About rice paper

I don't know when Xuan paper appeared, but it doesn't seem to exist in ancient times, such as Wang Xizhi and Su Dongpo.

Now we often see that every calligrapher has a lot of Xuan paper at home, and there will be a special room for Xuan paper at home, where we can work hard. It is said that the longer rice paper is preserved, the better. Well, the new rice paper is angry and not easy to use. The so-called long time is to make rice paper softer, similar to fermentation.

However, what kind of Xuan paper to write on is very important for calligraphers. I bought a Ferrari sports car with you. Whether the bus should run in the mountains, stroll in the countryside or get off at the street in Beijing is all a matter.

Let's put it this way: Xuan paper is basically divided into three categories: 1, Sheng Xuan (paper), very ink. 2, familiar with publicity (paper), not ink. 3, half-cooked (paper), not too inky.

I have met many people who copied the preface of Lanting and used the propaganda mechanically, and it took a lot of effort to get it right. Why? Because the words in Preface to Lanting are about the size of coins, the health bulletin is very inky. In order to write the accuracy of strokes, we can only: ink mixed with less water, but sticky and difficult to write, can not be opened like paint; Or speed up the pen, the average person can't be accurate at high speed.

In fact, for words such as cursive script, you can't use biological propaganda at all (special characters can, but such people are rare on earth). For this, it is very necessary for us to study the ancient masterpieces. It is a great pity that many people have hardly seen the original works of the ancients (they have never even been to the museum and copied this black and white copybook all day). If you don't learn materials, you will be slightly inferior to others. Don't be dissatisfied.

Preface to Lanting Collection was not written on raw rice paper at all. You can think of it this way. Cai Lun's papermaking in the Eastern Han Dynasty. When the Eastern Han Dynasty is over, it will be the Three Kingdoms. The Three Kingdoms belong to the Jin Dynasty, and Wang Xizhi is the fall of the Jin Dynasty. Then how could the scientific and technological level at that time make rice paper? Right? We can work it out with our feet. Besides, what was the use of making rice paper at that time? There is no China Book Association and no national exhibition. Even Su Dongpo and Mi Fei didn't have rice paper in Song Dynasty. Otherwise, Song Huizong, then chairman of China Artists Association, would have painted in freehand brushwork in ink and wash, painting flowers and birds with meticulous care all day, and his eyes were spent.

Speaking of raw rice paper, I once read an academic article by a theorist, explaining that raw rice paper was used to write calligraphy in the Qing Dynasty because Xu Wei and his gang (calligraphers+painters) used raw rice paper to write calligraphy in the late Ming Dynasty. In the summer of 20 1 1, I was really free, so I began to copy Xu Wei's "Red Star Freehand Painting", which felt very wrong. I immediately consulted a China painter and was told that Xu Wei's freehand brushwork could not be used at all. When I saw dozens of freehand brushwork flowers and birds by Mr. Wu Guannan, a great contemporary freehand brushwork painter, I also found that Lao Wu didn't use the propaganda. It seems that manufacturing began in the late Ming Dynasty.

Writing on raw rice paper is nonsense. No wonder the woman said, "I would rather believe in ghosts than theorists' broken mouths!" "

Once in Guangdong, a Wang Duo researcher showed me his works, and I said that you should write Wang Duo on half-cooked rice paper. He said, don't be ridiculous, Wang Duo used a biological bulletin. I smiled. When did Wang Duo use the biological bulletin? The reason why we think that Wang Duo's propaganda is all black and white copybooks and banners are condensed into palms.

Why do you want to say that Wang Duo has never used it (at least rarely! )? Maybe next time. . . I have seen many originals of Wang Duo's hand-scrolls, which are basically similar to kraft paper (at least cooked paper or fax paper). If you look for some full-color high-definition copybooks, you will find that the strokes in them are not vivid. As for individual ink-rising patterns, they are all the results of ink accumulation and infiltration on cooked paper, and they are by no means traces of rapid infiltration of raw rice paper.

