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Although paper was one of the 4 greatest inventions in China, what did Chinese use to
write on before that?
Originally, Chinese carved on stones and animal bones. What we found nowadays, those
were usually used for the prophecy of the fortune tellers in the ancient time.
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Chinese wrote (or carved) on bamboo before the existence of paper. Here were
the steps how Chinese did:
a) Cut bamboo into long strpes with about the right width to write.
b) Using the
strings to tie the top and bottom of each stripe together.
c) Roll it up and store it
Back at that time, knowledge
and study was only limited to the riches because it was so heavy to carry these slips of bamboo or known as bamboo tablets
and textiles. Only the riches could afford to hire someone else to carry them.
However, the situation stayed
the same for several centuries even after the invention of paper.
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By East Han dynasty, Cai Lun invented paper. From then, Chinese started writing
on paper with brushes and ink.
Paper used nowadays for writing Chinese calligraphy is rice paper which is semi-translucent.
It absorbs the ink very well and quickly that it dries instantly without any smear.
(When I was selling
Chinese calligraphy in the craft shows, many of our customers were so amazed of this, especially they saw it happening right
in front of their eyes.)
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There is a tradition that some parents of nowadays still follow.
When a child is 12 days old, the parents will shave the baby's hair to make a Chinese brush. It is because, traditionally,
hair coming out of the womb was treated as something dirty.
Nobody uses this brush, but just keep the baby hair
for good memory.
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For centuries, there was no ink like we can get in the bottle. How did Chinese
write?
Inkstone was the source. It looks like a block of stone in black or charcoal color.
The following are the steps how ink is made:
a) Put right amount of water on the stone
b) Use a stick to
group on top and make ink
This grounding process used to be done by a servant in the house of the riches.
Thus, when knowledge was more open to the public, students from poor families could manage to do it by themselves.
Chinese still produce these inkstones and they are collectibles. They could cost from a couple hundred to several
thousand dollars, depending on the quality of the stone.
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