Flower notes
Four treasures of the study room, pen and ink paper,
Among them, the fine quality of paper, the paper also,
And the most wonderful one of the notes is the flower notes.
The flower note can be dyed, can be printed,
You can also ink and draw by yourself.
Because of the unique mood,
It is often used for poetry singing and fish and geese.
Tang Notes are fragrant and colorful;
Song Notes Are Elegant, Plain Patterns;
The yuan note is graceful, and the golden flowers are shining;
Wait until the flowers after the late Ming Dynasty, and gather them into a book,
Printed as a note, it integrates calligraphy, painting, seal engraving and printing into one.
Every flower note,
Are a superb artistic rubbing,
Thick ink dyeing jade notes is an endless sentiment and feeling.
01
"Flower note" refers to the paper printed with pattern patterns, there are people who print Hanwa Zhou pots or inscriptions on the note paper, which are ancient and antique; there are also various colors, or engraved plates printed into landscapes, flowers, birds and other patterns, so it is collectively called "color notes", "flower notes", "brocade notes" and other good names.
Writing poetry is "poetry note", writing letters is "letterhead", if the color printing paper is compiled into an atlas, it is called "note notation", such as "Ten Bamboo Notes", "Beiping Notes", etc., literati and scholars like to design their own patterns on it to show different customs.
02
Historical development of the flower note
Wei and Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties
Paper, one of the four great inventions of China, Cai Lun of the Eastern Han Dynasty, improved papermaking and produced a kind of "CaiHou paper", which gradually replaced bamboo and silk writing documents.
According to the Book of Yizhong, during the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, later Zhao Guojun "Shi Jilong and the empress were in the view of the Zhaoshu, five-colored paper, in the mouth of the phoenix, the phoenix was both titled, and the attendant put hundreds of ropes, and the reel turned around, and the phoenix flew down, which was called the phoenix edict." The phoenix is made of wood."
Shi Hu wrote an edict on five-colored paper, which showed that the paper was already flexible at that time, and there was already dyed colored paper. Wang Wei's poem "Hejia Zhi Early Dynasty Daming Palace" has the sentence "The Dynasty Must Cut the Five Color Edicts", that is, the story of the "Phoenix Zhao" of Shi Hu. In addition, during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, rattan paper appeared in the south.
Li Gonglin "Five Horse Diagrams" Chengxintang paper
In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Xu Ling compiled the "Yutai Xin yong", which contains the sentence "Three Wonders, the Book of Dragon Extension and Qu, the Five-Color Flower Note, and the Paper of Hebei Jiaodong", which confirms that the writing of poetry articles with five-color flower notes has been widely used among literati and ink as early as the sixth century.
Thus, it can be seen that the name of "Flower Note" began to appear in the Southern Dynasty during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period when the mainland literary style flourished.
Tang Dynasty Xue Tao notes
And to make the flower note famous and become a popular one, it should belong to Xue Tao of the Tang Dynasty.
Xue Tao, a female poet of the Tang Dynasty, entered the music at the age of 16, and had a love affair with Wei Gao and Yuan Shu, and during the love period, she often communicated with letters.
Xue Tao loved to compose short poems, so he "ordered the craftsmen to be narrow and small", cutting paper into notes to adapt to the length of the four sentences. She likes red, so she collects the petals of safflower flowers such as hibiscus flowers and cockscomb flowers as dyes, applies them to paper, and flattens the shade. She pursues romance, so she sprinkles small petals on the red letter, more tricks.
The "Tiangong Kaiwu" records: "Boiling millet with hibiscus and other ingredients, into the juice of hibiscus flowers, or as Xue Tao pointed out at that time, has left its name to this day." Its beauty lies in color, not in the material also. ”
There is a cloud in Li Shangyin's poem "Send Cui Jue to Xichuan": "Huanhua notes paper peach blossom color, good inscription poetry Yong Jade Hook" sentence, it can be seen that Xue Tao's notes were enjoyed by poets at that time.
This kind of peach red note made by Xue Tao is a very unique dark peach red, bright and vulgar, both bright and gorgeous and dignified and generous, although the color is dark, but it does not block the pen, it is highly appreciated, and it has become a standard, called "Xue Tao Note", also known as peach blossom note, Huanhua note.
Five generations of light paper
In the Tang Dynasty, colored paper notes were commonly used in literati poetry and wine rooms, but there is no such thing as carving landscapes and flowers on paper.
By the end of the fifth dynasty, Yao Yan, who had served as shangshu of the Later Jin Dynasty, his son was good at making five-color notes, light tight essence, cardboard was agarwood carved landscape forest, folded branches and fruits, lion and angus fish, eight immortals of shouxing, Zhong Dingwen, different widths, strange and fine patterns, and the number "Light Small Book".
The light of the paper, is the predecessor of the engraving printing of the note, the method is to use the color paper is thin and tough, overlaid on the engraved plate, and then with a wooden stick or paraffin on the back of the paper grinding, the pattern on the engraving plate is light out of the paper.
Until the Qing Dynasty, this kind of polished paper was still made in the southern paper shops in various places.
Song Dynasty notes
By the Song Dynasty, the use of flower notes was more extensive, in addition to poetry, famous works also needed to be written in Chinese notes. As far as song notes are concerned, there are Chengxintang paper, Biyun Chunshu notes, dragon and phoenix notes, TuanHua notes, golden flower notes... They are all royal notes in the palace, which are quite luxurious.
The Song Dynasty's favorite flower note is Su Shi, in "Jiuliu Ti", the earth yellow flower pattern is still faintly recognizable; in the "Screen Matter Post", the geometric patterns are arranged in an orderly manner; in the "See The Post", the whole paper is covered with peony grass patterns, between which two phoenix birds are shuttled, luxurious but not eye-catching, which is enough to see the elegance of the flower note. At that time, the literati heard that Su Shi loved to use the stone flower note, and there was also a group of "good learners", who also took the ink on this note as a pleasure.
Ming and Qing dynasty notes
From the end of the Ming Dynasty to the Republic of China, as the printing and dyeing techniques became more and more refined, technology was no longer a problem, but the original intention of the designer became the biggest test of the flower note.
At that time, the literati would draw and print their own inscriptions, and then assemble them into a book as a note. Li Yu once self-printed a copy of the "Mustard Garden Notes", and also deliberately emphasized in the text that the note was the work of his heart, "no one else is allowed to turn over the notes". Like ordinary calligraphy and painting sketches, notation is also a way of creating the lyrical collection of literati.
Republic of China paper
Inheriting the spiritual demands of the late Ming dynasty literati were the literati of the Republic of China. At that time, the masters of the literary and painting circles raised pens and made notes, each with its own characteristics.
Qi Baishi made flower notes, self-tailored and self-painted, and the themes were mostly close-ups of flowers, plants, fruits and vegetables, birds and insects, which were fresh and funny. Zhang Daqian likes to draw plum blossom notes, and also notes "Daqian Jushi uses the Yuanren Method" to show his interest. Pu Xinqi is simply a fanatic of flower notes, and he has his own works such as golden flower notes, sunset notes, Xie Gong notes, and so on. The talented girl Jiangnan Apple prefers flower notes, and will also give short poems to the ancients, which are both poetic and tender.
Although the flower note is small, the professional skills and humanistic accomplishment it contains are extremely extensive, including calligraphy and painting, seal carving, poetry, and a person's character.
But this is the essence of Chinese culture, between the sizes, everything is incompatible, ruthless, no matter how small things, can also give far-reaching meaning.