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
Josemaria Soriano
Today we live in a world where omitting an author can cost you millions of copyright fines. This is a very praiseworthy measure, because it is fair to give recognition to the people who worked so hard to make our lives better. However, this does not happen with the basic and necessary things that surround us, such as paper. The importance of paper at the global level is so great, it has so many uses and applications in daily life that we forgets that paper completely surround us. It is very difficult to imagine what the world would be like without the changes brought by this revolutionary material. And it is that the invention of paper, the diffusion of its use and its evolution have gone directly proportional with the rapid development of societies and their culture. In short, the evolution of paper has transformed the world.
Marco Picardo
What a well written and organized article. I never had the slightest idea who invented paper. I knew the origins of paper, but never the man behind it. It is crazy to believe that some techniques used back then are still used somewhat to this day. It is just a testament to Cai Sun in history of inventors. Loved the article.
Dayna Valdez
The intro question was a very good one, because it is a question I have asked myself several times. Prior to reading this article, I had never really known who invented paper. His idea to create it something to be written on from bamboo strips was obviously a great one. It’s crazy to think back on who really invented paper because it is something we see and use everyday now.
Alejandra Mendez
I never thought paper would be so interesting, but it really is. As you mentioned, I never really thought about how it was made. I never thought about what was used before paper was created either. It’s interesting how an accident could lead to an idea to create something so useful to this day. I can’t imagine what we would do without paper. You could argue and say we have technology, but if you really think about it, the idea of technology was more than likely thought up and planned out on a piece of paper.
Erik Shannon
This was a very interesting article. I never had any idea or even thought about who invented paper. I also did not know that previously before paper, writing was done on bamboo strips. This was an invention that had a great impact on the world and is something we use in our everyday lives. All in all, this was a very interesting article.
Ryann Cervantes
With paper being the world’s most popular tool for writing, how come I was never taught about this? Anyways, this was a neat story about how the invention came to be. It wasn’t a complete accident, he wasn’t trying to create something else, but instead he used a rational thought process and innovation. He saw the problem and immediately looked for a solution. Then was hit by inspiration and creativity. This same thought process is what many people look for and dream of being able to solve.
Alexis Renteria
Very interesting article. Before coming across this, I knew that paper originated from china and that they used to write on bamboo sticks. Something that I did not know was that Cai Lun came across the idea when he was traveling on a bull. Its amazing how much Cai Luns invention of paper has changed the world we live in today where paper is used everyday by everyone around the world.
Tyler Sleeter
Really great article. I did not realize that the invention of paper had such an interesting origin. I like that the inventor Cai Lun saw a problem and solved by coming up with something completely new. It seems a shame that he is not as well known as other important inventors like Edison or Ford, probably because so much more time has passed since his invention. I think it is amazing that although the paper making process has been modernized, it still the same basic concept. It is good that he got the recognition he deserved at the time.
Mark Martinez
A well written and put together article. Even with such a nice simple story it was brought to life. Its was a nice touch to add a little more back story before the actual idea of paper. Even the part in the first paragraph you start with a question we all asked before as kids in school. Who knew the invention of the first version of paper came from a man who was just done lugging around bamboo strips.
Veronica Spryszynski
I don’t know how we would be writing today without paper but thanks to cai lun he made it possible. Im amazed how his mind has figured out all the techniques and ingredients to make a paper sheet. I wonder how long the process took him and how many he made per day. I never knew that paper originated in China.