Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Papermaking Technology in Minority Areas

China is a multi-ethnic country with a long history of civilization. In the history of the civilization of the Chinese nation, each ethnic group has its own unique contributions. The same is true in the history of Chinese papermaking technology.All ethnic minorities can make full use of local resources and combine the customs of various ethnic groups to produce suitable paper, thus enriching the content of papermaking in our country.Most of the ethnic minorities are located in the frontiers. my country's paper and papermaking technology were first spread to foreign countries through some areas where ethnic minorities live together, and played an active role in communicating cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.Good paper made by ethnic minorities is often praised by Han brothers when it is shipped to the interior.When Han paper workers spread their technology in minority areas, they also deepened the solidarity and friendship among the people of all ethnic groups in our country.

Due to the wide distribution of ethnic minorities, to find out their papermaking technology, it is necessary to conduct on-site investigations, test paper, and consult relevant historical materials.This work was seldom done in the past, so it can only be based on the inspection of some paper samples collected by the author in the minority areas in the past ten years, as well as oral investigations, and reference to some literature records. A brief introduction to papermaking technology. The Tibetans originated from the Qiang people and lived on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for a long time. They bravely fought against the dangerous natural conditions, opened up this plateau area known as the "roof of the world", and made contributions to the creation of the great Chinese nation. .The area inhabited by Tibetans was called "Tubo" in the Tang Dynasty.The king of Tubo is called "Zanpu".In the early 7th century AD, Zanpu Songtsen Gampo of Tubo proposed to the Tang court.In the fifteenth year of Zhenguan (AD 641), Tang Taizong Li Shimin sent someone to escort Princess Wencheng into Tubo and marry Songtsen Gampo.In the first year of Yonghui (650 A.D.), Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty sent many technicians and craftsmen to Tubo.Among these technicians and craftsmen, there are paper makers, craftsmen who make ink and brushes, etc.Therefore, Tubo began to make paper more than 1,000 years ago.The introduction of advanced technology from the Central Plains promoted the social and economic development of Tubo.Economic development promotes cultural development.Songtsan Gampo and Princess Wencheng even reformed the Tibetan script and created the Tibetan calendar with reference to the Tang calendar.At the same time, Buddhism became popular in Tubo, and more and more Buddhist scriptures were copied.The development of culture has increased the demand for paper.

Later generations found some Tibetan scriptures, most of which were Buddhist scriptures, in the manuscripts stored in the Dunhuang Stone Chamber.Judging from the calligraphy style of these Tibetan scriptures, some were written before the reformation of the Tibetan script, while others were written after that.These writings should date from the seventh to eighth centuries to the ninth century.The paper used for writing scriptures in Tibetan is larger in vertical height than the paper used for writing scriptures in Chinese and Tang Dynasty.After identification, some of this kind of paper were made in Gansu, and some might be made in Tubo.Because judging from the thickness of the paper, the shape of the curtain pattern and the appearance, it is definitely not a product of the Central Plains.

The paper used for writing scriptures in Tibetan is generally thicker, and most of it is natural color paper with skin color. There are some unbroken round bumps on the back of the paper, and the raw material is mostly hemp.The reason why thick paper is used is that the material of the paper machine is slightly different from that used in the Central Plains, and the second is that Tibetans use hard wooden pens or bamboo pens dipped in black ink to write, and the paper is too thin and easily scratched.Later, Tibetans mastered woodblock printing, and printed editions of Tibetan books and Buddhist scriptures appeared.Early engraved editions are rare, and most of the Tibetan engraved editions we have seen belong to the engraved editions since the Ming and Qing Dynasties.This kind of engraved version is printed in the inland area or locally. From the raw material and shape of the paper, the place of printing can be identified at a glance.

Due to the limited sources of hemp materials in Tibet, the Tibetans use local resources to make paper.There are generally three kinds of raw materials used in Tibetan papermaking: one is chamaema chamaejasma (called "poisonous grass" in Tibetan), which is a perennial herb whose stems and roots can be used to make paper.One is woody bast fiber, such as the lampstand tree, which is a deciduous shrub. The Tibetan pronunciation is xiaoxin, which means "paper wood". Its bark can be used to make paper; there are also wild camellia trees.The third is to use old paper.

