One of the Four Great Inventions, did paper exist during the Qin Dynasty?

No.

The Qin Dynasty people use paper to write, this sentence in the Qin Dynasty to say yes, some people at that time the silk is called paper, the real paper appeared in the Western Han Dynasty.

Inventor

Papermaking is one of the four great inventions of ancient China. Who invented papermaking has long been believed to be invented by Cai Lun, a eunuch of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The main basis for this is the record of the Book of the Later Han Dynasty - Cai Lun's biography.

The book said: "Since ancient times, the book of deeds are woven with bamboo, which uses thick waterproof silk (i.e., according to the writing needs of the cut silk fabric) is called paper. Thick waterproof silk is expensive and heavy, and it is not convenient for people. Lun Nai Zuoyi (invention, creation) with tree skin, hemp head and my cloth. Fishnet as paper. Yuanxing yuan, played on. Emperor good its ability, since no one from the use of it, so the world salty called 'Cai Hou paper'."

So, some later Chinese and foreign writings, are based on respect for the Eastern Han Dynasty Cai Lun is the inventor of paper, he offered him to the Han Dynasty and Emperor Liu Zhao paper in 105 AD, as the birth year of paper.

In the historical books, as early as before Cai Lun, there are some records about paper. For example, it was once said in the "old affairs of the three auxiliaries" that Prince Liu Zhuo, the Prince of Wei, had a very big nose, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not like him. Jiang Chong gave him an idea, taught him to go to see Emperor Wu again "when holding a paper to cover his nose.

The crown prince followed Jiang Chong's advice, covered his nose with paper, and went to the palace to see Emperor Wu. Emperor Wu was furious. This incident happened in 91 BC. Another example is the Book of Han - Empress Zhao's biography: Zhao Zhaoyi, the sister of Emperor Chengdi's favorite concubine Zhao Feiyan, wanted to kill Cao Weineng, a female officer of the harem, so she sent someone to send poison and a letter of "Heshu Shu," forcing Cao to commit suicide.

According to Ying Shao of the Eastern Han Dynasty, "Heshu" means "thin paper" (later called silk-cotton paper). Then again, the Houhan Book - Jia Kui biography, said, 76 A.D. Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty made Jia Kui selected twenty people to teach to the "Zuo Shi Chuan", and "to give Jane, the paper of the scriptures and biographies of a pass". The above documents about the paper, are earlier than 105 AD, that is, Cai Lun to the Emperor of Han and the year of the paper offering.

Expanded:

An ancient method of making paper. p>I. Ancient Papermaking Methods

Referring to the picture on the right, there are five main steps in the Ming Dynasty papermaking. From the picture, it can be seen that the Chinese papermaking industry at that time was already quite mature, with specialists for each process working in their own way, and a number of tools specializing in papermaking had been developed. The papermaking method shown in the figure is the paper copying method, which was widely used in ancient China and was faster to manufacture.

Chopping bamboo to float in a pond: Chopping down bamboo and placing it in a pond to soak, so that the fibers fully absorb water. Can be added to the bark, hemp head, and old fishnets and other plant materials mashed. Boil the vigorous fire: the crushed material to cook, so that the fiber dispersion, until cooked into pulp.

The picture shows a cauldron of shredded material pressed down with a large stone to help cook it completely. Swinging the material into the curtain: The pulp is allowed to cool, and then a flat bamboo curtain is used to scoop up the pulp and filter the water into a paper film.

This step requires skill in order to produce a film that is evenly distributed and of the right thickness. Overlap curtain pressure paper: Fishing good paper film stacked one by one, with a wooden board pressed tightly, on top of a heavy stone, will be pressed out of the water. Roasted through the fire: the pressure to the semi-dry paper film attached to the edge of the fire drying, uncovered that is the finished product.

Additionally, in the "Tiangongkaiwu" and a variety of ancient books have not been recorded, but has been handed down to the present day, more than the history of paper copying method of papermaking for the pouring of paper method. Pouring method is mainly for the Dai, Tibetan, Uygur and other ethnic minorities used in a small way. Compared with the copying method, the paper made by the pouring method is rougher and slower.

Significance and value

Papermaking--especially in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Lun improved papermaking (also known as "Caihou paper"), is a revolution in the writing materials, it is easy to carry, a wide range of materials are not constrained, and promote the Chinese, Arabia, Europe and even the whole world's cultural development.

With writing, the most important thing is to have a good carrier. Ancient Egyptians used papyrus from the Nile River to record history; in ancient Europe, people also used animal skins, such as sheepskin, for a long time to write words; and in China, before the invention of papermaking, oracle bones, bamboo slips, and silk were the materials used for writing and recording in ancient times.

But the oracle bone, bamboo slips are heavy, Qin Shi Huang a day just read the zhangzhang, to be a whole car; silk, although lightweight, but the cost is very expensive, also not suitable for writing. To the Han Dynasty, due to the rapid development of the economy and culture of the Western Han Dynasty, oracle bone and bamboo slips have been unable to meet the needs of the development, which led to the improvement of writing tools - paper was invented.

Paper is an important chemical process, the invention of paper is China in the dissemination and development of human culture, made a very valuable contribution to the Chinese history of a major achievement, the Chinese history also has an important impact.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Papermaking