Development history
Paper is one of the four great inventions in ancient China. Together with the compass, gunpowder and printing, it provided a material and technical foundation for the prosperity of ancient culture in China. Paper, as one of four great inventions of ancient china, probably originated in the south of China, which is closely related to the rich bark cloth culture system that appeared in Lingnan area, especially around the Pearl River Estuary, more than 6,000 years ago.
6000 years ago, a rich bark cloth culture was discovered in the south of China. Broussonetia papyrifera and Ficus were the plants of bark cloth. The former is also an important plant for papermaking in China. Since 1990s, China has unearthed a large number of stone swatters around the Pearl River Estuary, including Hongkong. Among them, the stone swatters unearthed at the Xiantouling site in Shenzhen in different periods show that it is the earliest known stone swatter for making bark cloth in the world 6800 years ago or earlier, revealing that Lingnan area in China is the origin of the world bark cloth culture.
The invention of paper has been greatly advanced. The invention of paper ended the complicated history of ancient bamboo slips and greatly promoted the spread and development of culture. Paper is the crystallization of the long-term experience and wisdom of the working people in China, and it is used as a sheet fiber product for writing, printing, painting or packaging. As early as 2200 years ago, it existed in the early Western Han Dynasty, but it was still rough and not widely used. 105, Cai Lun was considered as the originator of modern papermaking after improvement.
1. Ancient times
Ancient ancestors mainly recorded by knotted ropes, and later gradually invented writing, and began to use Oracle Bone Inscriptions as writing materials. In the Spring and Autumn Period, bamboo and wood chips (bamboo slips) and silk were discovered and used as writing materials. But paper was invented because silk was too expensive and bamboo was too heavy. According to research, the production of paper began in the Western Han Dynasty.
From 65438 to 0957, Shaanxi Provincial Museum excavated a batch of artifacts named "Baqiao Paper" from a Western Han Dynasty tomb near Baqiao in the eastern suburb of xi, and its production date was no later than the era of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty. Later, paper fragments of the Han Dynasty were unearthed in Luonaoer, Xinjiang, Juyan, Gansu and other places, about 150 ~ 200 years earlier than the paper made by eunuch Cai Lun from the early Eastern Han Dynasty to Yuanxing. However, we should also see that although paper was invented long ago, it was not widely used at first, and government documents were still written in bamboo slips and silk books. In Xian Di, Zuo Bo, a native of Donglai, improved the previous paper-making method and further improved the paper quality. The paper he made is white, delicate, soft, uniform and bright, and the paper quality is particularly good. Known as "Zuo Bo paper" in the world, especially five-color stationery and high-grade stationery.
From the archaeological findings so far, the invention of papermaking was not later than the early Western Han Dynasty. As early as the Western Han Dynasty, China had invented papermaking with hemp fiber. Su Song's paper spectrum: "Shu people use hemp, Min people use tender bamboo, northerners use mulberry bark, Tunxi people use rattan, Hairen use moss, Zhejiang people use wheat flour and straw, Wu people use cocoon, and Chu people use paper." Papermaking used to be made by hand. First, take the flexible plant fiber, boil it, mash it, make it into mucus, make it into baskets, make it into films, dry it a little, and press it with a heavy object. Most of the paper used today is mechanical paper. Most of the paintings and calligraphy works that have existed for more than 1000 years are made of mulberry paper.
2. Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties
Paper is widely spread and used by people, and papermaking technology is further improved. Before the Jin Dynasty, the paper-making area was concentrated in Luoyang, Henan Province, and gradually spread to Vietnam, Sichuan, Shao, Yang, Anhui, Jiangxi and other places, with increasing output and quality. Paper-making raw materials are also diversified, and there are many names of paper. Such as bamboo curtain paper, the paper has obvious lines, and its paper is tight, thin and even.
