Compared with the previous generation, the paper in Jin Dynasty has made obvious progress, which is manifested in the improvement of whiteness, smoother surface, tighter structure, thinner paper and obvious cord. The progress of papermaking in Jin Dynasty and the improvement of paper quality can be seen from the poems and fu of literati chanting paper at that time. For example, Fu Xian, a A Jin native, wrote in "Paper Fu": "A husband is a thing, it is beautiful and precious. Honesty is the rule, cleanliness is the truth. It contains Zhang Yunzao, which is really gentle. Take other people's shortcomings and think you are new. It's comfortable to take it, and it's rolled up when you give it up. You can bend and stretch, and you can show it quietly. " In other words, hemp paper is made of rags, but it is Bai Mo color, cheap and good, and can be rolled up after being written into a book.

If writing materials were still used in Han Dynasty, and paper, as a new material, was not enough to completely replace bamboo slips, this situation had been fundamentally changed in Jin Dynasty. Because a large number of white, smooth and square paper can be produced, people no longer need to use expensive silk and thick bamboo slips, and gradually get used to writing with paper, and finally completely eliminate bamboo slips. The rulers of the Eastern Jin Dynasty have clearly stipulated that the official writing materials should be made of paper, and all imperial memorials should not be made of bamboo slips.

For example, Huan Xuan (AD 369 ~ 404) abolished the Jin Emperor and called himself the emperor, and changed the country name to Chu, and immediately ordered: "There is no paper in ancient times, and it is simple; It's not about worship. Today, everything that is simple is replaced by yellow paper. " Archaeological excavations show that although most of the documents unearthed from tombs or sites in the Western Jin Dynasty were paper-based, sometimes bamboo slips were unearthed, since the Eastern Jin Dynasty, bamboo slips have no longer appeared and are all paper-based. At that time, not only did paper copy a subset of classics and public and private documents, but the rise of Buddhism and Taoism also consumed a lot of paper. For example, most of the scriptures in this period are Buddhist scriptures, which may consume more paper than copying non-religious works.

There are many kinds of paper in Jin Dynasty, including hemp paper, leather paper, moss paper and so on. Especially the leather paper in Jin Dynasty is unprecedented. Zhang Hua's "Natural History" in the Western Jin Dynasty said: "There are many Gu Teng in Tunxi, which can make paper, so the name of paper is Tongteng." Xie An, who lived in seclusion in that area for a long time, once asked Wang Xizhi for paper. "Wang Youjun as records, Xie Gong begging for paper, there are only ninety thousand copies in the library, and then. Xuanxuan Wuyun, Yi Fei Festival. " The demand for paper fully showed the prosperity of calligraphy at that time.

Paper in the Jin Dynasty was divided into white, blue, green and yellow by color. For example, the Book of Beginners, Volume 21, quoted Deyang's "Fake Things in Huan Xuan" and said: "(Huan) Xuan Lingping promised to make green, red, light green and peach paper, making it extremely refined and making it quickly." There is also a cloud in "Nakano Ji": "The imperial edict is written on the five-color paper in Feng Chu's mouth."

The colored papers mentioned here are blue, red, light green, green, peach blossom and other colored papers. When Jin people make paper, white mineral fine powder is evenly coated on paper with adhesive, and then polished with stone. This can not only increase the whiteness and smoothness of the paper surface, but also reduce the light transmittance, so that the paper surface is dense and has good ink absorption, which is more suitable for making books. Jin people also developed the dyeing technology of paper, which not only increased the aesthetic appearance of paper, but also improved the actual effect of paper performance sometimes. At that time, the most commonly used colored paper was dyed yellow paper, which was widely used in public and private occasions, especially when religious believers copied Buddhist scriptures and Taoist scriptures.

In the Jin Dynasty, Su Yijian (958-996 AD) in the Northern Song Dynasty wrote in the Four Books of the Study: "Jinling papermaking, the paper is one foot three points wide and one foot eight points long. This little piece of paper is nine inches five minutes wide and one foot four inches long. " After conversion, the large paper in Jin Dynasty is 365,438+0.3 cm× 43.4 cm, and the small paper is 22.9 cm× 33.7 cm. However, the size of the unearthed cultural relics we measured is slightly different from that described by Su Yijian. 1977 A complete piece of paper dating from 384 AD was unearthed in Xinjiang, with a width of 35.6 cm and a length of 23.4 cm. This is a small piece of paper in the Jin Dynasty, but it is still bigger than that in the Han Dynasty. According to experts' research and measurement, the paper size in Jin Dynasty can be roughly divided into two types: the vertical height of large paper is generally between 26 and 27 cm, the horizontal length is generally between 42 and 52 cm, the vertical height of small paper is generally between 23.5 and 24 cm, and the horizontal length is generally between 40.7 and 44.5 cm. From the above data, we can know that most of the paper in the Jin Dynasty was rectangular, and large paper was rarely seen in later generations. Because paper is small, it is mainly used for writing. The popularity of calligraphy in the Jin Dynasty was probably related to the size of paper at that time.

The widespread use of paper not only promotes the proliferation of books and documents and the spread of science and culture, but also promotes the development and prosperity of calligraphy art and the changes of China fonts. Writing on a narrow and hard bamboo slip, the nib is limited by the space and texture of the writing material and cannot be fully displayed. But with a piece of white, smooth and elastic paper, the situation has changed fundamentally. The widespread use of paper is an important factor in the emergence of outstanding calligraphers Rainbow, Xi Zhi and Wang Xianzhi in the Jin Dynasty. After the Jin Dynasty, the font was changed from Han Li to Li Kai until it became the regular script. So cursive script was developed, and the change of Chinese character font was also caused by using paper, because you can brush your hair freely on paper without any restrictions.