Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 1561 The Origin of Shu Paper

"For example, in general mounting and color fixing, a thin film made of alum is pressed on the surface of the picture to protect the picture; but in this set of albums, glue is used to stick the heart of the painting from behind. The coloring material on the painting is fixed in this incredible way, but it can also deliberately expose the characteristics of the paper used in the painting to our eyes. "

Have it? Several people looked at each other again. They had been to several exhibitions before and after. Many people had seen this set of albums, but no one noticed that it was deliberately exposed to whose eyes?

Is this the pretty eyes made for blind people?

"Mr. Zhou, based on your guess, why did Mr. Daqian do this?"

"No need to guess, I am 100% sure." Zhou Zhi affirmed: "Mr. Daqian has only one purpose in doing this, which is to show off! Show off the paper he uses for this set of albums - cloth-headed paper!"

Seeing that everyone was confused, Zhou Zhi had no choice but to explain in detail: "Let me talk about the conclusion first. Su Dongpo once mentioned a kind of paper in Shu in "Dongpo Zhilin": 'Sichuan paper takes the cloth head and the remaining warp but not the weft. He made it, so it was called Butou Jian. This paper is the best in the world. People in Liuhe also made it, but it didn't work well in the end."

"According to the information left by Su Dongpo, this kind of paper is made of the worsted threads left at both ends of the machine when weaving in Shuzhong. It also has its own unique techniques in filter paper and grate pressing. The final result is There are fine silk lines on the paper, so it is also called 'Silk Texture Xuan'."

"This paper was completely lost after the Yuan army entered Shu." Zhou Zhi said: "There are very few places where you can still see it. Except for the Shu Grand Museum, there is a hand-copied "Leibu Cave Sutra" that uses this paper. , and the Taoist who copied the scriptures specifically marked it as "Butou Jian" in the preface, I have never seen it anywhere else. "

"That scripture was repaired by me myself. The paper's fiber ratio, distribution, embossing, and color are exactly the same."

"Therefore, it is no wonder that Mr. Daqian spends so much energy on special decoration." Zhou Zhi said with a smile: "It was praised by Su Dongpo in the Song Dynasty, and it was known as the best cloth-headed paper in the world!"

"So according to Mr. Zhou's opinion, there is no doubt that the paper used for Mr. Daqian's twelve pages is Song Dynasty paper?"

"I think it's certain." Zhou Zhi nodded firmly: "I wrote a paper on the restoration of the "Leibu Dong Jing" manuscript at Shu University, and I have a clear explanation of the use of paper."

"Have you never heard of cloth-headed paper?" Even Lin Wanqiu looked confused: "When it comes to the best paper in the Five Dynasties and Song Dynasties, it has to be Li Yu's Chengxintang, right?"

"Chengxintang paper is of course famous." Zhou Zhi nodded: "At least it is the highest-grade paper among the ancient paper that can still be seen today."

"But why did Su Dongpo say this... cloth-headed paper is the best in the world?"

"Because this cloth-headed note itself has a deep connection with Chengxintang paper." Zhou Zhi said: "Although the "Book of the Later Han" attributes the invention of papermaking to Cai Lun, the eunuch of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the paper discovered by archeology was much earlier. Xi'an "Baqiao paper" was unearthed from the ancient tombs of the Western Han Dynasty. It was made of hemp fiber and a small amount of ramie fiber. Although it is still extremely rough, it already has the basic elements of "paper."

"Papermaking requires several elements. The first is the most easily available and relatively cheap plant fiber. Waste hemp is a very good material, so the early papermaking workshops must be attached to the hemp spinning workshops." "In addition, the papermaking workshops must also be close to Water source. First, the papermaking process itself requires a large amount of water and has very high requirements for water quality. The muddy and sandy water of the Yellow River is not suitable for papermaking; secondly, the papermaking process requires pounding of flax, which can be done by hydraulic milling near water. Convenient, thus saving a lot of labor.”

"Thirdly, to make good paper, you need a stable social environment to provide conditions for papermaking craftsmen to gather and exchange experience over a long period of time, continuously improve in market competition, and pass on their skills."

"The remote Shu region in the southwest happened to have the above favorable conditions during the transition from the middle and late Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty."

