi described it in "Sincere Reply to Five Monks": "The paper of Ziyi is brilliant; Lieutenant General (Dan Wei)' s ink is like pigment; " With the pen of Bo Ying (Zhang Zhi), the poor god tried his best. "The so-called" excellent research "is nothing more than describing Zuo Bo's paper as thin, white and smooth. It may be a kind of processed paper. " "The Biography of Cai Yan in the Later Han Dynasty" records that Cao Cao wanted ten officials to write a book for Cai Yan (the daughter of Cai Se), who "begged for paper and pen and was really obedient. So I wrote a book and sent it, and the text was correct. " According to Cao Cao, Cai Yong's father and daughter were both contemporaries. At that time, the paper Cao Cao ordered to write might be processed paper. Because of paper, silk and Jane are no longer used for writing at this time.
On the basis of hemp papermaking technology, according to documents, bark fiber was also used to make paper in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The appearance of bark paper is an important technological revolution in the history of papermaking technology in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It opens up a new and wider source of papermaking raw materials and promotes the improvement of paper output and quality.
Whether the movable curtain bed paper model was used to make paper in Han Dynasty has not been confirmed in literature and in kind. Taking unearthed Chinese paper as an example. At that time, paper was made with fixed woven paper molds. After this paper is touched into paper, the paper near the screen is printed with weave patterns (warp and weft patterns) without curtain patterns. So China's paper has no curtain pattern.
Wei, Jin, southern and northern dynasties
If silk books and bamboo slips are still used to write chronological materials in Han Dynasty, and paper, as a new material, has just emerged, which is not enough to completely replace silk books and bamboo slips, then this situation has undergone fundamental changes in Jin Dynasty. Since the Jin Dynasty produced a large number of white, smooth and square paper, people no longer used expensive silks and thick bamboo slips to write, but gradually got used to using paper, so that paper eventually became the dominant writing material, and bamboo slips were completely eliminated.
At the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, some rulers even made it clear that formal writing materials should be made of paper, and all court memorials should be made of paper instead of bamboo slips. For example, Huan Xuan (369~4O4), a famous family in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, came to power in the imperial court. In the year of his death (4O4), he abolished Emperor Jin 'an and changed his country name to Chu, and immediately ordered to stop bamboo slips and replace them with yellow paper: "There is no paper in ancient times, so it is simple to use and not for sacrifice." "Today, all people who use simplicity use yellow paper." Unearthed cultural relics also show that simple paper was still used in the Western Jin Dynasty, but there were no bamboo slips in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and almost all of them were made of paper.
China is rich in papermaking raw materials. With the progress and popularization of papermaking technology, government-run and private paper mills have been established in north and south areas, including some ethnic minority areas, to make paper from local materials. In the north, Luoyang, Chang 'an, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and other places are the centers, mainly producing hemp paper, paper and mulberry paper. Chen Chao (507 ~ 583) Xu Ling wrote a preface for Yutai New Poetry: "Five-color stationery is the paper of Jiaodong, Hebei." Shandong became famous as early as the end of the Han Dynasty. When Cao Wei was alive, Zuo Bo, a native of Donglai, was still alive. The name "Zuo Bo Paper" used to be very important. Chang 'an and Luoyang continued to develop into papermaking centers on the basis of the Han Dynasty.
After the Eastern Jin Dynasty crossed to the south, Jiangnan also developed papermaking. Zhejiang Huiji, southern Anhui, Jianye (Nanjing), Yangzhou, Guangzhou and other places have become the southern paper-making centers, and also produce hemp paper, mulberry paper and paper. Mi Fei's Ten Papers in the Northern Song Dynasty said: "Liuhe (now near Yangzhou) paper has been used since the Jin Dynasty, and it was left by Cai Hou's fishing net. Net, hemp. " At this time, the coast of Tongxi, Shengxian County, Zhejiang Province became the center of rattan paper, but in the south, hemp paper was still a big head.
During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, due to the continuous progress of the majority of paper workers in production practice, they accumulated a lot of advanced technical experience, and famous artists came forth in large numbers. In addition to the papers of Zuo Bo and Zuo Bo mentioned earlier, there was Zhang Yong in the Liu and Song Dynasties in the Southern Dynasties. Shen Yue (4,465,438+0 ~ 565,438+03) wrote in the Song Dynasty's Biography of Zhang Yongshan: "Zhang Yongshan is a highly skilled calligrapher, and he created paper and ink by himself." The paper he made was not as good as that in the north at that time.
1964 The paper paintings of the Jin Dynasty landlords unearthed in Turpan, Xinjiang, are 1O6.5 in length and 47cm in height. It consists of six pieces of paper, which is probably the earliest paper painting so far. 1966 ~ 1969 The folk paper-cuts of the Southern and Northern Dynasties unearthed in Xinjiang are exquisite and generous, with a strong national style.
