Paper is a non-woven fabric made of plant fibers, which can be folded at will for writing. The earliest paper existed in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty 2200 years ago, but it was still rough and not widely used. 105, Cai Lun was considered as the originator of modern papermaking after improvement.
Paper, also known as matte felt paper, is made of raw materials containing plant fibers through pulping, modulation, papermaking, processing and other technological processes, and can be used for painting, printing books and newspapers, packaging and so on. Unlike bamboo, bamboo is the "silk" of animal fiber. Paper that can be folded at will for writing. Due to the invention and popularization of paper, people can no longer use mud, stone, wood, pottery, metal and other materials to record words or pictures, and also make a lot of ancient information spread and preserved.
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Papermaking is one of the "four great inventions" in ancient China. The invention of paper greatly facilitates the storage and exchange of information, which is of epoch-making significance for promoting the development of world civilization. Before the invention of papermaking, people carved characters on tortoise shells, animal bones, bamboo chips, wood chips and silk. Oracle Bone Inscriptions and sawdust are heavy and inconvenient to use; Silk is too expensive for ordinary people to use. About the early Western Han Dynasty, people used hemp and ramie to make paper. This kind of early paper is rough and not suitable for writing.
By the Eastern Han Dynasty more than 1800 years ago, Cai Lun, who was an official in the imperial court, had improved the papermaking method after long-term experiments. He used plant fibers such as bark, rags and broken fishing nets as raw materials, boiled them with water, mashed them into slurry, and then spread them evenly on a thin curtain to dry, making a thin piece of paper. This kind of paper is easy to write and cheap, which has been welcomed by people.
Cai Lun's contribution to papermaking is enormous. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, papermaking technology has been continuously improved, and bamboo, straw and bagasse have gradually become raw materials for papermaking. Because of different raw materials, paper also has various kinds and uses. Xuan paper produced in Xuanzhou, Anhui Province, is a first-class paper that is well-known at home and abroad, and is a treasure used in China's calligraphy and painting.