History of paper

The history of paper traces its invention, changing methods of manufacture, and spread across societies as a material for writing, printing, and other uses.

Cai Lun: A Han dynasty court official traditionally credited with improving papermaking around 105 CE. His reported contribution anchors the conventional account of paper’s early development in China.
Papermaking: The process of forming sheets from dispersed fibers, then pressing and drying them. Its basic operations connect early Chinese techniques with later regional innovations.
Paper money: Currency issued in printed or written paper form rather than as coin. Chinese paper currency created a major state-backed use for paper beyond writing materials.
Battle of Talas: A battle fought in 751 between Abbasid forces and Tang China in Central Asia. Later accounts connect captured Chinese papermakers to the establishment of papermaking in the Islamic world.
Wood pulp: Fibrous material produced by mechanically or chemically separating wood into cellulose-rich pulp. Wood pulp replaced rags as the dominant feedstock for industrial paper.
Papyrus: A writing material made by pressing and drying strips of the papyrus plant’s pith. Papyrus was an earlier writing surface, but its plant-sheet structure differs from true paper.
Paper mulberry: A tree whose inner bark fibers have long been used to make paper and other materials. Its bark supplied an important fiber in early East Asian papermaking.
Woodblock printing: A printing method that transfers ink from a carved wooden block onto paper or another surface. It paired naturally with paper in East Asia and encouraged the production of printed texts.
House of Wisdom: A scholarly institution associated with Abbasid Baghdad and the translation and study of texts. Paper’s availability helped sustain the copying and circulation of scholarly works in Abbasid cities.
Groundwood paper: Paper made largely from mechanically ground wood pulp, which retains lignin and yellows over time. Its low cost enabled mass newspapers while its durability differed from rag paper.

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