As for the Tibetan papermaking technology, there are currently no relevant written records in the literature, and we can only know a little bit from the past Tibetan indigenous production methods.However, this native method is often not much different from ancient times.Take chamaejasma root papermaking as an example. After digging out the root, wash it with water to remove the mud, smash it with a wooden stick, wash away the impurities, put it in a pot filled with lime water and boil it over high heat. The boiled paper material is washed with water. , put it into a long and thin barrel, add rice soup or cactus juice, and beat with a beating stick.Use a ladle to lift the slurry and see when the slurry is sticky.Use a gauze sieve with a tight wooden frame as a paper mold, pour the slurry on it, filter the water, dry it in the sun, and peel it off to form a paper.

Adding cactus juice during the pulping process can act like the hollyhock used by the Han people, or carambola vine juice and other paper potions.The method of making cactus juice: After the cactus is dried in the shade, smash it with a wooden beater, simmer it over low heat, and rot it into a paste. If the bark of the lampstand is used to make paper, the cut saplings or twigs are bundled with the leaves removed, soaked in water for seven or eight days, then torn into hemp, rinsed in clean water, smashed with a wooden stick, and then Carry out cooking again. The Tibetan papermaking technology is similar to that of the Central Plains, but the raw materials are wild plants on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and local materials are used.The discovery and utilization of these wild papermaking raw materials is a contribution of the Tibetans to my country's papermaking.

The papermaking equipment used by the Tibetans is simple and feasible.It is generally not necessary to step on the pestle for pounding materials, but to use wooden vertebrae or pestles and mortars.Instead of bamboo curtains, gauze is used to fish paper, and the grouting method is used.Put the pulp into a bucket, bring it to the river or a sink, float the paper mold on the water, pour the pulp and beat it with a stick to make it evenly distributed.Therefore, the paper made in this way has no curtain pattern in the bright place, but only cloth pattern.

The quality of Tibetan paper varies from high to low.The paper used by upper-class lords or lamas in monasteries is mostly thick and hard paper. Fiber bundles are rarely seen on the paper. The paper is slightly light yellow. After calendering, it is suitable for writing and has a large paper width.The paper used by ordinary people is relatively thin, and there are many long fibers on the paper without sufficient dispersion.Generally speaking, Tibetan paper has strong tensile strength and is moth-resistant.It should be pointed out that Tibetan paper is not dried on the wall, but naturally dried in the sun along with the paper mold, so the surface is not very smooth. Before use, it must be calendered with fine stones. This is a laborious and time-consuming process. .

In the Qing Dynasty, Huang Peiqiao mentioned Tibetan paper under the item "Native Products" in the book "Tibet Maps", and included "Poems on Tibetan Paper" written by Zha Li, and highly praised Tibetan paper: "The quality is as firm as a cocoon. , the color is white, and the Liu is bright. Shi Xi is subject to 隃 [yu Yu] moose (referring to 隃 moose ink), and the light is not stained with dust. The meaning of the inscription is solid, and the painting is smooth. Cutting it can fill the window, and embellishing it can be used as a tent He is different from Gao Lichu, and the foreign paper is also given back.” (Volume 3 of "Tibet Maps and Tests", a reissue of "Reading My Study" in the 17th year of Guangxu) The praise of Tibetan paper in Chali's poems should be said to be no exaggeration.In terms of toughness and even fineness of fibers, this kind of paper is indeed inferior to the foreign paper in Europe at that time.It is not only suitable for calligraphy and painting, but also can be used as paper tents and pasted windows for daily use.The author once saw a kind of refined leather Tibetan Buddhist scripture paper in the Beijing Library, just like the kind of paper described by Zha Li.The paper used for some Tibetan blocks in the library is also very particular.

