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In Jixi County, Anhui Province, there is a scenic area known as Longxu Mountain. This region boasts over 20 peaks of varying sizes, along with unique pines, ancient trees, peculiar rocks, waterfalls, pools, stone cities, caves, dragon platforms, Zen temples, and academies. The natural layout of these features creates an awe-inspiring landscape. Among the attractions of Longxu Mountain, the Dragon Beard grass stands out for its remarkable qualities. This grass grows to approximately one meter in length, characterized by its slender, flexible, and highly elastic nature.
Dragon Beard grass serves as the primary raw material for producing Chengxin Hall paper. Renowned as "thousand-year-old longevity paper" and a "treasure of the art world," Chengxin Hall paper was historically regarded as a tribute item and cherished by calligraphers and painters throughout the ages. Members of the imperial court esteemed ownership of Chengxin Hall paper and competed to collect it. According to historical records, a copy of "The Ode to the Luo River Goddess" written on Chengxin Hall paper exists. A single sheet of this paper is valued at tens of thousands of yuan due to its rarity, as production ceased long ago.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, about 10 kilometers from the county seat, there was a temple named Yilin Temple, which attracted numerous scholars and literati. These individuals engaged in literary studies and ink arts while also researching papermaking techniques. They replicated and engraved steles of the Calligraphy Sage, creating works that were considered treasures of the world. As documented in the "Four Compendiums of the Study" from the Su Yi Bamboo Slips of the Song Dynasty, the manufacturing process of Chengxin Hall paper involved soaking raw materials in a long boat, warming them near a large incense burner, and avoiding wall adhesion. This ensured uniformity and consistency throughout the production process.
Some masterpieces penned by Li Yu, the last emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, such as "How much sorrow can you have? It's just like a river of spring water flowing eastward," were inscribed on Chengxin Hall paper. After Zhao Kuangyin overthrew the Later Zhou, Later Shu, and Southern Han dynasties, Li Houzhu settled in Jiangning Prefecture (modern-day Nanjing) and established the Chengxin Hall Paper Storage Room. Subsequent generations mistakenly believed that Chengxin Hall paper originated in the Nanjing area. Historical accounts indicate that Li Houzhu held Chengxin Hall paper in high regard and exclusively used it for his writings.
Today, the Dragon Beard grass on Longxu Mountain remains lush and green. However, it is regrettable that modern tourists cannot experience the rare Chengxin Hall paper, which has been lost to time.
In Xinjiang, archaeologists recently discovered a piece of work dating back 1,200 years, challenging the traditional belief that "paper lives for a thousand years."
According to Xinhua News Agency, archaeologists unearthed an artifact in Turpan, Xinjiang, identified as a "fragment of calligraphy practice from the Tang Dynasty in Xizhou." This artifact is an abandoned official document with clearly visible traces of calligraphy and writing practice on its reverse side.
Experts note that this calligraphy practice book closely resembles the homework of contemporary primary school students: practicing characters one by one and writing each three times. By analyzing the few Chinese characters and a name on the fragment and cross-referencing ancient texts, researchers determined that this was a child from the Western Regions copying the five-character poem "Ode to Fish" by Cen Derun of the Southern Dynasties onto an abandoned official document.
Professor Zhu Yuqi from the School of Humanities at Xinjiang Normal University emphasized that this discovery represents a family exercise book of ancient children in the Western Regions with a history exceeding 1,200 years. This finding underscores the circulation of southern Chinese culture in the Turpan Basin during that era. Each ink mark on this document holds profound significance for studying the diversity of Turpan civilization and the multifaceted unity of Chinese civilization.
Moreover, this 1,200-year-old paper exemplifies a breakthrough in ancient Chinese beliefs regarding paper durability and stands as a testament to the advanced papermaking technology of ancient China.