In these days when the digital world is an integral part of our real life, we are gradually putting our old paper and pencil habits aside. However, we know that without this classical writing system, humanity would not be able to convey information and reach what it is today. We have told the story of the article before in our article here. The invention of paper, which is an integral part of writing, has an equally interesting story.
Although it was invented thousands of years ago, we know the inventor of paper. Because official historiographers have been very sensitive about this issue. No surprise, paper was invented in China. The interesting part of the story is how this invention was developed by different civilizations and reached today. Let’s answer the questions of who invented paper and when and see how the first paper was produced.
Pre-paper era:
The invention of writing, even in the form of simple pictures, is much older than the invention of paper. And if there was no paper, what were these people writing and drawing? As we all know, the first writings were carved on the cave walls. It is known that inscriptions were written on animal bones and stones in the same period.
When we speed up the process a little bit, we come across bark with writing on it, silk fabrics, slightly processed wood, animal skins and even bamboo sticks. Of course, since all these materials are hard to find and expensive, it didn’t take long for an alternative method to be developed.
First paper appears in China:
- Ts’ai Lun
According to Chinese Fan Hua, one of the first historians who lived between 398 and 445 BC, for the first time in 105 AD, a palace official named Ts’ai Lun presented a paper he made to the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty Emperor Hedi. But archaeological finds in western China and Tibet reveal that the first paper was made hundreds of years before this event.
The earliest traces of paper emerged in Tibet, with the cities of Dunhuang and Hotan on the historical Silk Road. The finds pointed to the 200s BC. Thanks to the climate of the region, these papers have remained intact for thousands of years. In fact, ink was found on some of them and it was decided that the invention of ink was much older than known.
Paper use is becoming more common in the Asian region:
Chinese papermakers soaked hemp fibers and pounded them into a pulp, perhaps hours after hours. This dough, carefully spread inside bamboo frames, became a wonderful paper when dry. Over time, many different tree barks, especially bamboo and mulberry, were added to this dough. To protect this herbal paper from insects, they dyed it yellow, the color of the palace. These papers are known to be combined to obtain long rolls.
Since China has always been one of the dominant powers in Asia, paper spread rapidly in this continent until the 500s. The Koreans also added rice straw and seaweed to the existing pulp. Although uncertain, the paper spread first to Japan, then to Tibet and India, thanks to the Korean Buddhist monk Don-Cho in 610.
Arab world meets paper:
The Talas War, which was held in 751, when many inventions of China were opened to the world and the Turks met with Islam, is the first event in which paper was opened to the world. In this war between the Arab Abbasid Empire and the Chinese, the Arabs defeated the Chinese and brought master paper producers such as Tou Houan to their countries.
Since the borders of the Abbasid Empire extended to Spain, Portugal, North Africa and Central Asia at that time, this new invention spread rapidly in the civilization world of that day. Not only did the Abbasid world meet with this new invention, cities such as Samarkand, Damascus and Cairo became centers of paper production in a short time. With the opening of the first paper mill in Spain, Europeans also met with paper.
The paper takes its current form:
In 1120, a paper mill was established for the first time in Valencia, Spain. Established in Spain, this factory produced paper for the entire European continent for many years. Paper mills began to open in England in the 15th century. British paper manufacturers were doing a very profitable business as they also produced paper for the colonies.
With the opening of the first paper mill in the state of Pennsylvania, USA in 1690, paper experienced its own revolution. Paper, which was produced in Europe for hundreds of years with the Chinese technique, began to be made with wood, which is much cheaper and abundant, in US factories. Factories that switched to a recyclable system in a short time began to produce today’s paper.
We answered the question of who invented paper, one of the most valuable inventions for humanity, and when, and we talked about the story of paper from past to present. It is one of the most surprising facts of history that the invention of a modest palace official shaped today’s civilization. You can share your thoughts in the comments.
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