The Xinjiang Uyghur region is in the northwest of my country. The Uyghur, Kazak, Tibetan, Hui, Mongolian, Han and other ethnic groups living in the territory have worked together for a long time and worked hard to develop the northwest frontier of the motherland.At the latest in the Western Han Dynasty, the Xinjiang region had a very close relationship with the Central Plains region.During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Gaochang regime in Xinjiang strengthened its political, economic and cultural ties and exchanges with the Central Plains.With the continuous immigration of Han people from the Central Plains and the establishment of military colonies by the central government of the Tang Dynasty, the production technology of the Han nationality was also brought to Xinjiang.The Tang government also set up a "mutual market supervision" to manage the trade between Gaochang, Qiuci and other places and the inland. The silk, gold, silver, copper, ironware, ceramics, paper and other commodities produced in the inland, as well as scientific and cultural classics, were continuously transported to Gaochang. , Kucha and other areas.Due to the joint efforts of the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang and the influence of the economy and culture of the Han area in the Central Plains, in the Tang Dynasty, in some places here, the level of productivity and economic and cultural development was close to that of the mainland. In the past 50 years, especially in the past 20 to 30 years, many paper books and classic manuscripts have been unearthed from ancient tombs and ancient sites in Xinjiang.Among them are written in Chinese, also in ancient Uyghur, and also in combination of Chinese and Uyghur, as well as in Xixia, Turkic, and Tibetan.There are even Sogdian, Tocharian, and Syriac languages ​​popular in Central Asia and West Asia, Sanskrit in India, and Greek in Europe.Paper documents written in the above-mentioned unearthed languages ​​of various ethnic groups have also been found in other places in Dunhuang and Longxi.According to the ink calligraphy, text content and chronology on ancient document paper unearthed in Gansu and Xinjiang, as early as the Han Dynasty, shortly after the invention of paper, it was quickly spread to Xinjiang and used by people of all ethnic groups.For example, in 1933, hemp paper from the time of Emperor Xuan of the Western Han Dynasty (73-49 BC) was unearthed at the Lop Nur Han Dynasty beacon site. In the Loulan site, some paper documents with year names were unearthed, including the fourth year of Jiaping, King Cao Qi of the Three Kingdoms (AD 252), the second year of Emperor Xianxi of the Yuan Dynasty (AD 265), and the fourth year of Emperor Huai of the Western Jin Dynasty (AD 265). 310) and other chronological documents. Since the 20th century, many early paper documents have been unearthed at the Gaochang site in Turpan, among which the earliest is the manuscript of "Zhufo Yao Ji Jing" in the sixth year of Yuankang (AD 296), Emperor Huidi of the Western Jin Dynasty. Chinese, Huihe documents, Buddhist scriptures and classics from the Kingdom, Gaochang and Tang Dynasties.Fragments of documents written in Yanqi and Kucha scripts were found in Kuqa and Bachu.Many ancient Khotanese scrolls written on paper, written around the 8th century, have been found at Hotan. In addition to documents written in various ethnic groups unearthed in Xinjiang, various paper products have also been unearthed in ancient tombs, including paper coffins, paper-cuts, paper paintings, playing cards, and paper hats, paper shoes, and paper belts for funerals. .It can be seen that as early as the nearly thousand years from the 1st century BC to the 9th century AD, the people of various ethnic groups living here, as well as the people of Central Asia and West Asia who lived here, not only used paper for a long time, but also the way of using paper. quite broad.Among these papers, in addition to natural color paper, there are also many finely processed powder paper, cold gold paper, colored paper, etc.After systematic inspection, most of them are hemp paper, and there is also a small amount of woody bast fiber paper.But the age of using leather paper is generally later than that of hemp paper. When we compare the papers unearthed in Xinjiang and Dunhuang with the ancient papers from the Central Plains, we can see that there is no big difference in raw materials and shapes. They were obviously trafficked from the Han areas of the Central Plains, or carried by soldiers and common people. .However, there are also some papers, which are different from those in the Central Plains in terms of paper quality, shape and copying methods, and should be made locally in the Northwest.According to historical records, in the tenth year of Tang