The Origin of Paper Making

Nowadays the papermaking technology has been largely improved, and all king of paper making machines have stepped into our life. But the main procedures of paper making machine remain much like in the old times. 

It is generally accepted that the papermaking technology is invented by the Chinese. It is really a fundamental invention, not only to China, but also to the whole world, since with the help of paper, human civilizations can be passed down from generation to generation in a much safer way – handwriting, or printing instead of passing from mouth to mouth. 

Cai Lun, a eunuch officer during the Eastern Han Dynasty, was said to have invented the first piece of paper in the world. Yet some scholars raised an objection – they proved that paper had been discovered in some tombs built during the Western Han Dynasty, a dynasty before the Eastern Han Dynasty, so Cai Lun can’t possibly be the trailblazer. Others suggested a more rational suppose – the procedures of papermaking are complex so it’s very likely that Cai was the manager who had led his team to fulfill this big project. Anyhow, Cai is still a great man for his contribution to the papermaking technology, no matter it is invention or improvement.

The paper produced with Cai Lun’s technique was named as Caihou Paper. The raw materials used to make paper included bark, hemp, rags, fishnet, etc. All those were mashed up, then mixed with water, thus fibres of the raw materials would suspend in the water. With special strainers the fibres would be gathered together to form thin slices – these were the half-finished paper. Then after dewatering, compressing and drying, the final products were ready then.