Who invented paper?
Who invented paper? Papermaking began in China before Cai Lun’s account in 105 CE. Earlier paper and papyrus. The craft’s spread across the world.
Papermaking began in China before Cai Lun’s recorded process in 105 CE. His name marks an important account of the craft, rather than the first surviving piece of paper.
Cai Lun and earlier paper
Cai Lun, also written Ts’ai Lun, worked at the Chinese imperial court. He is traditionally credited with papermaking in 105 CE. The Georgia Tech paper museum dates earlier Chinese paper to about 200 BCE.
Papyrus versus paper
Ancient Egyptian papyrus was made from strips of the papyrus plant laid in crossing layers and pressed together. Paper is formed from a watery mixture of separated plant fibres caught on a screen. Both can hold writing, but they are made differently.
How papermaking spread
The craft spread east to Korea and Japan and west through Central Asia. Samarkand was a papermaking centre in the eighth century. From there it reached Baghdad and other parts of the Islamic world, including North Africa and Spain.
By the twelfth century, paper mills were operating in Spain; Italian centres such as Fabriano grew in the thirteenth century. Early European makers commonly used old cotton and linen cloth as their fibre supply.