The Creation Of Paper

 

 By:Emily D, Staff Writer



 

         This month, Cai Lun has created the inovation of paper. Citizens will now be able to use paper in their everyday life to record important data and even just for entertainment. For the past years, many of China's people have been using turtle shells, animal bones, golden stone, bamboo slips, and wood to write down their thoughts (http://www.history-of-china.com/han-dynasty/invention-of-paper.html). Our dynasty has had many difficulties getting these resources which has made writing less common. The animal bones were rarely found and the stone was too heavy to transport over the country. Also, good cloth was far to pricey and bamboo and wood took up too much space. Therefore the new paper product will increase writing in the dynasty and increase trading oppurtunities.
          In order to make paper, there are many steps involoved. First, the paper- makers took hemp fibers and soaked them for many hours. Next, the wet fibers were pounded using a wooden mallet and poured into a specific mold made of wooven cloth. The horizontal mold is suspended over a piece of bamboo which allows the excess water to slowly drain out of the mold (http://asianhistory.about.com/od/chineseinventions/p/Invention-of-Paper.htm>.). The final product that reamins in the mold is a dry piece of thin hemp paper that is ready for use. Paper-makers were considering experimenting with different materials to improve their paper including bamboo and tree barks along with dyes in order to make colored paper.