The Eastern Jin manuscript "The History of the Three Kingdoms" unearthed in Xinjiang has a mature and smooth brushwork and a strong sense of official script. Famous calligraphers such as Wang Xizhi and Lu Ji also wrote with hemp paper. Mr. Pan Jixing inspected nearly 100 kinds of ancient paper in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and proved that more than 90% of them were hemp paper (see Pan Jichang: Historical Draft of China Papermaking Technology, page 55), and most of them were made of hemp and ramie.
In addition to hemp paper, other bast fiber materials were used to make paper during this period, such as mulberry paper and rattan paper. From the Jin Dynasty to the Tang and Song Dynasties, it was famous for its pioneering use of wild rattan bark to make paper near the Kexi River in the upper reaches of the South Cao 'e River in Shengxian County, Zhejiang Province.
According to documents, there was another kind of side paper in Jin Dynasty, which was actually writing paper for later generations. It is made of traditional raw materials such as hemp and bast, and then mixed with a small amount of seaweed and Nostoc flagelliforme as fillers. Although the dosage is small, it is very obvious on paper because of its color. This kind of stationery continued to be produced after the Tang and Song Dynasties until modern times. The most famous foreign stationery belongs to Korea's Li Dynasty.
During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the processing technology of paper also developed considerably, and one of the more important processing technologies was surface coating. The so-called surface coating is to paste white mineral fine powder on paper with adhesive or starch, and then calender it. This can not only increase the whiteness and smoothness of the paper, but also reduce the light transmittance, so that the paper surface is dense and has good ink absorption. This technology was first used in Europe and was put forward by Cummings of Britain in 1764. Lead white, gypsum, lime and water are mixed together and drawn on paper. The coating technology in China is earlier than that in Europe 1400 years. Commonly used raw materials of white mineral powder are chalk, gypsum, talcum powder, lime or porcelain clay. The coating method is to grind the white powder into its suspension in water, then boil the starch and water to mix it with the white powder suspension, and coat it on paper with a combination brush. Because there are brush marks on the paper, it needs calendering after drying. This kind of paper is observed under a microscope, and the phenomenon that the fiber is covered by mineral powder particles is clearly visible.
Another skill in paper processing is dyeing. After dyeing paper, it often has practical effects and improves the performance of paper, in addition to improving the appearance. The dyeing of paper began in the Han Dynasty. Liu Xi said the word "acting" in the explanation of names in the12nd century, which means dyeing paper. After Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, this technique of dyeing yellow was inherited and continued to be handed down.
There were two ways to dye yellow in Jin Dynasty, or yellow first and then yellow. Dyes used for dyeing yellow are also clearly recorded in ancient books. Wei Boyang, an alchemist in the Eastern Han Dynasty, said in the Book of Changes, "If the tiller is yellow, it looks like a green ball.". Tillers are yellow tillers. Ge Hong (284 ~ 363), an alchemist in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, also mentioned the yellow tiller dyeing paper in Bao Puzi. Berberis or Phellodendron amurense is a deciduous tree of Rutaceae. Its dry skin is yellow, bitter and slightly fragrant. The most commonly used ones in China are Guanhuangbai and Chuanhuangbai. There are also special records about the paper dyeing technology in this period. There is a special chapter in Qi Shu at the end of Wei Dynasty describing the method of dyeing yellow. Among them, it said: "Where the yellow paper is white, it should not be too dark, and the dark color is dark with the years. ..... "Yellow" tillers are cooked, then pour them on me and cook them, then press them with a cloth bag and cook them again. Boil it three times, and if you add pure juice, you will save four times, which is clear and clean. If you write a book in summer and then enter the Yellow River, the seams will not dissolve. A new writer must iron with an iron. "If you don't do this, people will collapse. "
Yellow paper is not only used by scholars to write books, but also by the government to write documents. Yellow paper is also much more used than folk religious paper, especially Buddhist scriptures and Taoist scriptures, many of which are dyed yellow. At present, many of the classics written by Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties in museums and libraries are yellow paper. This ethos was particularly prevalent in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
Why did people like to use yellow paper in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties?
1. There are alkaloids in Cortex Phellodendri, mainly cedarine, a small amount of palmatine, phellodendron ketone, phellodendron lactone, etc. Sabine is bitter and yellow in color. Berberine is yellow, bitter and soluble in water. This alkaloid is not only a dye, but also an insecticide and moth-proofing agent. It not only prolongs the life of paper, but also smells fragrant;
Second, according to the ancient five elements, the five elements of golden water, fire, water and earth correspond to five colors, five squares, five tones, five flavors and so on. The soil in the five elements corresponds to the center of the five elements and yellow in the five colors, and yellow is the positive color in the five colors. Therefore, all sacred and solemn objects in ancient times are often decorated with yellow, and important books and documents are also yellow;
Third, yellow is not dazzling, and reading for a long time does not hurt the eyes; If there is a clerical error, you can apply orpiment before writing, which is convenient for collating. This situation can be proved in the Dunhuang stone chamber sutra.