In the first year of Yuan Xing in the Eastern Han Dynasty (105), Cai Lun improved papermaking. He made paper from bark, hemp head, cloth, fishing net and other raw materials through crushing, mashing, frying and baking, which is the origin of modern paper. This kind of paper is easy to find, cheap and has improved its quality, so it is gradually widely used. In order to commemorate Cai Lun's achievements, later generations called this kind of paper "Cai Hou Paper".

Paper is the crystallization of the long-term experience and wisdom of the working people in China. Paper is a sheet fiber product, which is used for writing, printing, painting or packaging. Generally, it is made from the aqueous suspension of plant fibers through pulping, staggered combination on the net, preliminary dehydration, compression and drying.

China was the first country in the world to invent paper. According to archaeological findings, in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC to 8 BC), China already had hemp fiber paper. Rough texture, small quantity, high cost and low popularity.

Extended data:

Until the Eastern Han Dynasty and the period of Emperor Wudi, after Cai Lun's improvement, a set of relatively stereotyped papermaking technology was formed, which can be roughly summarized into four steps:

The first is the separation of raw materials, that is, the raw materials are degummed by soaking or cooking in alkaline solution and dispersed into fibers;

The second is beating, that is, cutting off fibers by cutting and ramming, and sweeping them into pulp;

The third is papermaking, that is, the pulp is made into slurry through water seepage, and then the pulp is picked up by a fishing machine (pad) to interweave the pulp into thin wet paper on the fishing machine;

The fourth is drying, that is, drying or drying wet paper, and taking it off becomes paper.

After the Han Dynasty, although the craft was constantly improved and matured, these four steps remained basically unchanged. Even in modern times, in the production of wet papermaking, there is still no fundamental difference between the production process and the papermaking method in ancient China.

The development of papermaking technology is mainly reflected in two aspects: in terms of raw materials, mulberry bark and rattan bark were used for papermaking in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. By the Sui Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, bamboo, sandalwood bark, wheat straw and rice straw had also been used as raw materials for papermaking, providing a rich and sufficient source of raw materials for the development of papermaking pages.

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