Paper - Birth and development

Today paper is too ordinary for us. I crumpled it in my hand and threw it without mercy because I knew it after three thousand years from the days when the first images were written in caves, clay . until two thousand years ago. It turned out to be rudimentary paper and through so many processes, it became perfect today.

Archaeological discoveries in China plus radiocarbon dating prove that paper was present two centuries before Ts'ai Lun, but it was still invented by Ts'ai Lun. Real as it is today.

Ts'ai Lun

1. Ts'ai Lun: In 105, under the Han Dynasty, during the emperor's time in China, Ts'ai Lun brought a number of papers to give the king, the king's satisfaction and nobility, and gave him mandarins. family. He was eunuch because he had to keep wealth and money in the court. By making paper, he became rich. However, after that he was plotted by the court to cause trouble, so he fell and was hated by the king. He washed himself, dressed in nice clothes, drank poison and went to bed.

Ts'ai Lun makes paper:

Ts'ai Lun inside the mulberry tree bark and bamboo fiber mixed with water and crushed with wooden tools, then he poured the mixture onto a flat, stretched cloth and drained it. Once dry, Ts'ai Lun discovered that it could be written easily and gently. The first way to make this paper was used in China and then through Korea, Samarkand, Baghdad and Damascus.

Although Ts'ai Lun invented the paper early, it took thousands of years to produce paper throughout Europe and Asia.

2. Countries and paper inventions:

About 400 people in India know how to make paper

After about 500 years later, the Abbasid Caliphate began to use paper.

Muslims use paper very early, from India to Spain, while Christians still use parchment

Arabe's influence continued to spread from Africa to Méditerranée: About 650 Asians invaded Sicilians, then overran Morocco. These two cities then turned into two cultural centers of Egypt that spread their traditions and beliefs. In the following centuries, the territory of Arabia grew, adding advanced countries like Algeria, Tunisie and Lybie along with the great territories of Espagne, Portugal and Italie.

In 751, Arabs living in the city of Samarkan, in Kasakhstan - about 800 km from the Chinese border - were attacked by Chinese troops. The attack was not only repulsed by Arab forces but also chased. The Arab army took Chinese prisoners to know paper making techniques. In exchange for freedom, Chinese people passed on paper making. Arabs know how to make paper from there and how to make paper spread quickly among Arabs.
In the 10th century, Arabs used cotton to make paper to have good thin paper.

Around 1100, Italy and Espagne chased the Arabs away, but the paper industry was upheld. In Italy, the oldest document written on the oldest paper was presented to King Roger of Sicile, recorded in 1102.

In the early 1200s, Christianity dominated the Spanish religion, so that they learned how to make paper in Islam. In 1250 Italians began to learn how to make paper and sell throughout Europe.

In 1338 the French missionaries began making paper. In 1411, after 15 centuries since Ts'ai Lun invented paper, the Germans began to produce paper and especially since 1450 the journalism and printer industry was born by Johannes Gutenberg, the tickets and parchemin were forgotten. completely. The cheaper, the same, the paper becomes necessary for the large production that animal skin paper cannot afford

3. Compare Ts'ai Lun and Gutenberg's inventions

Gutenberg

In China, before Ts'ai Lun, most of the books were written in bamboo, so they were heavy and bulky. Some books were written on silk but too expensive. On the Western side, before the paper was born, people used parchment books made of sheepskin or calfskin. Then papyrus is popular with Greeks, Romans and Egyptians. However, parchment or papyrus are too expensive. Books or other documents written in paper today are made too cheaply and also because of the existence of paper. In fact, if there is no printing industry, paper is not so important as it is today. So, Ts'ai Lun and Gutenberg, who is more important? However, considering that we see Ts'ai Lun is more important than Gutenberg because in addition to writing, paper is used for many other things. In addition, if there is no paper, it is unlikely that Gutenberg will think of making a printer. As if only one of the two inventions had occurred, it would have been possible to use ready-made zinc boards (the printing block, which had been used before Gutenberg's invention) to print books on paper rather than using the mobile print board. to print on parchment.

4. Compare Chinese and Western European civilization

Ts'ai Lun and Gutenberg's two inventions are exactly two of the ten greatest inventions in history. To express the importance of paper and printing industry, we need to talk about the cultural development of China and Western countries. The second century of Chinese civilization progressed against Western countries. In the next thousand years, China's technology surpassed those of Western Europe and in a period of 7-8 centuries, Chinese civilization was seen as the standard for advanced countries in the world. Because surely papyrus rolls are more than books made of bamboo or wood. It was this incident that hindered it

developing Chinese civilization before the invention of paper. Imagine a Chinese contestant must bring a whole mountain of bamboo books. And the government wants to complete administrative work is not easy. Therefore, after the invention of paper, Chinese civilization progressed rapidly, in just five centuries surpassed Western European countries. Naturally, the split of Western European countries is also the cause of the loss of China. Marco Polo himself also confirmed that even in the 13th century, China was much more prosperous than Europe. But why then lost to Europe? There are many complex cultural interpretations, but perhaps due to the fact that since the 15th century, Europe has genius Gutenberg developed large mass printing techniques. Since then European culture has developed rapidly. Because China does not have Gutenberg, still using the printing block zinc printing method, Chinese culture develops slowly.

By the 1800s, handmade paper was a mixture of chanvre (fiber), cotton, lin (ramie) and many other plants. At that time, Louis Robert, an employee of the paper firm in Essonne, in southern Paris, invented a paper factory that could produce mass paper. As a result, paper becomes cheap and paper residues are stored in rolls. With this invention, people need to have longer grain fibers

Fifty years later, the grain is used frequently to make paper.

The printing industry at that time began to grow: books and important documents were produced quickly. Thanks to this mass printing method, there was a great demand for paper.