Tianbao (751 AD), when the Chinese army and the Arab army fought in Central Asia, a papermaker among the Chinese soldiers was captured and helped the local papermaking in Samarkand, which led to the spread of papermaking to the West.That is to say, among the Chinese soldiers stationed in Xinjiang, there were papermakers from the Central Plains, and it is possible for them to spread papermaking in Xinjiang.Obviously, before the 8th century AD, Xinjiang already had the technical conditions for papermaking. However, when did the Xinjiang region start making paper?How does the paper made in Xinjiang differ from the paper made in the Central Plains?These questions have long remained unresolved.Moreover, so far no literature records have been found in this regard. In 1972, in the ancient tomb of Astana in Turpan, a document was unearthed dating to the first year of Gaochang King Qu (qu Qu) Wentai Chongguang's first year, which is equivalent to the third year of Tang Gaozu Wude (620 AD).The document paper is white leather paper with the words "Paper Master Kui [kui Kui] Xiannu", "Beitang Zhao Shide", "Lumen Zhao Shanxi", "Soldier Song Bao" and other words. "Beitang", "Lumen", and "Soldiers" are all administrative positions in Gaochang, so "paper master" should also be a kind of position, and Kui Xiannu should be a craftsman who was in charge of papermaking in Gaochang . Another chronological document unearthed from the same tomb is the second year of Yihe (11th year of Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty, AD 615) during the reign of Qukoukou, king of Gaochang. The paper of this document is white hemp paper with rough curtain stripes, not as heavy In the first year, the document paper was excellent, and it was probably made locally. The documents unearthed above show that at least as early as the early seventh century, more than 1,200 years ago, there were paper masters in Gaochang who were in charge of the papermaking handicraft production.This is the earliest written record about Xinjiang papermaking that we have seen so far. In 1972, another paper document was unearthed from Tomb No. 167 in Astana, Turpan.The paper is skin-colored hemp paper, with thick curtain stripes, each curtain grain is 0.2 cm thick, and the curtain grain is in a semicircular curved shape. Therefore, we have technically proved that it is by no means made of bamboo curtains commonly used in the Central Plains, because bamboo curtains are used. The curtain pattern of the copied paper should be straight.The following words were written on this piece of paper: "Become the envoy of the prison matching paper workshop".It means that some prisoners in the prison are going to be sent to paper mills to work.This is the earliest record of a local "paper workshop" among documents unearthed in Xinjiang so far.From the perspective of calligraphy evolution history, combined with existing experience, and comparing it with other document papers with dates, the author concluded that the ink on this document paper was written no later than the middle Tang Dynasty, and it was written about the 8th century.Tomb No. 167, where this document was unearthed, is located in a group of tombs from the Gaochang period, and most of the unearthed objects from nearby tombs are cultural relics from the 8th century.Judging from the shape of this document paper, it should undoubtedly be made locally.This kind of paper can be used as a specimen for us to judge the ancient paper made in Xinjiang. According to our research, the raw materials for papermaking in early Xinjiang were mostly broken linen, which is no different from that in the Central Plains.Its pulping technology is also the same as that of Central Plains hemp paper, except that the raw materials and structure of the equipment used to fish the paper are slightly different, that is, the paper curtain used for papermaking is a straw curtain made of Achnatherum splendens.Achnatherum splendens is a perennial herb that grows wild in Xinjiang, Gansu, and Qinghai.Because Xinjiang is located in the northwest, bamboo does not grow there, so people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang adapt to local conditions and use the local Achnatherum splendens to weave straw curtains with silk threads or thin horsetails.Therefore, the curtain pattern printed on paper made with straw curtains is thicker than that of bamboo curtains.According to the inspection of a large number of unearthed Xinjiang papers, the curtain pattern is mostly about 0.2 cm, which proves that in the past Xinjiang was made with Achnatherum splendens curtains.In the paper documents unearthed from Tomb No. 167 in Astana, Turpan, the curtain pattern is semicircular and curved because the paper curtain made of the whole Achnatherum splendens was used for a long time and the stem was