Why did all the ancient windows use paper paste?

We usually use enough paper to describe small obstacles or the elimination of obstacles. For example, we will say that men and women are interested in each other and just need to pierce a layer of paper.

In martial arts films, we often see masked men in black pierce enough paper with bamboo pipes and blow poisonous gas indoors to knock people over. I always feel that this kind of window paper is very weak. But in fact, the eaves of ancient houses are generally larger, the windows are generally smaller and higher, and there are all kinds of fancy windowsills, which generally will not affect the windows unless the weather is bad.

So, were all the ancient windows made of paper? The answer should be no.

Before Qin and Han Dynasties, windows were usually pasted with silk and cloth, which also meant wealth.

The emergence of paper: Archaeological discoveries so far (Fangmatan paper, Baqiao paper, Xuanquan paper, Maquanwan paper, Juyan paper in the middle of the Western Han Dynasty, and Dry Beach slope paper in the late Western Han Dynasty) prove that the invention of papermaking is not later than the early Western Han Dynasty. In the first year of Yuan Xing in the Eastern Han Dynasty (105), Cai Lun improved papermaking. He made paper from bark, hemp head, cloth, fishing net and other raw materials through crushing, ramming, papermaking and baking, which is the origin of modern paper. But at this time, paper has not been popularized, the quality is not very good, it is easy to rot, and it cannot be used as enough paper in a large area.

Paper was widely used in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. There was a phenomenon of "Luoyang paper was expensive" in the Western Jin Dynasty. "Biography of Jin Shu Wen Yuan Zuo Si": "Therefore, famous families strive for biography, and Luoyang is also expensive."

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, paper was still very expensive, and many people only had a few windows. Some directly use wooden boards for lighting and ventilation, and some use straw mats to hang above the windows and support them with wooden sticks for gauze and straw sheds for the poor.

During the Tang and Song Dynasties, scholars used hemp paper to write. This kind of paper is thick and dense, with words written on both sides. After drafting, waste paper is mainly used to paste windows or walls. Wang Anshi wrote "Warm Paper Pavilion" in the Northern Song Dynasty: "Chu Guyue Teng Zhen claimed that every paste was reduced." It's about how he pasted the window with Chu ancient leather paper and Wu Yueteng paper. In addition to thick waste paper, waterproof paper is also very suitable for window paper. It is recorded in Six Sticks to White Cave in Tang and Song Dynasties that "nectarine paper pasted on the window is very bright", which is what we call oil paper today. Paper is not easy to damage. Choosing oil paper can not only prevent rain and snow from wet loss, but also increase light transmittance.

In the Qing Dynasty, palaces with high status were decorated with Korean paper paste, which was a kind of white tissue paper made of cotton cocoon or mulberry bark. It is not only transparent and white, but also tough and durable. It was not until the late Qing Dynasty that the doors and windows of the palace in the Forbidden City were gradually replaced with glass, and enough paper gradually disappeared from the palace.

In addition to paper and cloth, there is also a kind of window material called Mingwa, which can only be used by the rich.

Mingwa: The main materials are shells, horns and natural transparent mica sheets of marine shellfish, which are polished into square sheets with rounded corners. It first appeared in the Song Dynasty, and the old society was very popular in the south of the Yangtze River, with a large consumption, so making Mingwa became a traditional handicraft. There is a street in Nanjing called Mingwa Gallery. In the Ming dynasty, craftsmen lived together by industry. This street is named after the craftsmen who produce and sell Mingwa. During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, Suzhou Mingwa Industry also organized a federation called Mingwa Department. A large number of flat glass emerged in the late Qing Dynasty, becoming the terminator of Mingwa. Mingwa industry declined from then on. "

Mingwa, after all, is made of clam shell, and its transparency and lighting are not as good as glass. It is conceivable that even if it is sunny outside, only a slight skylight shines on the wooden lattice window in the closed room through the tile, giving people the feeling of sunset. Good mood. This kind of Luva is called "oyster shell window" or "oyster shell window" in old Suzhou. Another name is shell window, and "clam" is shell. In Huang Jingren in the Qing Dynasty, there was "Night Rising": "The fish scale clouds broke the sky, and the shells and windows were scattered."