Chapter 10 Section 1 The Invention of Paper and the Emergence of Paper Books

Books, both at home and abroad, are mostly printed on paper.Until now, paper is still the main material for printing books.Therefore, the invention of paper is a major event in the history of book collection. It not only provides materials for writing or printing, but also facilitates collection and management.Since the 1930s, several ancient papers have been excavated and unearthed successively. They are the products of Emperor Wu, Emperor Xuan of the Western Han Dynasty and Emperor Hedi of the Eastern Han Dynasty.Based on this, we can say that the earliest paper came from the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (140 BC-87 BC).These initial papers were rough in texture, mostly made of hemp fibers, and had no written characters, which shows that the paper in the Western Han Dynasty could not be used as a writing material.In the Eastern Han Dynasty, papermaking technology has made great progress. "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty Cai Lun Biography" records:

Since ancient times, most of the book deeds have been compiled with bamboo slips, and those who use silk are called paper, which is expensive but simple and heavy, which is not convenient for people.Lun Nai made an idea, using tree skin, hemp heads, cloth, and fishnets as paper.It was played in the first year of Yuanxing (AD 105).The emperor is good at his ability, so the world will use it, so the world is called Caihou Zhi. According to "Dong Guan Han Ji", Cai Lun used bark to make grain paper, fish net to make net paper, and hemp to make hemp paper.Cai Lun papermaking goes through many processes.If bark is used to make paper, it must go through processes such as peeling, retting, cooking, pounding, and bleaching, so that the paper is flat and smooth, suitable for writing.Thereafter paper use and manufacturing techniques gradually spread westward.Paper began to be used in the Western Regions in the 2nd century AD; paper began to be used in Central Asia in the 5th century; until the tenth year of Emperor Xuanzong Tianbao (751 AD) when the Tang Dynasty was at war with Dashi, the papermaking technology was passed on through the paper workers among the captured Chinese soldiers. to the Arabs.Later, the Arabs passed the papermaking technology to Europe.In 1150 A.D., the Spaniards first established the first paper mill in Europe. At this time, Cai Lun had made paper for more than 1,000 years.As for other European countries, papermaking was even later. For example, papermaking workshops appeared in France in 1189.After that, papermaking workshops appeared one after another in Italy in 1276, Germany in 1391, England in 1494, and Russia in 1564.

Due to the emergence and improvement of paper, the form of books in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties gradually changed from bamboo slips, silk, and paper to paper books.This change can be confirmed from the notes in "Three Kingdoms·Wei Wendi Ji".When talking about Cao Pi's works "Dian Lun" and poems in the note, it is said that he once wrote his works in two sets of silk script and paper script, the silk script was given to Sun Quan, and the paper script was given to Zhang Zhao.It can be seen that silk and paper coexist at this time.In the third year of Yuanxing (AD 404) at the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Huan Xuan abolished Emperor And of Jin, proclaimed himself emperor, and changed the name of the country to Chu.Only three or four months after he became emperor, he was driven out of Jiankang (now Nanjing) by Liu Yu.During this period, Huanxuan did a major event worth recording, that is, he ordered the use of paper for the bamboo slips to be abolished. Paper instead." (Volume 21 of "Beginners") Since then, paper has replaced bamboo slips as the main writing material.Unearthed cultural relics also confirm this transition: there are very few unearthed papers in the second and third centuries AD, and most of them are bamboo slips. After the 4th century, bamboo slips are rare, mainly paper books. The earliest surviving paper book unearthed in Shanshan County, Xinjiang in 1924, the fragment of "Three Kingdoms" written by Jin people, is a relic of the 4th century AD.