2. Paper was invented by Cai Lun in 105 AD and
was one of the four great inventions by the
Chinese. Cai Lun not only improved the
papermaking technique, but also made it
possible to use a variety of materials, such as
tree bark, hemp, rags, etc. The earliest paper
discovered in Fufeng County, Shaanxi, was
made from hemp during the Western Han
(206 BC - 24 AD).
3. While papermaking went on throughout the
Chinese Empire including Korea, the secret
eventually spread to Japan, and later spread
slowly across central Asia and Persia by way
of the caravan routes, reaching Samarkand
about 750 AD.
4. Bamboo paper was made in the Tang Dynasty (608 -
907). Xuan paper made in Jing County, Anhui, is
probably the most known paper, which is mainly
used in Chinese painting and calligraphy. Xuan
paper is soft, smooth, white, absorbent and very
durable.
5. Early Chinese paper appears to have been made by from a
suspension of hemp waste in water, washed, soaked, and beaten
to a pulp with a wooden mallet. A paper mold, probably a sieve of
coarsely woven cloth stretched in a four-sided bamboo
frame, was used to dip up the fiber slurry from the vat and hold it
for drying. Eventually, tree bark, bamboo, and other plant fibers
were used in addition to hemp.
6. The first real advance in papermaking came with the
development of a smooth material for the mold
covering, which made it possible for the papermaker
to free the newly formed sheet and reuse the mold
immediately. This covering was made from thin strips
of rounded bamboo stitched or laced together with
silk, flax, or animal hairs. Other Chinese
improvements in papermaking include the use of
starch as a sizing material and the use of a yellow dye
which doubled as an insect repellent for manuscript
paper.