Tunxi has rattan paper with rattan skin as raw material. The paper is smooth and white as jade, leaving no ink marks. Dongyang has fish egg paper, also known as fish note, which is soft and smooth. Jiangnan uses straw and wheat straw fiber to make paper, which is yellow and rough and difficult to write. In the north, mulberry bark fiber is used to make paper, which has excellent texture, white color, light softness and strong tensile force, and the paper grain tears like cotton silk, so it is called cotton paper. Cai Lun has a wide range of papermaking raw materials. Paper made of rotten fishing nets is called net paper, and paper made of rags is called cloth paper. At that time, the rags of fishing nets were classified as hemp fibers, so they were collectively called hemp paper.
In order to prolong the life of paper, the Jin Dynasty has invented a new technology of dyeing paper, that is, impregnating paper with yellow tiller boiling juice, some of which are written first and then dyed, and some are dyed first and then written. Impregnated paper is called dyed yellow paper, which is natural yellow, so it is also called jute paper. Yellow paper has the function of killing insects and moth.
In the Jin Dynasty (4th century), paper finally replaced silk as the main writing material. Cai Lun has played a great role in promoting the production of hemp paper and leather paper. Although he is not the inventor of papermaking, his historical position as a technical innovator and organizer should be affirmed.
In the 8th century, paper was widely used in China. In the following centuries, China exported paper to all parts of Asia and kept the secret of papermaking strictly. In 75 1 year, there was a conflict between the Tang Dynasty and the Arab Empire, and the Arabs captured several China paper makers. Soon, the paper industry rose in Samarkand and Baghdad. In this way, papermaking gradually spread all over the Arab world, where paper was widely used and then spread to North America and Europe through Arab countries. According to historical records, the first paper mill was established in Europe more than 0/000 years after Cai Lun invented papermaking.
Although the modern paper industry has developed, its basic principle is still the same as that of Cai Lun. Nine times out of ten, the raw materials for papermaking have been replaced by wood pulp, but the raw materials for making high-grade printing paper, cigarette paper, rice paper and typing wax paper are still nothing more than rags, bark, hemp heads and waste fishing nets used in Cai Lun.
3. Sui and Tang Dynasties
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the famous Xuan paper was born. There is a legend in Xuanzhou, Anhui Province, the main producing area of Xuan paper: Cai Lun's apprentice Kong Dan, who made paper in southern Anhui Province, always wanted to make a particularly ideal white paper to paint and compose for Master. But after many experiments, it can't be realized. Once, he happened to see some sandalwood trees lying beside the mountain stream, which had been corroded by water for a long time and had rotted and turned white. Later, he made paper with this bark and finally succeeded. It can be concluded that using bark as rice paper has been very popular in the Tang Dynasty.
On the basis of the yellow paper dyed in the previous generation in the Tang Dynasty, the paper was coated with wax evenly. After calendering, the paper had the advantages of luster, luster and beauty, so it was called hard yellow paper. There is also a kind of hard white paper, which is called hard white paper, which is coated with wax on the front and back sides of the original paper, and then rubbed with pebbles or arc stones to make the paper bright, lubricated and dense, and the fibers are even and meticulous, which is slightly thicker than hard yellow paper.
In addition, politicians have added mineral powder and wax paper; On the basis of powder wax paper and colored paper, paper products with gold and silver foil or powder luster are called golden flower paper, silver flower paper or honeysuckle paper, also called cold gold paper or sprinkled gold and silver paper; There is also that kind of paper with exquisite colors and patterns, which is polished and pressed one by one on the pattern board engraved with calligraphy and painting, so that various patterns are hidden on the paper, also called flower curtain paper or pattern paper. At that time, caviar paper made in Sichuan was very popular among scholars. In addition, there have been papers that have undergone simple reprocessing, such as Xue Tao's stationery, Xie Gong's ten-color stationery and other dyed papers, Jin Sushan's warp paper, as well as various printed papers, pine paper, variegated quicksand paper, rosy clouds paper and gold powder dragon paper.
