Paper making technology is one of the four great inventions of ancient China, the emergence of paper has made the long history and culture of human beings better spread and preservation, in the general perception of paper and papermaking technology was invented by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty, but there has been controversy about this issue since ancient times, some people think that paper has appeared before Cai Lun's papermaking technology, Cai Lun is not the first. So when exactly did paper appear? Today let's talk about the emergence and development of paper and papermaking.
Cai Lun statue
The background appears
Before the invention of papermaking, ancient mainland China used tortoise shell, animal bones, gold stone, wooden stalks, bamboo simple, cloth and other materials to record records. Until the Western Han Dynasty, simple and cloth is still a very important writing material, but these materials are not easy to write and describe, inconvenient to use and preserve, and extremely expensive, can not meet the needs of further socio-economic, cultural development, so people urgently need cheap and convenient new writing materials, after long-term practice and exploration, finally invented the use of hemp rope head, rags, old fishing nets and other waste materials to make plant fiber paper, thus triggering a major change in the history of writing materials, In turn, it influenced the development of the entire history of world civilization.
A book unearthed from the tomb of Mawangdui Han
The invention of papermaking is one of the most brilliant achievements of handicraft technology in the Qin and Han Dynasties, when the technology of using secondary cocoons to make silk cotton has been popularized, Han Xin met before the drifting mother should be made of this for a living, the production of silk wool needs to be repeatedly pounded, mashed silkworm clothing and then rinsed in water, the residue remaining on the utensil during the rinse process will naturally form a thin layer of silk cotton after air drying, which may have inspired the invention of papermaking, but the original papermaking technology could not directly produce paper for writing , but the urgent social needs led to the continuous improvement of technology, and the paper that could be used for writing came into being.
Archaeological finds
Modern archaeological excavations show that the emergence of Chinese papermaking did not begin with Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and several batches of Western Han ancient paper have been found since the thirties of the last century, some of which look thin and uniform, some of which look rough and primitive, but can reflect to a certain extent the invention trajectory and process characteristics of ancient papermaking in the mainland, that is, the invention of plant fiber paper, a new type of writing material, can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty.
In 1933, a piece of Western Han hemp paper was unearthed at the site of the Western Han beacon in Luobunur, Xinjiang, which is a white square sheet, with broken four sides, about 40 cm long and 10 cm wide, rough and uneven texture, and the paper surface remains hemp, and a batch of wooden Jane from the first year of the Yellow Dragon of the Han Xuan Emperor (49 BC) was unearthed, which shows that this hemp paper is a relic of the Han Xuan Emperor period, archaeologist Mr. Huang Wenbi believes that this is "made when the paper was first made, so it is not fine".
Robunauer paper
In 1957, Baqiao in the eastern suburbs of Xi'an, Shaanxi unearthed a batch of paper pieces stacked under the copper mirror, the color of the paper is yellow, has been split into pieces, the largest piece is about 10 cm long and wide, the smallest piece is about 3 cm long and wide, after identification, it can be known that its raw materials are mainly hemp fiber, with a little ramie in between, most of the fibers are arranged irregularly in different directions, and the broomed fibers that are cut and broken are also observed, indicating that after cutting, steaming, pounding and copying and other processing processes, but the production process is rough, not easy to write, It is speculated to have been dated no later than the fifth year of Emperor Wudi of Han (118 BC), and experts named it "Baqiao Paper", which is now on display in the Shaanxi History Museum.
Baqiao paper
In 1973, two pieces of hemp paper were unearthed at the site of the Han beacon site in Juyan Shoulder Water in Gansu, one of which coexisted with the wooden Jane of the second year of Emperor Xuan of Han (52 BC), which had been crumpled when unearthed, the largest piece after unfolding was about 21 cm long and 19 cm wide, white in color, thin and even, smooth and flat on one side, slightly hairy on the other side, delicate and tough in texture, the other piece is about 11.5 cm long and 9 cm wide, dark yellow, containing hemp tendons, thread and rag heads, the structure is relatively loose, Since the two pieces of ancient paper were unearthed in the border area, experts estimate that the appearance of inland paper should have been earlier.
Shoulder water gold off paper
In 1978, crumpled ancient paper was also found in the copper bubble in the Western Han kiln in Zhongyan Village, Fufeng County, Shaanxi, the largest piece is about 7 cm long and wide, milky yellow, because the archaeological strata are clear, archaeologists believe that its manufacturing date is likely to be in the period of Emperor Xuan of the Western Han Dynasty.
In 1979, Dunhuang Mahuan Bay West Han beacon site unearthed five pieces of ancient paper eight pieces, according to the unearthed at the same time of the chronological brief research, Mahuanwan paper is the Western Han Emperor Xuan Emperor Yuankang to Ganlu period of the relics, the largest piece is about 32 cm long, about 20 cm wide, the paper has thick and fine, the paper color has yellow, white difference, fine texture, has the basic requirements of hemp fiber paper.