deformed.The curtains made of bamboo strips are often interspersed with short and thin bamboo strips, which have a large stress and are not easy to deform. From the analysis of papermaking technology, because Achnatherum splendens stalks are thick and slippery, the water filtration speed is fast during papermaking, and the paper surface is prone to see-through or uneven pulp distribution.In order to avoid paper defects, thicker paper should be copied as much as possible when retrieving paper.Therefore, the paper made in Xinjiang is often thicker than that in the Central Plains.The above-mentioned real objects fully confirm this point.With a perceptual understanding of the shape and structure of paper made in Xinjiang, it is easy to identify which one is made locally and which one is made in the interior.If combined with text content to examine, this identification will be more convincing. Based on the above understanding, the author has systematically examined dozens of documents and papers from the sixteen countries and the Gaochang period unearthed in Xinjiang in the past ten or twenty years, and came to a conclusion: the history of papermaking in Xinjiang should be traced back at least to Early 5th century AD.Because the paper used for chronological documents belonging to this period, in terms of raw materials, shape and copying technology, has the characteristics of the kind of paper that can be judged to be locally made in Xinjiang.For example, documents in the eleventh year of the founding of Xiliang (AD 415) and the paper used for documents in the twelfth year of Beiliang Xuanshi (AD 423) should all be made locally. The hemp paper made in Xinjiang often adds a surface coating process after the paper is made. The commonly used coating agent is starch paste.In addition, there are some powder paper processed with white mineral powder (gypsum, talcum powder, clay, etc.), and colored paper dyed with vegetable dyes. We see yellow paper, blue paper, etc.Gao Lian, a man of the Ming Dynasty, said in "Eight Notes of Zunsheng": "Gold flower paper in Gaochang country also has five colors, and there are people who paint landscapes in gold." This shows that Xinjiang has long been able to produce gold flower paper, gold paper and other processed paper. All ethnic groups in Xinjiang are also good at making bast fiber paper made of raw fiber, especially mulberry paper.For example, the documents of the 22nd year of Yanchang (AD 582) unearthed in 1975 from the Hala Hezhuo ancient tomb in Turpan are like parchment.However, during the Gaochang period, the output of leather paper was far less than that of hemp paper, but since then, like the Central Plains, Xinjiang has gradually increased its leather paper production. In the 18th century, in the "Huijiang Zhi" (published in 1772) co-authored by Qing Dynasty officials Su De and Fu Senbu, when talking about Xinjiang paper, he wrote: "There are two kinds of black and white, with mulberry and cotton wadding. It is made of (mixed) combination, thick and tough, and not too small. Polish it with stones to make it suitable for writing." The author also tested the paper used for Uyghur manuscripts made in Xinjiang in the Qing Dynasty. The raw material is mulberry bark. A layer of starch slurry was applied and polished with fine stones, so that it is not easy to see the curtain pattern.Xinjiang mulberry paper can be divided into fine and inferior. The fine ones are pure white, while the inferior ones have many unremoved brown mulberry shells on the paper. The so-called "black and white" in "Huijiang Zhi" refers to this.Black paper (gray paper) is thin and generally used for packaging, not suitable for writing or printing. Xixia (1038-1227 A.D.) was a regime established by the rulers of the Dangxiang tribe.The Dangxiang tribe originally lived scattered in the northwest of Qinghai and Sichuan, living a life of nomadic hunting.Later, it gradually moved to the northeast. In 1038, Li Yuanhao, the ruler of the Dangxiang clan, established the Daxia regime, with his capital Xingqing (now Yinchuan), occupying part of Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia. Because it was located in the northwest of the Song Dynasty, it was called Western Xia.Li Yuanhao is proficient in Chinese, and created the root of Xixia characters by using the strokes of Chinese characters, which was later deduced into Xixia script, and translated a large number of Chinese books and Buddhist scriptures.Xixia also exchanged livestock, furs, etc. for Han scriptures, histories, sons, collections and Buddhist classics, conducted frequent economic and cultural exchanges with the Central Plains, and introduced some production technology and equipment from Han areas, which made Xixia's economy and culture develop.In the Tiansheng Law of Xia Renzong (AD 