Shu Paper

Shu Paper

　　What Is Shu Paper?

　　　　After paper is made, it can be further processed for different uses. Shu paper is a type of famous processed paper from ancient Chengdu. According to Cihai, "Shu paper refers to fine paper used for writing poetry or letters." During the Tang Dynasty, Chengdu paper was listed among the "finest papers." According to Li Zhao's Zhou Shi Bu, there were "hemp-surface, bone-flake, gold-flower, long-hemp, fish-roe, and ten-color papers. Lu Guimeng once praised fish-roe paper in a poem: 'Pounded into fine frost-like grains, sleek and small, knowing you delight in composing sorrowful verse, I'm glad to share some; today I’m struck by its new silkworm-cocoon hue, and can distinguish the white duckweed patterns in the breeze.'"

　　Xue Tao Paper

　　　　Among the most famous types of paper from the Tang Dynasty was Xue Tao Paper.

　　The female poet Xue Tao lived by the Huanhua Stream in Chengdu and enjoyed writing short poems. Finding that regular paper was too large, "she asked artisans to make it narrower. The talented scholars of Shu found this convenient, and later all kinds of paper were made this way, and it came to be specially called 'Xue Tao Paper.'" (Su Yijian: Wénfáng Sìpǔ / Four Treasuries of the Study) Xue Tao Paper was colored paper,

　　available in as many as ten colors. The Xu Bowuzhi (Continued Records of the Broad Investigation) says, "Xue Tao created ten-color paper." The Kǎo? Yúshì (Leisure Notes) says, "Xue Hongdu, who made paper her profession, produced small ten-color sheets." This shows it was not just the dark red color that people commonly assume. Probably because Xue Tao was a woman who loved red, and because legend said the red was dyed with hibiscus flower juice, these small red sheets were especially admired and became representative of both Xue Tao Paper and the broader category of Shu Paper. They have been imitated through the ages. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, a peasant rebellion army captured Chongqing and took control of Sichuan. Their leader, Ming Yuzhen, heard that Lu Ziliang from Chengdu could make Xue Tao Paper with craftsmanship beyond compare, so he set up a paper bureau by the Huanhua Stream in Chengdu and appointed Lu Ziliang to oversee production. In the Ming Dynasty, the Shu King’s court would also produce twenty-four sheets of paper every year on the third day of the third lunar month, selecting sixteen of them to send to the palace as an offering to the emperor. However, the papermaking site had been moved to the Jinjiang Riverbank near the East Gate, using water from the Jade Maiden Spring (commonly known as Xue Tao Well).

　　Difference Between Shu Paper and Xue Tao Paper

　　　　Many people regard Xue Tao Paper and Shu Paper as the same thing, but actually, Shu Paper comes in many varieties. Records from the Song Dynasty mention varieties such as Baiyun Paper, Qingbai Paper, Daxueshi Paper, Xiaoxueshi Paper, Jiasu Paper, Yushui Paper, Lengjin Paper, Liusha Paper, Tongxia Paper, and Butou Paper. Baiyun Paper was large enough to write a hundred-line poem; Qingbai Paper got its name from being white on one side and blue on the other; Jiasu Paper imitated the varicolored powdered paper from Suzhou; and Butou Paper was made from specialized "butou machine remnants." Su Dongpo said Butou Paper was "thin and translucent," and "renowned across the world." Shu Paper of the Song Dynasty was not only rich in color and variety, but also featured a whole set of techniques for impressing patterns. The paper was embossed with designs of fabrics, brocades, figures, flowers, trees, birds, insects, and ritual bronze motifs—subtly visible and adding a special charm, making it a delightful handicraft.