Ma Circle Bay paper
In 1986, a paper map was unearthed from the Tianshui Fangmatan Han Tomb in Gansu, the paper was thin and soft, and it was confirmed that the Matan paper was earlier than the Baqiao paper, which was a relic of the Western Han Dynasty, and the paper was painted with ink lines with mountains, rivers, cliffs and roads, and the drawing method was similar to the map unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha, further proving that the paper made in the early Western Han Dynasty had begun to be used for writing and drawing, which is also the earliest known paper in the world.
Put horse beach paper
It can be seen that plant fiber paper was invented in the Western Han Dynasty, but because there are no accurate historical records, the original inventor is no longer available, so why was the method of writing in paper not popular at that time? Probably because Cai Lun's previous plant fiber paper was very rough and not easy to write, it was not promoted until Cai Lun made paper with excellent texture and easy to write.
Process improvement
Before Cai Lun improved papermaking, the raw materials of papermaking had great limitations, Cai Lun's improved papermaking technology can use bark as raw materials, so that the production cost of paper has been greatly reduced, the "Book of Later Han" records that Cai Lun wrote the method of papermaking into folds together with paper to present to Han and the emperor, which was greatly appreciated by the emperor and ordered the imperial court to use and promote, so although plant fiber paper has been invented in the Western Han Dynasty, it does not affect Cai Lun's great contribution to papermaking technology.
"New Poetry Paper Book and Picture Book"
The "Book of the Later Han Cai Lun" records that Cai Lunzi Jingzhong, a native of Guiyang (present-day Chenzhou, Hunan), entered the palace as a eunuch in the last year of the Ming Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and was promoted to Xiaohuangmen during the early years of Emperor Hanzhang's reign, and after Emperor Han He ascended the throne, he was promoted to Zhongchang Attendant and served as Shang Fangling, in charge of manufacturing imperial artifacts. In the ninth year of Yongyuan (97), he began to supervise the production of secret swords and various instruments, "precision and denseness, for the law of later generations", and was also responsible for improving and promoting papermaking technology, "expensive and simple, not convenient for people, Lun Nai Zhiyi used tree skin, hemp heads, cloth, and fishing nets as paper." In the first year of Yuan Xing (105), the emperor was good at it, and he did not need to be scrupulous, so the world called Cai Hou paper. This is probably the source of the general belief that Cai Lun is the inventor of papermaking, but Cai Lun is the inventor of "Cai Lun paper" should be undoubted.
"New Poetry Paper Book and Picture Book"
Cai Lun's improvement of papermaking technology is not limited to expanding the range of raw materials, but also improving the manufacturing technology of paper, such as using broken fishing nets as raw materials to mash small and hard net knots, a process that is very difficult without lime water steaming.
Paper made from fishing nets by Cai Lun is called mesh paper, paper made from rags is called hemp paper, and paper made from bark is called grain paper. After scholars' investigation and research, Cai Lun's papermaking process has been very similar to the modern papermaking process, and its production method is: soak raw materials such as hemp heads and rags in water to make them swell and chop them with an axe, rinse with clean water and then immerse them in lime water for steaming, the purpose is to remove impurities such as lignin, pectin, pigment, grease and other impurities in the raw materials, and then rinse again with clean water and mash into mortar, and then pour into water to make suspended pulp, use porous, dense paper molds to fish out the pulp, after draining will leave a thin layer of paper. After removal, it is dried and calinated, and paper is made.
Schematic diagram of papermaking process flow
There are two key steps in this process, one is to cook with lime water, which is the source of the modern alkaline chemical pulping process, the other is the design of the paper mold should ensure that its pore size matches the fiber size of the pulp, so that not only can the moisture be quickly discharged, but also allow the pulp fiber to form a uniform thin layer on the paper surface, the paper mold used in modern times is called a paper reader, which is an important part of the long mesh or round screen paper machine, and the paper making tool used in the traditional manual papermaking method is a finely woven bamboo curtain.
"New Poetry Paper Book and Picture Book"
Afterlife influence
After Cai Lun's reform and promotion, paper has become the best writing material, gradually replacing other writing materials and having a far-reaching impact on the world, so papermaking is known as one of the four great inventions of ancient China. After the invention of papermaking, it gradually spread to the world, about the seventh century AD spread to Korea and Japan, and India is likely to introduce papermaking technology through monks from China, and then papermaking spread to the Western Regions and Arabia through the Silk Road, and the Arabs spread this technology to Egypt, Morocco, and finally to Europe, thus causing major changes in world communication technology, Cai Lun became a great inventor who changed the cultural landscape of the world with his invention.
"New Poetry Paper Book and Picture Book"
Westerners have always mistakenly believed that paper was invented by Arabs, until the early twentieth century, when the Englishman Stein found some letter paper written in Sogdian in a beacon site on the ancient Great Wall in the northwest of the mainland, and he concluded that these "ragged paper" made of rags and rags were invented by the working people of ancient China, so that the invention right of paper belongs to China and is recognized by the world.