These pieces of jian paper are collected in the Beiping Jianpu, or Chinese Color Prints of Today. The first (top-left) is designed by Wang Zhensheng (1942–), expressing his compassion for the poor. Photo: FILE

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As a paperless society is becoming a reality in this digital era, paper communication seems distant from daily life. People who write on jian paper (Chinese color prints), which used to be very popular and associated with refined scholarly taste, are truly rare in modern society.

 

Evolution
Jian refers to a kind of fine, colored paper used for writing letters or poems. Generally speaking, any paper that is smaller and more delicately decorated than white paper can be classified as jian paper.

The earliest reference to jian paper dates back to the Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589). According to the Nanshi, or The History of the Southern Dynasties, the last king of the Southern Dynasty, Chen Shubao (553–604), indulged in literature and women rather than state affairs during his reign. He asked his consorts to write poems on jian paper. It shows that jian was initially used for the entertainment of royal families only. It was during the Tang Dynasty (618–907) that jian paper became favored by the literati and gradually adopted as a writing material.

In the Tang Dynasty, the best-known jian paper was called Xuetao Jian. This name was derived from a female poet named Xue Tao (768–832), who exchanged poems with many well-known writers on a kind of artisanal, pink paper. Since the Xuetao Jian was made by a famous lady and was pink, it was endowed with a sense of boudoir style and served as a romantic inspiration. It soon became a trend of the time.

During the Song Dynasty (960–1279), the most popular jian was called Xiegong Jian, inspired by a Song official named Xie Jingchu (1020–1084), who is said to have made a kind of jian containing 10 colors beside the Huan Hua Stream in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

The Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) was a turning point in techniques of color printing, promoting jian paper to reach a new stage of development. Before the introduction of block printing, jian paper was simply dyed to be colored paper. The application of block printing was revolutionary. Complex and delicate prints began to appear on the paper. Two sophisticated woodcutting techniques known as douban (dou means to heap up food on a plate and ban is  printing with blocks) and gonghua began to bring complex and delicate prints to the paper. In douban printing, separate blocks were used to impose varying colors in succession, giving the finished print the look of a hand-painted watercolor. Gonghua printing is a form of blind printing in which subtle images are embossed on blank paper, creating highlights that are impossible to produce with other woodblock printing methods. Both color printing methods enrich  jian paper with common elements of traditional Chinese painting, such as landscapes, flowers and birds. It turned jian paper from a common writing material into a work of art. Literati collected these fine color prints as a symbol of good taste. Jian paper reached its peak during this period.

The early Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) was a time of social stability, so the production and marketing of jian paper continued to advance. After the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1711–1799) and the Jiaqing Emperor (1760–1820), many jian shops emerged, selling various types of self-made jian paper. Using and collecting jian paper were regarded graceful at the time. As the freehand style became popular in the Chinese art world, the Gongbi style (characterized by a meticulous brush technique) that had dominated the patterns on jian paper since the late Ming Dynasty was gradually replaced by the Mogu style (Mogu literally means “boneless”). On paintings of this style, forms are made by ink and color washes, rather than by outlines. However, the quality of jian paper began to decline in the late Qing Dynasty because of its shoddy workmanship and because its innovation had grown stale. It seemed that as the nation became weaker and more vulnerable, people gradually lost interest in the arts such as jian paper. Jian was still in use, but very much in a perfunctory sense.

The jian paper industry revived during the period of the Republic of China (1912–1949), when economic growth was ongoing due to relative political stability. There was increasing demand for a higher quality of life among the intellectuals who were rich and had plenty of time on their hands. They were particular about everything and loved things with style. These people helped bring jian paper back to prosperity. At that time, a district in downtown Beijing named Liuli Chang (literally colored glaze factory) was known for a series of traditional stationery stores. In order to survive, some stationery stores innovated with new products—in particular jian paper printed with literati paintings, a category of artworks created by literati or scholar-bureaucrats. These shops invited famous artists to design and draw images or patterns for jian paper, and they left the block carving to specialist craftsmen. Many renowned artists, such as Zhang Daqian (1899–1983) and Qi Baishi (1864–1957), designed and painted jian paper. Decorating jian paper with the paintings of the literati rejuvenated this industry. These stationery stores made fruitful sales.

Among these stationery shops, one named Rong Bao Zhai (literally  Studio of Glorious Treasures, an old stationery shop in Beijing founded in 1672) scaled the heights of the jian paper industry. Its products were known for their high quality and innovative patterns. It even developed customized services to meet intellectuals’ growing demand for personalized jian paper. Intellectuals flocked to the shop and asked to print their own paintings on jian paper. Zhou Zuoren (1885–1967), a well-known writer, mentioned in his texts that Yu Pingbo (1900–1990), a Chinese scholar, once gave him a set of jian paper as a gift. This jian paper was designed according to the paintings of Yu’s great grandfather. Zhou said that they were finely made and looked adorable.

 

Humanity
To some extent, a piece of jian paper is also a painting, revealing the artists’ pursuit of humanity’s graces. The Chinese Four Noble Plants—plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo and chrysanthemums—were quite common images on jian paper as they symbolized the virtues of gentleman in traditional Chinese culture.

An artist named Wang Zhensheng (1942–) once designed a piece of jian paper on which there was a turnip and part of a green vegetable. It looked simple and plain, however, Wang’s compassion for the poor  was captured by his inscription on the paper—“may all scholar-officials know their flavor; may all commoners not have a sallow face.” Since these vegetables are usually regarded as a common food for the poor, “know their flavor” means that scholar-officials should understand the hardship that commoners suffer, while “not have a sallow face” represents the artist’s wish to alleviate people’s suffering.

Jian paper can also bear the implicit feelings of those that use it. Take for example a piece of jian paper with an image of a jug and a book, and an inscription derived from “On a Spring Day Thinking of Li Bai” by the Tang poet Du Fu—“When will we share a cask of wine, once more debate the subtleties of the written word?” In this poem Du Fu expresses how he deeply misses his friend, another great poet, Li Bai. One who receives a letter on jian like this could feel the sender’s faithfulness and longing.

Thousands of years of evolution have made jian paper a work of art, rich in aesthetics and cultural significance. However, these treasures are almost forgotten in modern society. Under the widespread use of the internet and electronic products, fewer people are using paper to communicate, let alone jian paper. Attention should be paid to find a way to protect and pass down the tradition of jian paper.

 

This article was edited and translated from Guangming Daily. Liu Yunfeng is a professor at Nankai University.

​edited by REN GUANHONG