Chinese Painting Silk

The use of silk as painting support can be dated back to the fifth century BC in China. Before rice paper gained its popularity in the thirteenth century, Chinese painting mostly depended on silk. It is naturally highly absorbent and in order to paint on it, one has to first size it and then degrease it with chalk. Stiffer and more translucent than a common 1-ply paper, the appearance of the brushwork depends to a great extent on its weave.