What is the earliest paper found in ancient China?

Early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-23 AD) paper unearthed from Fangmatan Han Tomb in Tianshui, Gansu, China, is the earliest paper found so far. In addition, ancient paper of the Western Han Dynasty was also unearthed in Lop Nur and Xi Baqiao, Xinjiang. But these papers are rough, and the raw materials are hemp or silk floss.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty AD 105, eunuch Cai Lun summarized and improved the paper-making technology since the Western Han Dynasty. Taking bark, rags, hemp heads and fishing nets as raw materials, combined with a whole set of processes of retting, ramming and copying, he created a kind of plant fiber paper called "Cai Hou Paper". Since then, paper has gradually replaced bamboo tubes and silk as the main writing material.

The development of extended information paper has also experienced a tortuous process. /kloc-after the invention of papermaking in 0/05, papermaking spread from Henan to other economically and culturally developed areas. Cai Lun sealed the Dragon Pavilion in Yangxian County, Shaanxi Province, and papermaking spread to Hanzhong area, and gradually spread to Sichuan. According to the folklore of Cai Lun's hometown Leiyang, Hunan, Cai Lun also taught papermaking to his hometown before his death.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Shandong's papermaking was relatively developed, and Zuo Bo, a papermaking expert in Donglai County, came out. After the popularization of papermaking in China in the second century, paper became a strong competitor of silk books and bamboo slips. In the third and fourth centuries, paper has basically replaced silk and bamboo slips as the only writing material in China, which has effectively promoted the spread and development of science and culture in China.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties from the third to the sixth century, China's papermaking was constantly innovated. In terms of raw materials, in addition to the original hemp and paper, it is also expanded to use mulberry bark and rattan bark to make paper. In terms of equipment, the paper-making technology of the Western Han Dynasty was inherited, and more movable curtain bed paper molds appeared. A movable bamboo curtain is placed on the frame, which can repeatedly fish out thousands of wet papers and improve work efficiency.

In processing and manufacturing technology, alkali liquor cooking and beating were strengthened, and the quality of paper was improved, and processed paper such as colored paper, coated paper and filler paper appeared.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Papers