Communications · Vol. VI|Paper|105 CE (imperial report); earlier Chinese use
Paper
105 CE (imperial report); earlier Chinese use
Papyrus is a strip of plant. Parchment is a skin. Paper is a felt of fibers, beaten, suspended in water, and dried into a sheet. Chinese artisans had the process before the famous 105 CE report associated with Cai Lun. Paper is light, cheap compared with parchment, and friendly to ink. When it met printing, books stopped being treasures and started being tools.
Cai Lun (often credited at the Han court) · China
How the mechanism is arranged
How it works
- Beat plant fibers (bark, hemp, rags, later wood pulp) into a slurry.
- Lift a thin layer on a screen so water drains and fibers lock.
- Press and dry the sheet; size it if you need a less thirsty surface.
Why it mattered
- Cut the cost of a page by a large factor versus parchment.
- Traveled west along trade routes and remade offices and schools.
- Became the substrate of print, newspapers, and bureaucracy.
Who turned the wheel
What it unlocked
For further study
- Needham, Science and Civilisation in China. Papermaking.
- British Library. History of the book materials.
Check
How is paper different from papyrus at the fiber level?