The report at court in 105
In 105 CE, the first Yuanxing year of the Eastern Han, Cai Lun presented papermaking to the emperor and received approval. His biography in the Hou Hanshu records the presentation and its materials. This paper later became known as “Marquis Cai’s paper.”
Cai Lun’s name became associated with improvements in papermaking and their promotion at court. Archaeological finds also include older paper material, showing that papermaking was practiced before his time.
Bamboo, wood, silk and paper
Bamboo and wooden strips and silk were early writing materials. The Hou Hanshu describes the weight of strips and the expense of silk, conditions that encouraged the search for another material. Paper was subsequently used alongside strips and silk and gradually entered the production of books and documents.
Writing paper needed a surface able to take ink. Fiber preparation, sheet formation and surface treatment affected its quality and the ways writers used it.
Raw materials and papermaking
Cai Lun’s biography lists tree bark, hemp waste, old cloth and fishing nets. These include plant fibers and fibrous materials already put to use. Selecting and preparing raw materials was an important part of manufacture.
In papermaking generally, dispersed fibers form a suspension in water. A thin layer is lifted from it, drained and dried into a sheet.
Paper material older than Cai Lun
Early paper fragments found in excavations preserve traces of papermaking before Cai Lun. Researchers examine their positions in a site, associated objects and fiber composition to discuss their dates and manufacture. Whether some fragments were used for writing remains open to differing interpretations.
These materials extend paper’s history to before Cai Lun’s presentation. The record for 105 preserves the recognition of an improvement at court. Objects and texts document different stages in the development of this technology.
The use and transmission of paper
Paper gradually became a material for books and documents. Makers adapted their methods to available raw materials, while writers used paper according to its quality and local practices. Experience in manufacture and use traveled with people.
Over several centuries, papermaking knowledge spread to other parts of East Asia, Central Asia and the Islamic world, and reached Europe through different regions. Craft workers continued to adapt materials and methods, and paper carried writing in different languages.
The surviving account of Marquis Cai’s paper
Compiled by Fan Ye in the fifth century, the Hou Hanshu includes Cai Lun’s biography, preserving the materials, the report at court and the name “Marquis Cai’s paper.” This passage became a principal written source for later discussion of Cai Lun and papermaking.
Archaeological finds of early paper also preserve traces of materials and processing. Research into paper’s history draws on these objects and written accounts to trace manufacture, writing and transmission.