1149-1169), when listing the government-run industrial workshops, it mentioned the "Paper Industry Institute" and the "Carving Division", indicating that the government had organized papermaking and printing production to Meet the needs of local economic and cultural development.Many documents and engraved editions written in Xixia characters have been unearthed over the years, and some of the papers used are made locally. The paper used for documents collected by the Xixia Emperor Huizong Zhao Bingchang in the first and second years of the National Day (the second and third years of Shenzong Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty, that is, AD 1069 and 1070) in the collection of the Western Xia Dynasty Huizong Zhao Bingchang was made by the Western Xia Dynasty. .One of the documents is a judgment written in Xixia running script. The raw material of the paper is woody bast fiber, with rough curtain grain, thinner paper and more permeable eyes.Dunhuang, Yinchuan and other places also unearthed many Xixia documents and Buddhist scriptures, some of which are still printed.The earlier publication was "Jia Song Heart Sutra" printed by Lu Wenzheng in the fourth year of National Day (AD 1073), printed by Lu Wenzheng, Huizong Zhao Bingchang. "Continued" was identified as a wooden movable type copy of the late Xixia Dynasty. The Jurchens are one of the ancient ethnic groups in my country, and they are mainly distributed in the Heilongjiang River Basin and Changbai Mountain, that is, between the so-called Baishan and Heishui. In the early 12th century, the Wanyan tribe, a branch of the Jurchen tribe, established the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234 A.D.).During Jin Xizong (1135-1148 A.D.), the Jurchens began to transition to the feudal system. Under the influence of the Han people in the Central Plains, they learned the Han language, agricultural and handicraft technology, and developed and improved social productivity.By the time of Jin Zhangzong (1189-1208 AD), the economy and culture had developed greatly. Paper production in the Jin Dynasty mainly made hemp paper and mulberry paper.For example, among the tax collection items during Xizong's time, there was mulberry paper money.In the late Jin Dynasty, the northern region (especially the south of Shanxi) was one of the cultural centers of our country, and the papermaking and printing industries were quite developed. The bamboo paper of Jishan and the hemp paper of Pingyang (now Linfen) were very famous.The 5,000-volume Zhaocheng Canon is printed on Pingyang white linen paper, which is exquisitely carved, thick, white, and smooth.In addition to Buddhist scriptures, gold engraved medical books, dictionaries, poems, and drama books were all famous for a while.For example, the gold-cut flat water version of "Liu Zhiyuan Zhugong Diao" unearthed from the Xixia Heishuicheng ruins in the Beijing Library was also printed on Pingyang white hemp paper, with thicker curtain patterns and five curtain patterns per centimeter.This kind of Pingyang white hemp paper may not be made of bamboo curtains, but is made of paper curtains made of Achnatherum splendens or daylily stalks, a special product in the north.The gold engraved edition was assessed as a rare edition by edition experts.But the reason why the gold engraved editions can come out depends on the good paper made by the local paper workers.Some Jin Dynasty papers, like gold engraved editions, are comparable in quality to those produced in the Song Dynasty. The Manchus are the descendants of the Jurchens, originating from the Jianzhou Jurchens. In 1616, Nurhachi unified the tribes and established the Eight Banners system, which accelerated the development of society.The handicraft industry was independent from agriculture, and the Manchus began to mine gold, silver, and iron ore and make tools. In 1625, Nurhachi moved its capital to Shenyang, and the economy and technology of the Manchu area further developed. The handicraft production of the Manchus mainly includes ceramics, textiles, iron smelting, leather, bows and arrows, etc., and papermaking is one of them.Papermaking in the Manchu area was initially made by Han papermaking craftsmen.The paper that is copied is mainly thick white hemp paper.Some of the old Manchu documents handed down from generation to generation, as well as the Manchu manuscripts of books such as , , and so on, were copied on local hemp paper, and some were written on bamboo and leather paper made in the interior. Since ancient times, Mongolian areas have had close economic and cultural ties with the Central Plains.Since this century, many ironware, silk fabrics, lacquerware, gold and silverware produced in the Central Plains have been unearthed in the north and south of the desert. In 1942, ancient paper with characters