Defects of traditional painting and calligraphy mounting

The ancients wrote and painted pictures, usually on paper or silk. Therefore, it is particularly useful to identify the authenticity of calligraphy and painting if we can know something about silk books and papers of past dynasties. China silk was invented earlier than paper, and was used in painting and calligraphy earlier. However, silk has one disadvantage, that is, it is not as long as paper. No matter how well preserved, it will not be damaged by any accident, but the natural erosion of air will make old silk brittle. Silk for more than a hundred years has no toughness. Silk in the early Ming Dynasty was too corrupt to touch. But the silk of the Song Dynasty can still be seen now because it was well framed. As for the silk before the Song Dynasty, although it existed, it was already unrecognizable. In the early Song Dynasty, the silk was monofilament in both directions, but the transverse silk was thicker and looked like double silk. In the middle Song Dynasty, the horizontal and vertical threads were the same in thickness, but both were thicker than the early threads, and the color was slightly the same as that of the deep Tibetan scriptures. Your silk, horizontal and vertical silk is still single, but the silk is thin and thin. In the early Ming Dynasty, the vertical wires were single, and the horizontal wires were in pairs, with uniform thickness and neat density. In the Qing Dynasty, both horizontal and vertical filaments became double filaments, and the previous single filament no longer existed. Silk before the Ming dynasty has been passed down to this day, and the surface is dull; The fluff on the silk has completely faded. Its color is consistent inside and outside. If the counterfeiter uses new silk, it can be identified by the thickness of the silk. There is a special kind of meta-silk, which is similar to Song and Yuan silk on the surface, but the brightness of its surface and the fluff on the silk cannot be completely removed by any method. And its color is different inside and outside, and it can never be exactly the same as silk. The situation of paper is more complicated. There were several kinds of paper before the Song Dynasty, and their materials were not recorded exactly. Ancient paper handed down from ancient times mainly includes cotton paper and hemp paper. On the surface, cotton paper is somewhat similar to today's rice paper. The texture of hemp paper is rougher than cotton paper. Cotton paper and hemp paper are mixed with silk. Cotton paper is short, hemp paper is long. There is a simple and easy way to identify the age of paper: take an old piece of paper, soak it in water, and then pick it with a needle. If it is Song paper, there must be a lot of velvet. No matter how broken it is, it can still be mounted. Paper is impossible after the Song Dynasty. If observed with a microscope, the real paper is uneven, the film is moth-eaten, and there is a layer of white ash, which is looming. Its color is consistent both inside and outside, concave and convex. Forging is peerless, because it is dyed with color, thick is deep, thin is shallow; Light inside and heavy outside; There are convex ones, but there are no concave ones. Because the texture is different, the degree of its color is bound to be different. China has a long history of painting and calligraphy, and painters of past dynasties have created a large number of paintings and calligraphy works, many of which are exquisite works of art and precious cultural relics. For thousands of years, people have made many fakes for various reasons. Therefore, in the handed down paintings and calligraphy, there are mixed fish and dragons, and the authenticity is mixed. For everyone who loves painting and calligraphy, whether it is research, appreciation, purchase or collection, the primary problem is how to distinguish authenticity. The identification of fake paintings and calligraphy is linked with fake paintings and calligraphy. According to records, in the Southern Dynasties, some people forged the calligraphy of two kings, and in the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Yizhi had famous paintings forged. However, before the Five Dynasties, this kind of deliberate forgery was rare, and people copied and copied Gu Shuhua mainly as a means of communication and research. In the Song Dynasty, commerce developed unprecedentedly, calligraphy and painting became high-profit commodities, and cultural relics markets including calligraphy and painting appeared in some big cities. For example, in the market of Suoguo Temple in Bianjing, there used to be a shop specializing in buying and selling calligraphy and painting, so the phenomenon of counterfeiting for profit became more common. Mi Fei in the Northern Song Dynasty claimed that only two of the paintings he saw by Li Cheng in the early Song Dynasty were genuine, and the other 300 were fakes. According to the records of the Song Dynasty, Mi Fei himself once impersonated Gu Shuhua to defraud others of the original works, and the wind of counterfeiting can be seen. In this case, the study of calligraphy and painting identification has become very popular. At that time, many painters and scholars were famous for their appreciation. When they discuss the paintings and calligraphy works of past dynasties, they often mention the question of authenticity. Dongtian Luqing, written by Zhao Xiyue in the Southern Song Dynasty, is the first cultural relic appreciation work in China, in which Gu Shuhua's Genuine Works and Ancient Paintings are devoted to the identification of calligraphy and painting. From the book, we can distinguish authenticity from artistic style, paper silk, pen and ink, layout, binding, seal and so on. For example, in Li's paintings, "there is almost no pen lag, and everything with heavy handwriting is a fake"; On the style of painting, "ancient paintings are straight, even if they are eight feet long, they can be painted again." Horizontal painting began with Michaelis and his son (Mifei, Mi Youren), which is not ancient "; On ink color, "ancient paintings are black or light ink, and dust is ink." There is an ancient fragrance, which is very lovely. If it is a fake author, it is mostly yellow, but it is very bright and not dusty. This can be distinguished. " In the Ming Dynasty, forged calligraphy and painting became more popular. At that time, there were not only personal forgeries, but also workshops of autocratic fake paintings. Accordingly, people pay more attention to the authenticity of calligraphy and painting. Cao Zhaoyuan and Wang Zuozeng's newly added Gegu annotations include On Ancient Paintings and On Gu Mo, which are more extensive and in-depth than their predecessors. There are "distinguishing the authenticity of a post by paper and ink" and "miscellaneous comments on the painter's appreciation of the authenticity" in the extensive and profound Eight Notes on Respecting the Sage and Yan Xianqing's Appreciation Notes, which have supplemented and supplemented the New Gegu Yao Lu in many aspects. In addition, many books describing calligraphy and painting also involve the problem of distinguishing fakes from time to time. Since the Qing Dynasty, the functions of calligraphy and painting have been expanded. Celebrity calligraphy and painting is not only a kind of cultural relic that can be appreciated and decorated, but also a treasure that can be stored and preserved. It is even often used as a bribe and gift, and it has become a means to seek official positions and dredge relationships. This prompted painting and calligraphy.