Paper is among the four treasures of the study, and it came out later than pen, ink, and inkstone. At all times and in all countries, Cai Lun, an eunuch in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, is recognized as the inventor of papermaking. According to Fan Ye's "Book of the Later Han Dynasty": "Cai Lun, whose courtesy name was Jingzhong, was from Guiyang. ...Since ancient times, most contracts have been compiled with bamboo slips, and those made of silk are called 'paper'. The silk is expensive and heavy, It is not convenient for people. Lun made it by using tree skin, hemp heads, old cloth and fishing nets as paper. Paper. "This is the earliest record of papermaking in historical documents. From the records, we can see that the raw materials used by Cai Lun in making paper were bark, hemp, old cloth, fishing nets and other cheap materials. The paper produced in this way was low-cost and was quickly promoted and applied. Pictures of paper in the Western Han Dynasty However, there are also some documents recording examples of the use of paper before Cai Lun. For example, Ban Gu's "Book of Han" records the use of paper to wrap medicine before 12 BC. In particular, the Western Han Dynasty paper unearthed in this century at Fangmatan, Tianshui, Gansu, the Maquanwan beacon site in Dunhuang, and the Xuanquan post site in Tianshui, Dunhuang, has proven with existing objects that papermaking had already appeared in the Western Han Dynasty long before Cai Lun invented it. the use of paper. This is about 170 years before Cai Lun invented papermaking. Picture of Cai Lun Paper From the above we can also see that paper was invented as early as the Western Han Dynasty. The paper quality at that time was poor and could not be used for writing. It was not until the late Western Han Dynasty that the quality of paper improved. It was on the basis of this papermaking technology that Cai Lun improved the raw materials and processes and produced high-quality paper. In particular, Cai Lun expanded the raw materials for papermaking and provided the basis for the widespread use of various plant fiber papermaking in the future. condition. Early use of paper In 105 AD, the paper made by Cai Lun could already meet the requirements of writing. For Cai Lun, the purpose of paper making was to replace wooden slips, bamboo slips, silk and other materials for writing and recording text. Due to paper Due to its advantages of light weight and low price, it has been widely used. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zuo Bo, a native of Shandong, was famous for his exquisite papermaking. Calligraphers at that time highly praised Zuo Bo's paper. This means that at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, papermaking technology surpassed Cai Lun's papermaking. The 2nd and 4th centuries AD were the period when bamboo slips, silk and paper were used together. As the quality and output of paper continued to improve, the proportion of paper used as a writing material was also increasing. During this period, paper had become It has become an indispensable writing material for literati. In short, after paper was widely used, the weight of books was greatly reduced, thus completely replacing the writing materials of the past. Pictures of early papermaking methods There are very few historical records about the methods of papermaking in ancient China. However, the papermaking process and its principles have not changed much in the two thousand years since its invention. To sum up, the following points can be summarized: First, soak the cut plants, such as hemp plants, in water, peel them, chop them into pieces with a knife, boil them in a pot, and let them cool before soaking and stepping on them. , stir with a stick to break and thin the fibers. Picture of papermaking The second is to add auxiliary materials to make pulp. The third is to use a paper machine (such as a bamboo curtain) to scoop out and dry it, and then it can be made into paper. Pictures of papermaking Although paper appeared earlier, it was really used for writing and popularized after Cai Lun created "Cai Hou Paper" with excellent texture. In 404 AD, Emperor Huanxuan of the Eastern Jin Dynasty ordered the use of paper to be abolished, which promoted the use of paper. Looking at the problem from a historical perspective, any major technological invention in history is not accidental. It has a development process from conception to prototype to perfection. Although Cai Lun had paper before him, this does not detract from Cai Lun's great achievements as a major improver and the inventor of the invention that perfected papermaking. It was Cai Lun's invention that brought paper into its practical stage, and it was quickly and widely promoted, providing a high-quality, cheap, and easily available printing substrate for perfecting and promoting the development of printing. Cai Lun's achievements and his glorious image as the inventor who perfected the great invention of papermaking cannot be erased. To sum up: the invention and improvement of the pen made Chinese characters develop in the direction of simplicity, neatness, standardization and ease of engraving and copying; the invention, development and application of fabric, paper and ink provided indispensable information for printing. printing and transfer materials; the continuous improvement and combination of stamping and rubbing based on hand-carving and transfer copying technology, as well as fabric printing technology, laid a technical foundation for the invention of printing; social progress, cultural undertakings Development created the social environment and objective requirements for the invention of printing. The possession and combination of these four made the invention of printing a historical necessity, and it began to be popularized and applied in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.