At the same time, the invention of engraving brush greatly stimulated the development of paper industry, and the papermaking area was further expanded, and famous papers appeared one after another, such as yellow and white linen paper in Yizhou, rattan paper in Hangzhou, Wuzhou, Quzhou and Yuezhou, large paperboard in Zhou Jun, thin paper and white paper in Zhou Pu, Xuan paper in Xuanzhou, hard yellow paper and bamboo paper in Shaozhou, and slip paper in Linchuan. In the Tang Dynasty, bast fibers such as Daphne bark, Broussonetia papyrifera bark, mulberry bark, rattan bark, hibiscus bark and Pteroceltis tatarinowii bark were used as raw materials for papermaking. This kind of paper is flexible and thin, and the fibers are evenly staggered.
4. Five Dynasties Song Dynasty
The paper industry of the Five Dynasties continued to develop. Zhangzhou's Chengxin Tang paper was always considered as the best paper until the Northern Song Dynasty. This kind of paper is "as smooth as spring water, as thin as cocoon, as tough as paper and as bright as paper". This paper can be as long as 50 feet and as thin as a tail. It inherited the papermaking tradition of Song Dynasty, Tang Dynasty and Five Dynasties, and many papers with different textures appeared. Paper is generally light, soft, thin and tough. First-class paper is all produced in Jiangnan, also known as Jiangdong paper. The reuse of paper began in the Southern Song Dynasty, and the New Testament was reconstructed from waste paper, called rejuvenation paper or mature rejuvenation paper. It has the characteristics of material saving, time saving and quick effect.
5. Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties
By the Yuan Dynasty, the paper industry was dying, and only the south of the Yangtze River barely maintained its former scene.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the paper industry flourished and innovated constantly. All kinds of stationery are popular again, and white paper and elegant paper are highly respected in texture, with bright and quiet colors, such as pastel paper and printing and dyeing paper in Kanggan period. By the Qing Dynasty, the production of paper had reached a perfect level. The paper-making technology in Qing Dynasty was very mature.
In the Ming Dynasty, the paper industry flourished again. The main famous products are Xuan paper, bamboo paper, Xuande paper and Songjiang Tan paper.
The manufacturing technology of Xuan paper in Qing Dynasty was further improved and became a well-known paper. Most of them use local papermaking raw materials, and all kinds of raw materials are used to make all kinds of paper. Paper processing technology has been further developed and innovated, such as sizing, alum addition, dyeing, waxing, calendering, gold scattering and printing. All kinds of stationery are popular again. White paper and elegant colored paper are highly respected in texture, and the colors are mainly bright and quiet. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, there were pastel wax banknotes, such as those depicting gold and silver patterns, those depicting wax banknotes, those depicting multicolored calendered wax banknotes, and those depicting printed and printed flower banknotes, which were calendered on three-color paper with pastel wax and then painted with clay gold or clay silver. The production of letterhead paper has reached an exquisite level in the Qing Dynasty.
In addition, since the Jin Dynasty, the imperial court in China has accepted tribute paper from neighboring countries, such as South Vietnamese tissue paper (or moss paper), which is sweet, warm and non-toxic with seaweed as raw material. Korean tribute paper and chicken forest paper are loved by rulers of past dynasties. In the Qing Dynasty, there were North Korea's Lijin stationery, Jinling stationery, mirror stationery, bamboo green paper, Vietnamese moss stationery, Japanese snow paper, book paper, western Phnom Penh paper, mica paper, flower paper, all kinds of stationery and flower paper.
Paper, paperboard and processed paper. It is a sheet fiber product used for writing, recording, printing, painting or packaging. It is made of paper pulp suspended in water, deposited into interwoven fiber layers on the forming wire of paper machine, pressed and dried.
References:
Paper (one of four great inventions of ancient china)-Baidu Encyclopedia