Have you ever looked at that piece of paper sitting in front of you and thought, who invented paper? The answer to that question is the Chinese inventor Cai Lun, also known as T’sai Lun.1
Cai Lun was born to a poor family in Guiyang, China, during the Eastern Han dynasty around 50 AD.2 He was a smart and ambitious man. He became a clerical official in a palace at a young age and was much trusted by the emperor He of Han. Lun was a calm man known for being unwilling to take risks, but he was also unsociable, and slightly strange.3
There is a story told about his journey to discovering paper. It all started one day when he was given a stack of documents to process at home by the emperor since he served as a court eunuch. These documents were carved on bamboo strips, which were given to several men to carry on a bull-drawn cart. On the way, the bull slipped and fell under the wheels halfway through the journey, making the bamboo strips fall to the ground as well. While trying to get another bull to carry the strips, Lun had time to think, and he concluded that the strips were just too heavy and difficult to carry and use. They were indeed a burden to the scholars.4
There must be another way out? So much energy and effort had gone into handling the cumbersome bamboo strips. What about something lighter? With what? Lun had no solution. As he was walking, he passed a hemp stalk, and looked at the hemp fiber and thought, “maybe that could be useful.” He carefully removed one layer after another from its fibers, wondering if they could somehow be written on. But they were just too rough and loose. He then thought of the wool from the remains of silk cocoons that might be useful, and that’s when he had it. He ran around seeking help for his experiment. The servants gathered bark, hemp, old silk cocoons, fishing nets, and cloth. They chopped the ingredients finely before cooking them. The result was then pounded to a starchy mixture and dissolved in water before adding another type of starch. When this new mixture was lifted out of the water, it had separated into many fine layers of fabric. Once dried, they became sheets of paper.
Lun then presented the pieces of paper he had made to the emperor. He was overjoyed, and issued a decree to have the whole country adopt the new writing material.
In 105 CE, Cai invented the composition for paper along with the paper making process. Although the tools and machinery have changed in the making of paper and are more complex today, they still employ the ancient technique of felted sheets of fiber suspended in water, drying the water then drying it into a thin sheet.5 To think that this invention would give him world-recognition, and even in his own time he was given that recognition for his invention. After his discovery, all the scholars were exhilarated and appreciative of his invention. As he had been honored with the title of Marquis of Dragon Pavilion, his invention of paper was then called Marquis Cai Paper.
Cai Lun has ranked as one of the top four Chinese inventors. He had made an important contribution to Chinese civilization of his day. And his contribution continues all over the world to this day, to a point where it is hard to imagine life without paper. The invention of paper clearly affects the world today. Cai Lun took paper beyond being a technical invention; he helped drive its widespread adoption to the point were it became a successful innovation, one that dramatically changed the world, and still continues to be a major societal force.
- Encyclopedia Britannica, August 2006, s.v “Cai Lun.” ↵
- Salem Press Encyclopedia, January 2016, s.v “Cai Lun,” by Yiwei Zheng. ↵
- Salem Press Encyclopedia, January 2016, s.v, “Cai Lun Invents Paper,” by Alice Myers. ↵
- Lisa Occhipinti, “A Paper PRIMER,” Cloth Paper Scissors, (2016): 24-26. ↵
- Emily Alward, Cai Lun (Salem Press, Inc, 2010), 35. ↵
52 comments
Anais Del Rio
It is great to be able to find out who the creator of such a great invention was. If it wasn’t for Cai Lun we may possibly still be writing on similar material to bamboo straws. It’s crazy to think that before people didn’t have that much ‘paper’ because it was so heavy, and now that paper is such thin sheets we can have as little or as much as we want compared to before.
Samman Tyata
I really liked this article and found it very interesting. I had some knowledge about the invention of papers in China but I didn’t know how or who made it. Your article does a great job in explaining the invention of papers. Moreover, I can’t imagine the world without paper. It was amazing to read the process how the first sheet of paper was made. Not only the article was well managed, it also had insightful photographs that tied into the article very well. To sum it up, it was a good and informative read.
Eduardo Foster
The intro question really left me thoughtful because is a question I have never ask to myself. The role paper have on modern day life is useful and everybody have use to it. Never heard of Cai Lun before and about his impactful invention that change China first and eventually the rest of the world. Great article and keep it up with the good work.
Mario Sosa
It’s amazing how we take paper for granted now, when in 50 CE the concept of writing on a thin sheet of paper was foreign. Even more shocking was how every written piece of document in China used to be written on bamboo strips. I wonder if Cai Lun’s paper looked the same as our white paper now? Nice job on the article; keep up the good work!
Cristian Medina-Lopez
I always had heard about when and where paper was invented but I had never actually gone in depth. I thought it was interesting how Cai Lun got the idea to make paper from the documents that were carved on bamboo strips. This article got my attention and was very well written by keeping the reader hooked to the article. Not only was it an interesting read, it also had insightful photographs that tied into the article very well.
Evelin Joseph
I have learned about the invention of paper in China before, but this is the first time that I truly learned about the person behind it. Cai Lun has given the world one of its most useful inventions. It is interesting to find out that writings used to be produced on bamboo strips, and Cai simply wanted a more efficient tool for storing writings. He tried many different things and finally came upon a concoction of all the various elements and created paper. It was a great article that helped me learn a lot!
Osman Rodriguez
Awesome article on Cai Lun! I never knew about who it was that invented paper. I assume there are many others who are in the same boat as me. This is an interesting topic choice, as it gives information on an important discovery/ invention, that has stood throughout time. It is interesting how it was he figured out how to create the paper itself. Must have taken a long time to figure out.
Clarissa Bustamante
This was a great article. It was very interesting and informative. I have never actually put a lot of thought as to how paper was made so reading this article was really eye opening. It is pretty cool how the thought of the invention of paper came after a cart accident when a bull dropped the bamboo strips. It is very impressive how Cai Lun was able to discover all the right techniques and ingredients to create paper. Overall this article was very good.
Edward Cerna
I like this article and I found it very interesting. I had never really knew about this topic. I had known that paper was a Chinese invention but did not know much more than that. I am more informed about it now after reading this article and it was well put together. I also like how you went into the process of paper making.
Lisa Varela
Great article, the story was well told! I had never put much thought into how paper came into existence, it was just there. The idea of having to carry around bamboo strips sounds so foreign to me, I cannot imagine being a scholar and having to have bulls pull a cart in order to take my work home to complete it. That sounds exhausting! The best inventions truly come from when people need an alternative.