Inventors
Cai Lun
c. 50–121 · Court official; papermaking reform
Eastern Han China
Paper existed in China before Cai Lun. His name is attached to a 105 CE report that made rag-and-bark paper a court technology. A cheaper sheet is how bureaucracy, books, and later print become possible. He turned a craft into an official process.
Why it mattered
- Collapsed the cost of a writing surface versus silk or bamboo.
- Gave later printers a substrate that could travel.
