Four greatest inventions of ancient China---papermaking technology

Chinese language has a long history，but there’s no paper at first. people carve words on bones and tortoise shells, or bronze vessels in the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th-11th century B.C.), we called the  inscriptions “jiaguwen”or “jinwen”.

As the society develops, people carve words on bamboo slips or wood slips, but the slips were too heavy, they’re inconvenient to write and read. it’s said that Qin Shi Huang should read 60 kilogram document everyday. So, people write words or paint on silk later. Though the silk is thin and light, it costs much, only nobleman can afford it.

When time goes to West Han Dynasty, paper was created. Paper made from linen was the world's earliest kind of paper, chinese people called it “hemp paper”. Hemp paper has ever been found in West Han sites of Sinkiang , Shanxi and Gansu provinces. In 1986, a paper map unearthed in a tumulus of Gansu , the paper map was not only thin, but also very soft, and there were rivers, mountains and roads on it. Experts consider the paper of West Han Dynasty was a kind of paper made from plant fibres.

About 105A .D., Cai Lun of the East Han Dynasty ( 25 A . D. -220 A .D.) succeeded in producing quality paper from linen craps, rags, and used fish nets. This kind of paper is cheap, thin and light, and has quantity source of raw materials, so it became very popular. People called it “Caihou paper” to commemorate the contributor, and he makes a greater contribution to humanity, then Papermaking technology was introduced to all over the world.

中国文字的历史很长，但是，最初没有纸，人们用刀子把文字刻在龟甲和兽骨上，或者刻铸在青铜器上，这就是甲骨文和金文。

以后，人们又把文字刻写在长竹片和长木条上，分别叫“竹简”和“木简”。竹木简很笨重，书写阅读都很不方便。据说秦始皇每天要批阅120斤的公文。后来，人们又在帛上写字或画画。帛是一种丝织品，价钱很贵，一般人用不起。

到了西汉时期，纸终于出现了。最早的纸是用麻絮制成的，叫“麻纸”。麻纸在新疆、陕西、甘肃的西汉遗址中都曾发现过。1986年，在甘肃天水市放马滩的一座西汉早期古墓中，出土了一幅纸地图，这幅纸地图又薄又软，上面用黑色粗线条画着河流、山脉和道路。专家们认为西汉时期的纸属于植物纤维纸。

公元105年，东汉人蔡伦总结了劳动人民的造纸经验，用树皮、麻头、破布、旧渔网做原料，经过制浆、捞纸、烘干三个工序，制成了一种质量更高的植物纤维纸。这种纸轻薄好用，价钱便宜，原料来源又多，所以很受人们欢迎，人们把这种纸叫做“蔡侯纸”。蔡伦改进造纸术，对人类文明做出了巨大贡献, 此后就不断向世界各国流传开来。