Papermaking is one of the greatest creations in Chinese history, it first appeared in the Western Han Dynasty, is mainly used for writing fiber products, is the embodiment of the creativity of the ancients and the crystallization of wisdom.
Before the invention of paper, the tools used for written records in Chinese history since entering civilized society were mostly bamboo and simple, and a few were silk. Bamboo jane is not only heavy, but also difficult to make and transport, and the storage conditions are extremely demanding.
Judging from archaeological excavations, the early ancient paper is chronologically looking, including the early Western Han Dynasty Fangmatan paper; the middle Western Han Dynasty hanging spring paper; and the late Western Han Dynasty dry beach slope paper. Its raw materials are mainly bark and rags.
Xihan hemp paper
Until the Eastern Han Dynasty Cai Lun improved the raw materials for papermaking, extracted fibers from plants such as rattan, bamboo, wheat straw, and made by ancient processes such as rubbing, pounding, frying, and baking, commonly known as Cai Lun paper.
The emergence of Cailun paper has greatly improved the success rate of the papermaking process and reduced the cost, and the output and quality can be guaranteed, which makes the use of paper rapidly spread in all aspects of social life.
The invention of CaiLun Paper is a major innovation in papermaking materials, which makes papermaking raw materials more extensive and greatly enriched. The emergence of papermaking has greatly promoted the spread and inheritance of human civilization and culture in ancient China and even in the world.
After the Tang Dynasty, papermaking materials have become more and more abundant, and there are even as many as a dozen kinds of materials at their peak. The king of paper rice paper, thin slip paper, liuhe note, bamboo note, etc. that appear in the archaeological ruins are all top grades of paper.
With the continuous development of papermaking technology, by the Song Dynasty, the papermaking manufacturing industry has been very developed, and the emergence of silver tickets has made the Song Dynasty commerce have achieved unprecedented development, when the total economic volume of the Song Dynasty even once accounted for more than two layers of the world's proportion, which shows the irreplaceable importance of the development and progress of papermaking technology in social development.
Song Dynasty Jiaozi
Nowadays, the production of paper is more convenient and simple, mechanized papermaking has replaced the manual papermaking process, and only in the folk there are still some ancient papermaking technologies.