Some people say that all the big banners in his copybook were written by Sheng Xuandi. Otherwise, how could there be ink rising? I still invite you to have a chance to look at the original, or even a high-definition copy, so that you will find that Uncle Wang is usually written on silk books or Zi Ling. What kind of raw rice paper do you have? 165438+ In October, I saw a Wang Duo banner in the Forbidden City, which was written in white. If you print it in black and white and the editor doesn't indicate it, you think it's propaganda. We can think of it this way: Wang Duo's banners are often line by line, or write many words at a time, so they absorb ink. How can he write so many words at once? Unless he wrote it in the long-lost "thunder" technique.

Once a master said a classic saying-stay away from health promotion! Please let me leave the Xuan paper factory. I didn't mean to ruin your business! )

Of course, it doesn't mean that winning the election must not be used. In contemporary times, the sacred porch, as the most important writing carrier of calligraphy creation, has irreversibly become a common material, and many contemporary famous artists have also created a large number of classic works with the sacred porch, which is also the pioneering work and great development of contemporary calligraphy. But I mean, if you want to play those works written by the ancients without biological propaganda, but you want to write them with biological propaganda, it's just hard for yourself, and I have nothing to say.

So, what kind of paper do contemporary masters use to write?

With the prosperity and development of calligraphy, especially the promotion of national exhibitions, it has almost promoted the rapid development of pen-making, paper-making, ink-making, mounting and even aviation, and should be regarded as a model of national exhibition economy. In fact, the National Development and Reform Commission should give the China Book Association a "Special Award for Stimulating Domestic Demand".

Therefore, as far as Xuan paper is concerned, a large number of calligraphers began to seek a carrier suitable for writing exquisite brushwork and cursive script because of the proliferation of the calligraphy style of the two kings. Therefore, we can see the paper that many experts often use-

For example: clay gold, clay silver rice paper, this kind of paper is probably a little in the Qing Dynasty, as if it was used more in the Ming Dynasty. Many contemporary calligraphers began to use it widely. This kind of material, similar to cooked paper, does not have ink marks, and it is easier to write with a little friction. It's just that the current shoddy workmanship (the characteristics of contemporary people) leads to the poor quality of many clay gold and clay silver rice papers, and the surface coating will be oxidized and blackened after a long time. Moreover, this kind of rice paper is "brittle", and it is easy to break after being folded several times.

The gold card paper, it seems, is a kind of material widely used nowadays, and it is mounted on cardboard. There are many gold cards of various colors, materials and textures in Japan. It seems that the gold card in China is not very good.

Powder sword paper, which existed in the Republic of China, seems to have been used all the time in the Qing Dynasty. For example, we see many Qing Dynasty and Republic of China now.

Old works, couplets and the like, are cracked, and the paper feels thick and black, which is basically this kind of paper. It is a kind of rice paper with a "powder" layer on the surface, which is similar to fax thermal paper. Before writing, some calligraphers will rub a dry towel on the surface several times to make the powder more dense and easy to write, otherwise it will be difficult to ink.

Meta-cooked paper and fringed paper, which basically belong to practice paper, are very cheap in cost and price, and are favored by calligraphers because of their special writing effects.

Gourd paper is a kind of rice paper, which has been paid more and more attention in recent years. This is a kind of paper made of Lycium barbarum peel unique to Shaanxi and Gansu. It is rumored that the calligraphy in Wei and Jin Dynasties was written on this kind of rice paper, so I dare not say so because there is no reliable basis. However, because this kind of rice paper is handmade, it basically maintains the characteristics of ancient rice paper and paper itself. I have used some, and I feel that this paper is almost half cooked. When writing, you can not only add ink, but also "see the details of strokes clearly", which has a good sense of writing. Many authors used it in various national exhibitions last year. If you are interested, please search for "Bing Bing" in this forum.

I think everyone should pay attention to the manuscript paper. I don't know what rice paper others use. How can I write it well? Amy's hair will grow out if you don't go in the opposite direction. So, how can we trace back to the Xuan paper materials created by contemporary calligraphy? There are two ways:

One is to see the national exhibition and go to the exhibition hall instead of buying this collection.

