Introduction to classical calligraphy
Lecture 3: The Relationship between Pen, Ink, Paper, and Inkstone
Section 2 Rice paper
Yu Zhonghua. 
"Paper" is a big concept, "rice paper" is a small concept, it can be said that rice paper refers to the special paper for calligraphy and painting. From this point of view, calligraphy has a special paper, but there is no special brush. Whether it's a drawing or a book, use a brush. There is no special brush, only the correspondence of style, some people are good at using hard brushes, and some people are good at using soft brushes. But for calligraphy, it is impossible to have a special brush, a special inkstone, etc. Everything is developing towards itself, and in this sense, the most important thing in the development of calligraphy is rice paper.
In terms of paper selection, calligraphy eventually moved to rice paper, which was used as a special paper for calligraphy and painting. There may be a misconception that we have always used rice paper from ancient times to the present. In fact, rice paper became a special paper for calligraphy since the Ming and Qing dynasties, in the era of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi to the era of Yan Zhenqing, at that time the main use of hard paper, that is, cooked paper. The rice paper we use now is mainly raw paper, and in ancient times, it was the result of waxing, polishing, and calendering on the basis of raw paper. To write Wang Xizhi and Wang Xian's books, everyone must pay attention to the fact that it is more convenient to use hard paper than soft paper, and it is difficult to write the desired effect with Shengxuan. In the same way, rice paper appeared with the emergence of Changfeng Yanghao, so first of all, please note that the various colors of paper we use, as long as it is conducive to our writing, are all right, and not only must be used rice paper. Secondly, if you want to write calligraphy well, you can only use a lot of rice paper to pile it up. The most valuable thing about an artist is diligence, and the hallmark of diligence is the amount of rice paper used. Buying only one or two pieces of rice paper a year will definitely not be able to write well, which is inevitable, first of all, not enough diligence. Again, when we use rice paper, we know that the so-called rice paper refers to the rice paper in Xiaoling Town, Jing County, Anhui Province, today's rice paper is actually based on raw paper, cooked paper, and other processed paper, various colors of paper, etc., which is very diverse and rich, which is the result of the pluralism of contemporary calligraphy. In contemporary times, there are also representative types of rice paper, such as the rice paper of the Red Star brand is regarded as a national treasure, and its ** is soaring every year.
Rice paper has its own characteristics. First, rice paper has a little permeability. Our brushes are written on paper, and in northern parlance, they will slowly "leak". Speaking of which, I thought about the first time I wrote rice paper, my teacher gave me a few sheets, and I tried to write and thought, "What kind of paper is this for me, why is it so difficult to write?" "At that time, I wrote Ouyang Xun's "Jiucheng Palace Liquan Ming", and I didn't think that I would use processed rice paper to write about European sports, and I didn't have this concept at that time. Later, I asked for a few more pieces of rice paper to write repeatedly before I could control it. The percolation of rice paper often makes it difficult for beginners to navigate. It is also because of this that professional calligraphers are able to show their kung fu when writing on rice paper. Write to a certain amount, and that permeation effect can be controlled. Second, rice paper is very comfortable to the touch and very soft like a child's **. Therefore, when our brush steps on this paper, it is like stepping on a cloud, and there is a special feeling, soft and soft, which is incomparable to hard paper. When we say hard paper, we mean paper like newspapers, coated paper, etc. If we usually write with newspaper, we will definitely use a watering can to spray a little water on the newspaper to stimulate its permeation function and softness. Third, there are a little micro particles on the rice paper, which means that the brush will have ink and micro particles on the rice paper, and the effect of seeping a little obstruction. Such particles also exist on the cutting surface of the brush and the surface of the inkstone, and there are some micro particles in the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, and the micro particles form a whole with each other and are linked into a whole. Therefore, the obstruction effect of microparticles in the pursuit of writing is also irreplaceable by other papers, so rice paper has become a special paper for calligraphy and painting.
When I was very young, I generally used yuan book paper or raw edge paper, and so on, mainly to find the "obstruction" function of rice paper in the process of practice, the performance of yuan book paper and rice paper is relatively close, so from yuan book paper, raw edge paper, and finally to write rice paper, it is easy to transition to the past. If you usually only use hard paper to practice calligraphy, it will be difficult to use rice paper for the first time to master it. I also want to explain one point here, that is, rice paper is higher than other papers, so when I usually practice calligraphy, although everyone is gradually getting richer, I don't recommend using rice paper when practicing calligraphy. Usually practice words can be replaced by raw edge paper and yuan book paper, which are similar in performance to rice paper. In the process of writing, we may end up writing on rice paper, but please pay attention to what kind of style corresponds to what kind of paper, if we write Erwang Yiyi, or Ouyang Xun, Yan Zhenqing's regular script, with cooked paper, the effect will be better. If we use rice paper, it's very difficult. Therefore, in today's situation where everyone begins to consciously calligraphy, writing mainly depends on what kind of style we are pursuing, and what kind of rice paper we are looking for to write. In the same way, when we are doing calligraphy exercises, if we can know the paper corresponding to the ancients when they wrote the calligraphy, and try to find the paper close to it when copying this work, this will get twice the result with half the effort, and the temporary post can be closer to the original post. Like Zhang Xu's "Four Posts of Ancient Poems", we know that he uses five-color paper, several colors are spliced together, and splicing together is not our main purpose, the main purpose is to achieve the calligraphy effect of Zhang Xu.