"Sichuan has been the most prosperous place in the textile industry since ancient times. In addition to the world-famous Shu brocade, its hemp textile industry has also been quite famous since the Han Dynasty, and reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty. Shu hemp was listed as a taxable object by the Tang Dynasty. Wu Qi, a financial expert in the Tang Suzong era, once suggested that "Wu Yan, Shu Ma, and Copper Smelting should all have taxes."

"Salt and copper have been national monopoly patents since ancient times, so it is not surprising that Wu Qi targeted him, but he juxtaposed Shuma with salt and copper, which shows that the production and profit of Shuma in the Tang Dynasty attracted the attention of the court. The tax on Shuma is related to the military and state affairs. When Du Fu, the great poet of the Tang Dynasty, lived in Shu, he often appeared in his poems: "Shuma and Wu Yan have been popular since ancient times, and the boat with thousands of dendrobiums moves like the wind." Jingmen" and other poems."

"Sichuan is rich in hemp production and has not been disturbed by wars for a long time. Therefore, the skills of papermaking craftsmen in Shu are extremely high. The quality of hemp paper has long been the best in the world. It was designated by the imperial court as special paper for royal and government documents. "Liu Dian of the Tang Dynasty" records, At that time, the paper submitted from all over the world was first called Yizhou yellow and white linen paper. Li Zhao's "Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty" listed the best paper in the world, and also said that Shu had "pockmarked noodles, shredded powder, talc, golden flower, long hemp, fish roe, ten". "Colored paper"

"According to the "Liu Dian of the Tang Dynasty", the Jixian Palace Academy of the Tang Dynasty, which is equivalent to the National Library, all used hemp paper produced in Shu as writing paper. The culture of the Tang Dynasty was prosperous and paper consumption was quite large. "New Tang Book·Yiwenzhi" stated that Tai The government supplies "5,000 pieces of Shu County hemp paper" to Jixian Hall Academy every month."

"Later, Xue Tao invented the invention of using hibiscus skin as material, boiling the mince, and adding hibiscus flower juice to make a very beautiful paper, called 'Xue Tao Jian'. By the time Meng Chang, the Lord of Later Shu, planted hibiscus all over the capital of Shu, When it won the title of 'Rongcheng', this kind of 'parchment paper' was already popular in Sichuan."

"The earliest paper-making workshops in Shu were mainly built in the area from the Jinjiang River to Huanhua Stream where textile craftsmen and workshops were concentrated because they needed to receive waste linen materials from the linen textile industry. Lu You recorded in "Jiannan Poetry Manuscript" that Huanhua On the south bank of Huaxi River, 'all the residents are engaged in papermaking'. Su Shi also said: 'The water of Huanhua River in Chengdu is always clear and smooth, and the paper made of retting hemp is tight and white.'"

"Hemp paper is better at being thicker, and leather paper is better at being light and thin."

"Therefore, thick hemp paper is suitable for writing edicts, copying small regular script, and making scrolls for long-term preservation. If it is used for daily calligraphy practice, it seems too luxurious. After all, the number of hemp paper is much less for the same weight."

"So, as a cheap substitute for linen paper, vellum paper has also cultivated a special group of fans. As a result, calligraphers' handwriting became larger and larger, and their writing became more and more cursive. Hemp paper is particularly suitable for expressing artistic conception in calligraphy.”

"In addition, woodblock printing also began to sprout in the Tang Dynasty. Hard, thick, and tough linen paper is preferred for making scrolls and folds, but the opposite is true for printing. Thin paper is more suitable for woodblock printing."

"So the craftsmen in Shu capital discovered paper bark, a substitute for hibiscus bark, to cope with the increasing demand for leather paper. The best craftsmen who make this kind of paper are concentrated in Guangzhou, just south of Shu capital. All."

"Guangdu means Shuangliu. In ancient times, Guangdu, Shudu, and Xindu were collectively known as the 'three capitals' of the ancient Shu state. In the Sui Dynasty, in order to avoid the name taboo of Emperor Yang Guang, Zuo Si's "Ode to the Capital of Shu" was taken from "Two Rivers with Two Rivers", Then it was renamed Shuangliu.

"There are Longquan Mountains to the east of Guangdu from which bark can be harvested, and water from the Minjiang River to the southwest. Because it is easy to obtain materials and the water source is very good, by the end of the Tang Dynasty, 'Guangdu Paper' was already very famous."