Second, consult the collectors of China Calligraphy Supermarket or Calligraphy Market Network, because they have a lot of authentic collections of contemporary masters.

For calligraphers, it is a very necessary link to study the paper in ancient ink calligraphy, and it is also a link that is often neglected. Without this study, I dare say your handwriting will never be very good. Why do you say that?

Lines are actually formed by actions. The so-called brushwork is the action of writing. But if you use the same action, but the paper is different and the line shape is different, you need to adjust the speed according to the maturity of the paper. Then, even if you know the brushwork, but you don't know the writing medium, it's still difficult for you to be as wonderful as the ancients.

Therefore, in the process of learning calligraphy, we often make a mistake, that is, we only pay attention to lines, structure and composition, while ignoring ancient writing materials (brush, rice paper or ink). In addition to learning the techniques of the ancients, the study of written materials is also very important.

For example, I want to ask you, what paper is Lanting Preface written on? Maybe we haven't considered this problem yet.

The preface to Lanting Collection mentioned in this article refers to Feng's codex, because the original works are said to be all there. There are many clues in the ink handed down from ancient times that are worth analyzing, reasoning and making bold assumptions. Only by seeing these clues can you get more information than others, and you can understand and write better than others.

Then let's take the Preface to Lanting as an example to analyze its general paper.

First of all, we should know that Feng's "Preface to Lanting" was a kind of technical "spread" in the Tang Dynasty (on this topic, you can search my other serial "Wang Xizhi's Calligraphy from a Technical Perspective"). Anyone who knows this technology will understand that he put a double hook on the original. In this case, it means that the paper is "thin".

Second, the words and pens in Preface to Lanting Collection are not "flying white". Don't think that this is Lao Feng's double hook ink filling, so there will be no flying white. Lao Feng and others were working as photocopiers in the palace at that time, and they would try to be close to the original. Therefore, there is no flying white, which only means that there is no original work, but only a few strokes of one or two words have traces of flying white (in fact, the brush is divided when writing). This inference proves that the original paper of Lanting Preface is exquisite, and only exquisite paper with such small words will not appear white.

Thirdly, The Preface to Lanting has no function of nourishing and retting ink, which means it is not raw rice paper.

20111654381October, the Palace Museum held the "Lanting Special Exhibition". I went to see Feng's copy of Preface to Lanting, in order to see what paper it was written on (I thought at that time: First, people in the Tang Dynasty saw Wang. Second, there may not be a big technical breakthrough in the paper of the Tang Dynasty and the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the materials are similar. )

When I faced Feng's Preface to the Lanting Pavilion, I carefully distinguished that the paper was very similar to our current kraft paper (as for the color, I think it may be the cause of yellowing after a long time), and the texture and fineness of the paper were also very similar to kraft paper. However, due to the level of science and technology, it is not as fine as the current kraft paper. It seems that the shiny surface of the new kraft paper has been rubbed by hand for some time.

Later, in another exhibition hall, I saw "Dongshan Tie", and the paper texture was similar to Feng's copy of "Preface to the Lanting Pavilion", so I concluded that most of the works before the Tang Dynasty might have used that kind of paper.

There are also materials to prove that the Eastern Jin Dynasty used Yan Pi Xuan. For this information, you can also search my other serial "Wang Xizhi's Calligraphy from a Technical Perspective", which has a description.

For another example, everyone knows about Shusu stickers, but have you really studied what Lao Mi wrote on them? Even if we know that it is "Susu", what is Susu? Have you seen it? Have you ever used it? Is there a difference between the Shusu used by Laomi and what we use now? For example, has the material changed? Is the fineness the same?

How can we know that the fineness and density of our present Susu and Laomi are different? It's very simple-you find a high-definition Suzhou Cycas, enlarge it, count the number of silk threads per unit area, and then count the Su You, the capital of Shu, and you will know the difference. Maybe you don't think it makes sense, but this is the way to learn and learn. With this spirit, things can be done well. Otherwise, as a whole, how can we do well? If so, even those who bake sweet potatoes are calligraphers!

