Xuan paper (''xuanzhi'' ), or Shuen paper or rice paper, is a kind of

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...

originating in ancient

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

used for writing and painting. Xuan paper is renowned for being soft and fine textured, suitable for conveying the artistic expression of both

Chinese calligraphy Chinese calligraphy is the writing of Chinese characters as an art form, combining purely visual art and interpretation of the literary meaning. This type of expression has been widely practiced in China and has been generally held in high est ...

and

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

Origin

Xuan paper was first mentioned in ancient Chinese books ''Notes of Past Famous Paintings'' and ''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

''. It was originally produced in the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

in Jing County, which was under the jurisdiction of Xuan Prefecture (Xuanzhou), hence the name Xuan paper. During the Tang dynasty, the paper was often a mixture of

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

(the first fiber used for paper in China) and mulberry fiber. originally appeared as "Analysis of modern Chinese paper and treatment of a Chinese woodblock print" in ''The Paper Conservator'', 1997, pp. 48-62 By the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

, the paper producing industries in Huizhou and Chizhou were gradually transferred to Jing County.

Classification

Due to different producing methods, Xuan paper can be classified into ''Shengxuan'', ''Shuxuan'', and ''Banshuxuan''. Shengxuan (literally "Raw Xuan"), which is not specially processed, excels in its ability to absorb water, causing the ink on it to blur. Shuxuan (literally "Ripe Xuan"), however, has

potassium alum Potassium alum, potash alum, or potassium aluminium sulfate is a chemical compound: the double sulfate of potassium and aluminium, with chemical formula KAl(SO4)2. It is commonly encountered as the dodecahydrate, KAl(SO4)2·12H2O. It crystalli ...

worked into it during production, which results in a stiffer texture, a reduced ability to absorb water, and less resistance to shear stress (meaning that it can be torn much more easily). This feature makes Shuxuan more suitable for

Gongbi ''Gongbi'' () is a careful realist technique in Chinese painting, the opposite of the interpretive and freely expressive '' xieyi'' (寫意 'sketching thoughts') style. The name is from the Chinese ''gong jin'' meaning 'tidy' (meticulous brush c ...

rather than Xieyi. Banshuxuan (literally "Half-ripe Xuan") has intermediate absorbability, between Shengxuan and Shuxuan.

Features

Xuan paper features great tensile strength, smooth surface, pure and clean texture and clean stroke, great resistance to crease, corrosion, moth and mold. The majority of ancient Chinese books and paintings by famous painters that survived until today are well preserved on Xuan paper. Xuan paper won the Golden Award at the Panama International Exposition in 1915. Xuan paper was used to make scrolls.

Material and production

The material Xuan paper uses is closely related to the geography of Jing County. The bark of '' Pteroceltis tatarinowii'', a common species of

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

in the area, was used as the main material to produce Xuan paper.

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

, along with several other materials, was subsequently added to the recipe in the Song and Yuan Dynasties.

Bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

and

mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

also began to be used to produce xuan paper around that time. The production of Xuan paper can be loosely described as an 18-step process, and a detailed account would involve over a hundred. Some paper makers have invented steps which have been kept secret from others. The process includes steaming and bleaching the bark of ''Pteroceltis tatarinowii'' as well as the addition of a variety of juices.

References

Anhui Xuan paper on chinaculture.org
retrieved on 2009-02-08. *

retrieved on 2009-02-08. {{Paper Chinese calligraphy Chinese inventions Chinese painting Hemp Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Papermaking in China

Origin

Classification

Features

Material and production

See also

References