Materials for folk paper-cutting
"It is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice", and the same is true for the art of paper-cutting. Since 1933, archaeologists have discovered several pieces of ancient paper in some tombs, which has kicked off the study of ancient paper. Speaking of paper, the first thing we think of is Cai Lun, the inventor of papermaking. "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" Volume 78 "Biographies of Eunuchs" has this record about Cai Luns papermaking: "Lun is talented and learned, dedicated and prudent... Every time he takes a break, he often closes the door to the guests, exposes himself to the fields, and later increases his position. Shang Fangling, in the ninth year of Yongyuan (AD 97), supervised the production of secret swords and other instruments, all of which were made with fine workmanship and tightness, which was the law of later generations. Since ancient times, most deeds have been compiled with bamboo slips, and those who dislike silk are called paper. If they are too expensive, they are called paper. It was simple and heavy, and not convenient for people. Lun was creative and used tree skin, hemp heads, poor cloth, and fishing nets as paper. In the first year of Yuanxing, Qin came to the throne. It is called 'Cai Hou Paper'." ② Combining this record with the description of the papermaking process in "Tiangong Kaiwu·Zhaqing Chapter", I personally believe that Cai Lun Papermaking has mastered the following basic processes:
1. Cutting: Hemp and bark fibers are generally very long and do not meet the requirements of papermaking if they are not cut, and are not conducive to fiber dispersion.
2. Retting, boiling and washing: The bark contains many pectin and lignin substances, which connect the fibers together. Under the conditions at that time, it was impossible for the bark to become pulp without retting to remove such substances to a certain extent.
3. Spring pounding: Without mechanical action such as spring pounding, the paper cannot reach its due strength, and it is impossible to disperse the rag fibers that have been woven together into single fibers.
4. Paper forming: This is a necessary process from pulp to paper.
5. Drying and shaping: The fiber shrinks greatly when drying, and external force must be applied to keep the shape under relatively stable conditions. Otherwise, the paper will wrinkle and cannot be used as writing material.
In terms of quality, "Cai Hou Paper" can not only pay tribute to the emperor, but also be used for writing instead of silk, which shows that it has reached a certain degree of accuracy.
In fact, before the invention of papermaking, people were already using some thin sheets to serve their lives. For example, Egypt has papyrus "paper"; Europe has parchment "paper"; China has silk "paper", etc. Because these so-called papers are natural products, their quantity is very limited, and the cost can be imagined.Cicadas, and the texture cannot be changed according to needs, which greatly limits the use scope and value of these natural "papers".
In "The History of Chinese Folk Paper-cutting", Mr. Wang Shucun identified the paper found during excavation at the Ruqiao Brick and Tile Factory in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province as the earliest physical paper found in China. However, Comrades Wang Juhua and Li Yuhua from China Paper Industry Research Institute concluded after sampling and analyzing Ruqiao paper that "Ruqiao paper is not paper." The main reasons are as follows:
(l) Appearance: brownish yellow, thin, and the direction of the fiber bundles can be seen when facing the light. The paper is loose and the surface is rough.
(2) Observation under a physical microscope and scanning electron microscope: Most fibers and fiber bundles are long, and many fiber bundles cross the entire paper surface and break at the rupture of the paper. The longest ones are up to 70 mm (does not meet the requirements) length required for papermaking). This indicates that the degree of cutting is poor, or that there is basically no cutting. The fibers are mostly the same color. There are a small number of fiber bundle segments with different colors and lengths, which are individually twisted into strands, indicating that the raw materials are tangled hemp, rope ends, thread ends, etc. The structure of paper is relaxed, and the fibers simply come together without hydrogen bonding. There are many fiber bundles, many fibers arranged in the same direction, and the evenness is not good. These phenomena indicate that the slurry has not been suspended. What is more noteworthy is that the natural edge of the paper, the arc shown by the arrow, has a curvature similar to that of the edge of the bronze mirror, and the edges are neat without wrinkles or creases. Most fibers do not break at their natural ends, but instead wrap around the edge of the paper and fold back onto the paper. This shows that the relationship between the paper and the bronze mirror is not to wrap it but to cushion it: He is a circular cushion, which
The shape is not cut, but formed by the natural folding of the fibers. In other words, the paper-like sheet is not made from paper, but from the natural accumulation of fibers.
(3) Observation of fiber morphology: Stain the dispersed fibers with iodine-chloride staining agent and observe under a microscope. The fibers appear blue-purple with yellow heads. The average fiber width is about 26 microns, with naturally blunt ends and irregular cross-section patterns on the wall. The cell cavity is obvious and large, accounting for about 1/3 to 1/2 of the entire fiber width, and the cell wall is thick. Based on the above characteristics, it is concluded that the raw material is hemp and sesame fiber.
Another noteworthy phenomenon about the fiber morphology of Baqiao paper is that the fiber wall is smooth and complete, without fluffing. The ends of the cut fibers are neatly broken, and there is no splitting phenomenon. It can be seen that the raw materials have not been beaten orSpring pound.
The invention of any kind of technology is a long process of practice and exploration. "Practice precedes theory, and craftsmen and artists must be ahead of philosophers. They must first demonstrate a new realm in artistic practice before they can summarize the theory of this new realm." Mr. Zong Baihua is talking about the practice of art here. relationship to theory. In fact, the principles are the same. Therefore, the study of Ruqiao paper cannot use modern theories to demonstrate it. Because modern papermaking theory is based on modern mature papermaking technology, technology and equipment, and these papermaking processes and technologies are very perfect after summarizing the previous papermaking technology and technical experience. Systematic and very mature process. Baqiao paper is just a good example of what our ancestors have accumulated in papermaking technology and experience. Without the practical activities of Baqiao paper in the Western Han Dynasty, the invention of papermaking in my country may not have been so fast. The experience accumulated is so rich, and the technical process is summarized so perfectly.
China is the country where papermaking was first invented. "Tiangong Kaiwu·Zhaqing" by Song Yingxing of the Ming Dynasty is the earliest monograph in my country that introduces papermaking technology in detail. its