If we carefully comb the materials of calligraphy before the Ming Dynasty, we will find that there is no phenomenon of ink rising and flying white in the works, which is not only a matter of materials, but also an aesthetic feature of China's classical calligraphy before the Ming Dynasty. Why do many people always say that our current calligraphy is an armchair strategist and dry? Besides the impetuous mood, is there also the impetuous pen and ink? Are there many factors such as flying white, rising ink and Su Mo in the impetuousness of pen and ink? Have you considered this question like this?

When I was a child, I often saw people practicing calligraphy use newspapers. In addition to reducing costs, another reason may be newspapers (new)

The writing effect is not bad Newsprint is not very inky, and it may have the effect of paper in a certain period in ancient times. Later, calligraphers began to practice calligraphy with Xuan paper (even wool paper) when their economic conditions were better. I don't think calligraphers should ignore newsprint.

Manuscript paper is actually paper that everyone is familiar with. Many people think that this kind of paper is not used for writing brush characters, including copy paper. Because these papers are difficult to write, they are not "astringent" when written. I think calligraphers should still write on stationery or copy paper. Such smooth paper is good for training the accuracy of brushwork. Once there is something wrong with your pen, it will be obvious on paper. In order to train the accuracy and rationality of brushwork, some calligraphers even practice writing on calendars (pictorial) or even glass. As for the benefits, you will know when you finish writing.

I use a kind of rice paper, which was introduced by Brother Liyang in Liaoning. It is called "the hammer of boiling". I don't know why these two words are used. This kind of paper is half-baked and suitable for writing grass. It has good convergence and ink smearing degree, and is easy to control. However, I didn't buy it very well later. It belongs to Anhui. The whole paper will be partly inked and partly inked, which is very annoying. When you write a paragraph, you are often caught off guard, and a piece of work dies.

With regard to fine-print cursive script or regular script, let me briefly introduce the paper used by famous writers I met-I have some fine-print of teacher Sun Xiaoyun, some of which are from Sajinwa and some are water-printed. These papers are based on.

This is half-cooked rice paper.

I have Mr. Zhang Xuguang's fine-print running script "Heart Sutra" in my hand, which is also written on water-grain rice paper four feet apart.

A few years ago, Chen Zhongkang used Korean paper, which has obvious texture and rough surface, but it doesn't seem to be very inky, because the thicker it is, the thicker the lines will be. Now he writes small print on raw rice paper, but it's not very raw rice paper. He also used Japanese gold letterhead paper (which is very thick, similar to clay gold, with a thin layer of velvet on it). I also used silk.

Chen Hailiang's cursive script is basically made of raw materials, because his writing speed is faster and his lines are thinner, so it doesn't matter whether he paints with ink or not. He also writes small characters on water-grain rice paper. Chinese characters are sometimes made of rice paper and sometimes silk.

Guan Jun's boxes are basically made of silk. But I have seen his album written on hotel stationery.

Zhu wrote newsprint in fine print. Brother Bird also likes to write small letters with old newsprint.

Zhang Zhiqing likes to write cursive books with chalk.

In the past two years, calligraphers have begun to write small cursive scripts with wintergreen paper, which is effective and can't control the ink.

There are also many calligraphers who like to write small characters with silk.

It is not that raw rice paper can't write fine print, but that relatively familiar rice paper is more suitable for writing fine print, which is a common phenomenon in calligraphy.

As for the manuscript paper, I think so-don't stick to the fact that it must be Xuan paper, or it must be propaganda. When did this happen?

The idea of generations! Use whatever paper you use. It's easy to use, easy to write and beautiful. Don't always think about whether paper will affect your longevity if your calligraphy is passed down from generation to generation. The possibility of this happening is even less than that of mosquitoes eating elephants.

Calligraphers should also learn to analyze ancient materials, constantly look for better writing materials, make your works look better, sell as much money as possible, and create more popular calligraphy works for the broad masses of the people. That's enough. You have made great contributions to society and family.