The Origin and Development of Paper

The development of paper has also experienced a tortuous process. /kloc-after the invention of papermaking in 0/05, papermaking spread from Henan to other economically and culturally developed areas. Cai Lun sealed the Dragon Pavilion in Yangxian County, Shaanxi Province, and papermaking spread to Hanzhong area, and gradually spread to Sichuan. According to the folklore of Cai Lun's hometown Leiyang, Hunan, Cai Lun also taught papermaking to his hometown before his death. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Shandong's papermaking was also relatively developed, and it was an expert in papermaking in Donglai County (now Yexian County) of Zuo Bo. After the popularization of papermaking in China in the second century, paper became a strong competitor of silk books and bamboo slips. In the third and fourth centuries, paper has basically replaced silk and bamboo slips as the only writing material in China, which has effectively promoted the spread and development of science and culture in China. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties from the third to the sixth century, China's papermaking was constantly innovated. In terms of raw materials, in addition to the original hemp and paper, it is also expanded to use mulberry bark and rattan bark to make paper. In terms of equipment, the paper-making technology of the Western Han Dynasty was inherited, and more movable curtain bed paper molds appeared. A movable bamboo curtain is placed on the frame, which can repeatedly fish out thousands of wet papers and improve work efficiency. In processing and manufacturing technology, alkali liquor cooking and beating were strengthened, and the quality of paper was improved, and processed paper such as colored paper, coated paper and filler paper appeared.

Judging from the ancient paper of this period unearthed from the Stone Chamber in Dunhuang and Shaqi in Xinjiang, it can be said that the paper fibers are evenly knotted, the appearance is white and the surface is smooth, which can be described as "brilliant". In the 6th century, Jia Sixie also wrote two articles in Qi Yao Min Shu, which recorded the treatment of papermaking raw materials and the technology of dyeing yellow paper. At the same time, papermaking spread to China's neighboring countries, Korea and Viet Nam, which was the beginning of the spread of papermaking.

During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties from the 6th century to the10th century, besides hemp paper, bamboo paper, mulberry paper, rattan paper, sandalwood paper, Daphne paper, straw paper and Hsinchu paper also appeared in China. In the southern bamboo-producing areas, bamboo resources are abundant, so bamboo paper develops rapidly. Regarding the origin of bamboo paper, some people think that it began in the Jin Dynasty, but there is not enough literature and material evidence. From a technical point of view, bamboo paper should appear after the development of leather paper technology, because bamboo material is stem fiber, which is hard and difficult to handle, and it is unlikely to appear in Jin Dynasty. Bamboo paper should have originated after the Tang Dynasty, but it developed greatly in the Tang and Song Dynasties. It was not until the eighteenth century that bamboo paper appeared in Europe.

Paper-making areas in this period were all over the north and south. Due to the invention of block printing, the book printing industry appeared, which promoted the development of paper industry. The output and quality of paper have been improved, and the price has been falling. All kinds of paper products have been popularized in people's daily life. Precious papers include "hard yellow" in the Tang Dynasty, "Cheng Xin Tang Paper" in the Five Dynasties, as well as water-grain paper and various artistic processing papers. There were many paintings in the Tang Dynasty, which reflected the improvement of papermaking technology.

10- 18 During the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, paper, mulberry paper and other paper and bamboo paper were particularly popular and consumed a lot. Bamboo curtains for papermaking mostly use thin bamboo strips, which requires that the beating degree of paper must be quite high and the produced paper must be very fine and symmetrical. Starch paste was used as a sizing agent in the pre-Tang dynasty, which had the function of filling and reducing the fiber sinking at the bottom of the pool. After the Song Dynasty, plant mucus was used as "paper medicine" to make the pulp uniform. The commonly used "paper medicine" is the extract of carambola and Abelmoschus manihot. This technology was adopted as early as the Tang Dynasty, but it became popular after the Song Dynasty, so that starch paste was no longer used.

At this time, there are many kinds of processing paper, and the use of paper is becoming more and more extensive. Besides painting, printing and daily use, China is the first country in the world to issue paper money. This kind of paper money was called "Jiaozi" in the Song Dynasty and continued to be issued after the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Later, countries all over the world also issued paper money. Wallpaper, paper flowers, paper cutting, etc. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was also very beautiful for interior decoration, and it was sold at home and abroad. All kinds of colored wax paper, cold gold, clay gold, rib, clay gold and silver plus painting, decal paper, etc. , mostly enjoyed by the feudal ruling class, with high cost and quality above ordinary paper.

During this period, books about papermaking also appeared constantly. For example, Paper Spectrum in Song Dynasty, Paper Annotation Spectrum in Yuan Dynasty, Jun Shu by Wang in Ming Dynasty, especially Tiangong in Song Dynasty, have many records on ancient papermaking in China. The record of bamboo paper and leather paper in Thirteen Volumes of Heavenly Creations can be said to be a summary narrative. There is also a paper-making operation chart in the book, which is the most detailed paper-making record in the world at that time. After hundreds of years in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, by the middle of Qing Dynasty, China's hand-made paper was quite developed, with advanced quality and various varieties, which became the material conditions for the development and spread of China culture for thousands of years.