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蔡伦 Cai Lun (circa AD 61-121) - Paper trail leads to eunuch Cai
By Zhang Ciyun |
April 17, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
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Cai Lun, a eunuch serving in the imperial court of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220 ), is widely credited as the inventor of paper, one of the four Great Inventions of ancient Chinese civilization. The other three inventions are the compass, gunpowder and printing.
Cai was born into a farmer's family in today's Laiyang area of Hunan Province in central China. He was a very bright and lovely boy. When he was only 14, he was sent to the imperial court to serve as a eunuch.
In the court, he got the opportunity to learn to read and write. Cai was clever, quick-witted and amiable, and he knew very well how to please the emperor so he was promoted several times. In AD 97, he was named by Emperor He as Shangfang, an official in charge of manufacturing instruments, articles and weapons used in the imperial court.
In AD 114, he was promoted to Marquis of Longting, hence his "Marquis Cai" title.
When Cai was the chief of the imperial family's workshop, he began to seek an inexpensive and durable material for writing.
Ancient Chinese first carved characters into turtle shells and animal bones. Later, they used bamboo tablets and silk as the media for writing. But the former was too bulky and the latter too expensive. Neither of them was ideal for mass production and easy distribution.
According to archeological discoveries, people living in Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25) began to produce a primitive form of paper which was made of hemp. But the paper was very coarse and uneven, and few written words were ever found recorded on such material.
There are numerous folk stories about how Cai found the right formula to improve the quality of paper and to reform the paper-making technology. Some even claimed that he received providential help from divine animals.
However, Cai most likely summed up the experiences of earlier papermakers and improved the technology. The equipment and facilities used to make paper have been revolutionized ever since Cai's time, but the ancient technique of papermaking has remained the same.
In the process, a dilute suspension of fibers in water is drained through a screen and then dried into a thin matted sheet.
Cai used tree bark, hemp, cloth rags and worn fishing nets as the raw materials. Such cheap materials greatly lowered the cost of production and made mass production possible.
Eventually, Cai succeeded in producing a new form of paper that was light, thin, strong and inexpensive. It was later called the "Marquis Cai's paper."
When Cai presented his new product to Emperor He in AD 105, the latter was so pleased that he awarded the eunuch a lot of wealth.
The invention of paper greatly facilitated the development of China's civilization. A few centuries later, the technology spread to some other east Asian countries and in the 12th century, it was introduced into Europe.
Today, paper remains a widely used medium for writing in the world. It has also been employed for many other uses, such as building, decoration, packaging and pharmaceutical production.
Due to the fact that Cai was involved in too many imperial court intrigues and plots, he eventually fell from grace and was forced to commit suicide.
Cai was born into a farmer's family in today's Laiyang area of Hunan Province in central China. He was a very bright and lovely boy. When he was only 14, he was sent to the imperial court to serve as a eunuch.
In the court, he got the opportunity to learn to read and write. Cai was clever, quick-witted and amiable, and he knew very well how to please the emperor so he was promoted several times. In AD 97, he was named by Emperor He as Shangfang, an official in charge of manufacturing instruments, articles and weapons used in the imperial court.
In AD 114, he was promoted to Marquis of Longting, hence his "Marquis Cai" title.
When Cai was the chief of the imperial family's workshop, he began to seek an inexpensive and durable material for writing.
Ancient Chinese first carved characters into turtle shells and animal bones. Later, they used bamboo tablets and silk as the media for writing. But the former was too bulky and the latter too expensive. Neither of them was ideal for mass production and easy distribution.
According to archeological discoveries, people living in Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25) began to produce a primitive form of paper which was made of hemp. But the paper was very coarse and uneven, and few written words were ever found recorded on such material.
There are numerous folk stories about how Cai found the right formula to improve the quality of paper and to reform the paper-making technology. Some even claimed that he received providential help from divine animals.
However, Cai most likely summed up the experiences of earlier papermakers and improved the technology. The equipment and facilities used to make paper have been revolutionized ever since Cai's time, but the ancient technique of papermaking has remained the same.
In the process, a dilute suspension of fibers in water is drained through a screen and then dried into a thin matted sheet.
Cai used tree bark, hemp, cloth rags and worn fishing nets as the raw materials. Such cheap materials greatly lowered the cost of production and made mass production possible.
Eventually, Cai succeeded in producing a new form of paper that was light, thin, strong and inexpensive. It was later called the "Marquis Cai's paper."
When Cai presented his new product to Emperor He in AD 105, the latter was so pleased that he awarded the eunuch a lot of wealth.
The invention of paper greatly facilitated the development of China's civilization. A few centuries later, the technology spread to some other east Asian countries and in the 12th century, it was introduced into Europe.
Today, paper remains a widely used medium for writing in the world. It has also been employed for many other uses, such as building, decoration, packaging and pharmaceutical production.
Due to the fact that Cai was involved in too many imperial court intrigues and plots, he eventually fell from grace and was forced to commit suicide.
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