History of paper
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Woodcuts depicting the five seminal steps in ancient Chinese papermaking. From the 1637 Tiangong
Kaiwu of the Ming dynasty.[1]
Paper is a thin nonwoven material traditionally made from a combination of milled
plant and textile fibres. The first paper-like plant-based writing sheet
was papyrus in Egypt (4th Century BC), but the first true paper, the first
true papermaking process was documented in China during the Eastern
Han period (25–220 CE), traditionally attributed to the court official Cai Lun. This
plant-puree conglomerate produced by pulp mills and paper mills was used for
writing, drawing, and money. During the 8th century, Chinese paper making spread
to the Islamic world, replacing papyrus. By the 11th century, papermaking was
brought to Europe, where it replaced animal-skin-based parchment and wood
panels. By the 13th century, papermaking was refined with paper mills
using waterwheels in Spain. Later improvements to the papermaking process
came in 19th century Europe with the invention of wood-based papers.
Although there were precursors such as papyrus in the Mediterranean
world and amate in the pre-Columbian Americas, these are not considered true
paper.[2] Nor is true parchment considered paper:[a] used principally for writing,
parchment is heavily prepared animal skin that predates paper and possibly
papyrus. In the 20th century with the advent of plastic manufacture, some plastic
"paper" was introduced, as well as paper-plastic laminates, paper-metal laminates,
and papers infused or coated with different substances to produce special
properties.
Contents
1Precursors
o 1.1Papyrus
2Paper in China
o 2.1Techniques
o 2.2Uses
o 2.3Impact of paper
3Paper in Asia
o 3.1Eastern Asia
o 3.2Islamic world
3.2.1Origin
3.2.2Shift from parchment to paper
3.2.3Types of paper
3.2.4Paper primary materials
3.2.5Papermaking process
3.2.6Paper properties
o 3.3Indian subcontinent
4Paper in Europe
5Americas
o 5.1United States
6Paper mills
7Fiber sources
819th-century advances in papermaking
9Determining provenance
10See also
11Notes
12References
13Sources
Precursors[edit]
In contrast to paper, papyrus has an uneven surface that visibly retains the original structure of the
ribbon-like strips that make it up. As the papyrus is worked, it tends to break apart along the seams,
leading to long linear cracks and eventually falling apart. [2]
Papyrus[edit]
The word "paper" is etymologically derived from papyrus, Ancient Greek for
the Cyperus papyrus plant. Papyrus is a thick, paper-like material produced from
the pith of the Cyperus papyrus plant which was used in ancient Egypt and
other Mediterranean societies for writing long before paper was used in China.[3]
Papyrus is prepared by cutting off thin ribbon-like strips of the interior of
the Cyperus papyrus, and then laying out the strips side-by-side to make a sheet.
A second layer is then placed on top, with the strips running at right angle to the
first. The two layers are then pounded together into a sheet. The result is very
strong, but has an uneven surface, especially at the edges of the strips. When
used in scrolls, repeated rolling and unrolling causes the strips to come apart
again, typically along vertical lines. This effect can be seen in many ancient
papyrus documents.[4]
Paper contrasts with papyrus in that the plant material is broken down through
maceration or disintegration before the paper is pressed. This produces a much
more even surface, and no natural weak direction in the material which falls apart
over time.[4]
Papyrus was used in Egypt as early as the third millennium before Christ, and was
made from the inner bark of the papyrus plant (Cyperus papyrus). The bark was
split into pieces which were placed crosswise in several layers with an adhesive
between them, and then pressed and dried into a thin sheet which was polished for
writing." Scholars of both East and West have sometimes taken it for granted that
paper and papyrus were of the same nature; they have confused them as identical,
and so have questioned the Chinese origin of papermaking. This confusion
resulted partly from the derivation of the word paper, papier, or papel from papyrus
and partly from ignorance about the nature of paper itself. Papyrus is made by
lamination of natural plants, while paper is manufactured from fibres whose
properties have been changed by maceration or disintegration. [5]
— Tsien Tsuen-hsuin
Paper in China[edit]
Earliest known extant paper fragment unearthed at Fangmatan, circa 179 BCE
Hemp wrapping paper, Western Han period of China, circa 100 BCE
Oldest paper book, Pi Yu Jing, composed of six different materials, circa 256 CE
The world's earliest known printed book (using woodblock printing), the Diamond Sutra of 868, shows the
widespread availability and practicality of paper in China.
Main article: Papermaking
Further information: Cai Lun § Development of paper, and Science and
technology of the Han Dynasty
Archaeological evidence of papermaking predates the traditional attribution given
to Cai Lun,[6] an imperial eunuch official of the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE),
thus the exact date or inventor of paper cannot be deduced. The earliest extant
paper fragment was unearthed at Fangmatan in Gansu province, and was likely
part of a map, dated to 179–141 BCE.[7] Fragments of paper have also been found
at Dunhuang dated to 65 BCE and at Yumen pass, dated to 8 BCE. [8]
The invention traditionally attributed to Cai Lun, recorded hundreds of years after it
took place, is dated to 105 CE. The innovation is a type of paper made
of mulberry and other bast fibres along with fishing nets, old rags, and hemp waste
which reduced the cost of paper production, which prior to this, and later, in the
West, depended solely on rags.[8][9][2]
Techniques[edit]
During the Shang (1600–1050 BCE) and Zhou (1050–256 BCE) dynasties
of ancient China, documents were ordinarily written on bone or bamboo (on tablets
or on bamboo strips sewn and rolled together into scrolls), making them very
heavy, awkward, and hard to transport. The light material of silk was sometimes
used as a recording medium, but was normally too expensive to consider. The Han
dynasty Chinese court official Cai Lun (c. 50–121 CE) is credited as the inventor of
a method of papermaking (inspired by wasps and bees) using rags and other plant
fibers in 105 CE.[2] However, the discovery of specimens bearing written Chinese
characters in 2006 at Fangmatan in north-east China's Gansu Province suggests
that paper was in use by the ancient Chinese military more than 100 years before
Cai, in 8 BCE, and possibly much earlier as the map fragment found at the
Fangmatan tomb site dates from the early 2nd century BCE. [7] It therefore would
appear that "Cai Lun's contribution was to improve this skill systematically and
scientifically, fix a recipe for papermaking". [10]
Cai Lun's biography in the Twenty-Four Histories says:[11]
In ancient times writings and inscriptions were generally made on tablets of
bamboo or on pieces of silk called chih. But silk being costly and bamboos
heavy they were not convenient to use. Tshai Lun then initiated the idea of
making paper from the bark of trees, remnants of hemp, rags of cloth and
fishing nets. He submitted the process to the emperor in the first year of
Yuan-Hsing (105 CE) and received praise for his ability. From this time,
paper has been in use everywhere and is universally called the paper of
Marquis Tshai.
