__A.D. 105: __The eunuch Tsai Lun shows his "invention" of paper to the Han emperor of China.

Recent archaeological evidence shows that people in northwestern China were making paper in the two centuries before its formal introduction at court. But Tsai (or Cai) is notable for refining the process, experimenting with new materials and founding the Chinese paper industry.

The first Chinese paper was apparently made from a mash of sodden hemp waste, beaten to a pulp and stretched over a cloth sieve in a bamboo frame. Tsai made his pulp from bamboo fibers and the inner bark of the mulberry tree. He also worked with bark from other trees, as well as scraps of hemp, linen rags and even fishnets.

The emperor, Ho Ti (or He Di), promoted Tsai, who became wealthy. But the inventor of paper (on paper, at least) eventually got involved in palace intrigue and ended his life by drinking poison.

Chinese emperors made paper a tool for imperial administration and the diffusion of knowledge. It was a lighter alternative to heavy pages made of bamboo, and far less expensive than pages made from silk. Further Chinese advances in papermaking included a quick-release mold to improve the speed of production, the use of starch as sizing (filler or glaze) and a combination yellow dye and insect repellent.

Papermaking was a secret process until it spread to Korea in the sixth century, thence to Japan in the seventh. The technology spread to Tibet and Central Asia. Then Arabs captured some Chinese papermakers in 751, and the formerly secret process reached the Middle East. Arab scholars preferred linen paper to the sheepskin or calfskin parchment that was then in use. Paper continued its westward spread, and the first paper mill in Europe was built in 1150.

Sources: Various

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