from the Han Dynasty was unearthed at the beacon site along the Ejina River in Inner Mongolia.This shows that as early as more than 1,000 years ago, paper had been spread to the place where the Mongolian ancestors lived in the desert.Since then, the paper made in the Central Plains in the past dynasties has continued to flow in with other items and has been used by the local people.Papermaking technology was also introduced with the arrival of papermaking craftsmen. In the Yuan Dynasty, the papermaking industry in Mongolian areas was once quite developed. From 1902 to 1907, a German archaeological team unearthed Mongolian Buddhist scriptures engraved in Basiba script in Turpan, dated to the late 13th century.The Mongolian area produces a lot of hemp paper, which is thicker and has a rougher surface. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many Han people immigrated to Mongolian areas and settled down. Together with the Mongolians, they jointly developed the northern frontier of the motherland and established workshops for the production of earthen paper, tanning leather, wine making, and ironware.With the strengthening of economic and cultural exchanges between Han and Mongolia, popular works among the Han people, such as, etc., were translated into Mongolian and widely circulated and copied among the Mongolians.The early Mongolian manuscripts and documents we have come into contact with are mostly made of hemp paper, which is copied locally. The paper is thicker and the surface is coated with a layer of starch paste, which can be written on both sides. Thick hemp paper made in Manchu and Mongolian areas has a great advantage, that is, it has great mechanical strength and good anti-aging performance. The relics of one or two hundred years ago are like new ones. In the 1940s, the author once saw the production of this kind of handmade paper in the Mongolian residential area in Northeast China.This kind of paper is generally small in size and the surface is not very smooth, so it needs to be polished before use.The biggest advantage is that it has a long life and is firm. In the ethnic minority areas in the south of our country, like the ethnic minorities in the north, they also had a paper industry very early.Relevant historical materials and real objects in this regard need to be further collected and sorted out. Now I will only give a brief introduction to some paper samples that the author has seen. The Yao nationality is one of the minority nationalities in Southwest my country. During the long-term exchanges with the Han and Zhuang nationalities, they have introduced many agricultural and handicraft production technologies, which have promoted the economic development of the region.In the written document "Guoshan Diwen" preserved in the Yao area, there are rich historical materials reflecting the economic and cultural exchanges between the Yao and the Central Plains.In these documents, the year titles of some feudal courts in the Central Plains appeared, including the third year of Emperor Taizong Zhenguan (AD 629) and Song Taizu Jianlong (AD 960-963), Qiande (AD 963-968), Kai The year name of Bao (968-976 AD). Papermaking is a family handicraft industry among the Yao people. It is not separated from agricultural production, and it is mostly carried out on a family-by-household basis.They use local materials to make bamboo paper and leather paper.Lime for papermaking is fired by oneself, and paper curtains are generally obtained from Han areas. The author once saw a piece of papermaking equipment made by the Yao people in the Ming Dynasty. It is an ancient fixed bed, rectangular, 28 cm wide and 37 cm long, and the paper produced is roughly the same.The paper model is completely made of bamboo, with four bamboo pieces as the frame on the four sides, and four small bamboos in the middle of the frame as a bundle (each bundle is 1.45 cm wide), which is woven vertically and horizontally into a bamboo mat.After the paper pulp is taken out, water flows out from the cracks in the bamboo mat, and the wet paper film stays on the mat, and is peeled off after drying, so the pattern of bamboo mat is printed on the paper near the mat. This unique paper machine reflects the development of papermaking technology by the Yao people according to local conditions.This kind of paper mold can also be used to make "sand paper", that is, mulberry paper (the mulberry tree is called "sand tree" by the ethnic minorities in Guangxi). It is thicker than the central plain paper, gray in color, and divided into fine and coarse.The fine ones are light in color and have finer fibers, which can be used for writing. In the area of ​​Lijiang and Weixi in Yunnan Province, another ethnic minority in my country - the Naxi nationality lives.The "Dongba Religion" believed by the