Everyone should know that writing rice paper requires a certain amount of skill to overcome, which calls for the emergence of professional calligraphers. So in the process of Changfeng Yanghao prevailing in the world, rice paper has become the protagonist used by calligraphers, seeking the effect of rich ink color, the so-called "ink five colors" can be tried on rice paper, whether the ink is divided into five colors is a way to distinguish the good and bad of rice paper. Contemporary "grass saint" Lin Sanzhi, he likes to use a long edge sheep to dip a little bit of water, and then dip it in ink to write, the performance of rice paper to the fullest. It was from him that the elements of painting were gradually integrated into calligraphy, creating a new era.
We all have a feeling when we write on rice paper, that is, it is difficult to control the effect of rice paper infiltration and this obstruction when writing on rice paper for the first time. Writing a line is often not finished, and the ink is gone, and it can't be dragged out. But with the passage of time and the growth of skill, the performance of rice paper can be brought into full play. It can be said that being able to freely play on rice paper is a sign of the maturity of a calligrapher.
When using hard time, it corresponds to using soft paper, and if it is a soft pen, it is using hard paper, which is one of the guidelines for us to write. We usually pay attention to the softness and hardness of rice paper when choosing a pen, and we can't have a kind of rice paper "invincible all over the world", which is not conducive to our writing. Any paper that is conducive to our writing is only used as a carrier, a carrier of Chinese characters, then any paper can be used. We now use rice paper, in fact, in ancient times, the most noble paper used for writing was often silk, which was silk. We say that silk has two major functions, one is medical treatment, and the other is the function of writing. Nowadays, rice paper is popular, calligraphy is flourishing, and some people write silk or silk. It can be said that because silk cannot be popularized, rice paper is cheaper than silk, so it has become a substitute for silk. However, if the family has the conditions or writes very noble content, silk is often used. For example, the emperor's decrees were written in silk. The word "paper" is next to the skein, that is to say, the early paper is the product of silk, and later Cai Lun improved the papermaking technique, using bark, hemp, rags, and old fishing nets as raw materials as substitutes.
I have a point here that may cause harm to some people, that is, the reason why Wang Xizhi was able to become Wang Xizhi is because the Wang family is a big family, so he uses paper, does not choose paper, keeps writing, and uses a lot of paper, so that his calligraphy appears. And if you feel that practicing calligraphy consumes a lot of paper, then it is difficult to write well. Therefore, learning calligraphy should be based on economy. We say that the poor can become scholars, and the ancients said that "the poor learn literature and the rich learn martial arts", but for the skill of calligraphy, it takes a lot of rice paper to pile up in order to achieve the calligrapher's excellent writing ability. Today, there is a kind of paper specially used for calligraphy or painting practice, I think the effect is good, it has a little familiar, a little raw classification, so that the writing is easier to control, and there is a slight permeation function, can replace rice paper. In fact, we say that although rice paper has replaced silk, it is because the price has dropped, but rice paper is not a cheap thing, relatively speaking, the best of calligraphy and painting paper is lower, if calligraphy and painting paper can be further popularized and replaced by rice paper, it will play a greater role in calligraphy.
When I was a child, I learned calligraphy with Mr. Luo Shuting, who was a famous local artist. Mr. Luo first warned me that if you want to write well, you must first respect the brush and rice paper, and if you don't respect the tools, it will be difficult to play their functions, which is a big restriction for yourself. Therefore, we have a big point of view, that is, when writing, we must first respect our own tools, and call the tools "the four treasures of the study", which also represents our respect for the brush, the paper, the inkstone, and the ink. One aspect of respect is not to see them as your tools, just to use. It should be one of our treasures such as brushes and paper, and when we use them, we should respect them and give full play to their performance and properties as much as possible, so that they can play a role in our writing. The use of rice paper is the result of the development of calligraphy, with the ultimate goal of facilitating writing. The use of all tools, in the process of use, must give full play to their performance, in order to be conducive to our writing. If you don't respect your tool, then there will be a situation where it fights with your writing. Therefore, we should cherish rice paper, even if it is the edge left by cutting paper. When Mr. Luo Shuting was writing for others, he consciously cut off a little edge of the rice paper and used it for our students to practice calligraphy. Therefore, in today's more developed economy, we can easily buy paper as a tool, buy more, waste more, which will also bring a problem, that is, we don't take rice paper very seriously, do not respect rice paper, and only use them as tools. According to the phenomenological point of view, the brush, paper, inkstone, and ink become the four treasures of the study, that is, they are related as a whole, and they should not be looked at separately. The reason why it is called the "Four Treasures of the Study" also shows that they are an interrelated whole, the brush points to the rice paper, the rice paper points to the ink, and the ink points to the inkstone, so the four can only become a whole, and at the same time people are in it, people use them, so that they can play a role and play a role, at this time they can be called the "Four Treasures of the Study".