ancient Naxi people is a primitive witch religion.The Dongba religious classic "Dongba Jing" is written in hieroglyphs called "Dongba script" (Dongba script originated in the Tang and Song Dynasties).Dongba script is called "Shijiulujiu" in Naxi language, which means marks carved on wood and stone.It can be seen that before the Naxi people used paper, they used wood, stone or dry bark as materials for writing and notes.When paper was introduced, they exchanged paper with Tibetans and Han people with local specialties such as tea, medicinal materials, honey, and animal skins.The appearance of paper promoted the development of Naxi culture, so papermaking technology was introduced to develop the local papermaking industry. With the introduction of paper, the introduction of papermaking techniques, and the development of the local paper industry, the original number of manuscripts of the Dongba Classics has gradually increased to more than 500.There are also other miscellaneous books.These books of the Naxi people are mostly written on local thick paper, and then bound. The appearance is white with light yellow in between, and they are written horizontally from left to right with a bamboo pen.Engraved copies are rare. The Beijing Library, the Chinese History Museum, the Central University for Nationalities Library, and the Yunnan Provincial Museum all have collections of paper manuscripts made by the Naxi people during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.This kind of paper is thick and tough, without curtain grain, and the raw material is bark fiber. After calendering, it can be written on both sides.Naxi paper, judging from the inconspicuous curtain pattern, is probably not made of bamboo curtains, but made of fixed paper molds. The Zhuang nationality is the most populous ethnic group in China. They live in the southwest of China. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Han people in the Central Plains continued to immigrate, bringing more developed production technology, and greatly developing the economy and culture of the Zhuang nationality area. Zhuang people have a long history of papermaking.During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, wars broke out in the Central Plains. Many literati and scholars came to Lingnan to take refuge in Lingnan with classics, set up education, and taught students; many technicians and craftsmen also came here to teach skills.Papermaking should be introduced to the Zhuang area at this time, because education cannot be done without paper. The Yi nationality is an ethnic group that ranks only after the Zhuang nationality among the minority nationalities in Southwest China. It is distributed in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Guangxi, and has a close relationship with Yuejun Qiang and Qing Qiang.In the Han Dynasty, its ancestors had already arrived in Sichuan and Yunnan.The Yi people in Weishan, Yunnan established the Nanzhao Kingdom (748-902 A.D.), which was closely related to the Tang Dynasty. In 1253, the Yi nationality area was unified in the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, and its leader was awarded the local official of Lufu Prefecture and County.In the Yuan Dynasty, sericulture, textiles, and gold, silver and copper smelting had new developments. In Yunnan, Confucianism was promoted, the imperial examination system was implemented, schools were established, and Buddhism and Taoism also prevailed.In this context, the paper industry has also developed, and the paper produced is bamboo paper and leather paper. Many Yi manuscripts are written on local paper.In the Ming Dynasty, there was a printing industry in this area. In 1940, Wuding, Yunnan Province discovered a Yi language woodcut version of "Taishang Sensuo Pian", with a frame of 22.3 cm x 13.9 cm, and it was engraved in the Ming Dynasty.This book is now in the Beijing Library.The Yi language belongs to the super-dialect pictographic and syllabic writing. It imitates the shape of Chinese characters and transforms them. Each character has one meaning, with a total of more than 10,000 characters. It was created in the Tang Dynasty and was finalized in the Yuan Dynasty.There are thousands of works in Yi language, involving history, literature, astronomy, medicine, etc., and most of them are written on paper. In short, papermaking has been widely developed in various ethnic areas within the vast territory of our country, and the people of all ethnic groups have made their own contributions to this.Its papermaking raw materials and equipment are obtained locally in the Central Plains and ethnic minority areas, and are adapted to local conditions, so they are diverse.Even the few ethnic minorities in remote areas have already used domestic paper, although they have not made their own paper.