Imagine the rise of civilization to today’s level of technology without paper and the books that came with paper and the printing press.
Would men have walked on the moon? Without paper, what would we use to clean up after defecation – I’m talking about toilet paper?
Papermaking is one of the four significant inventions from ancient China.
Almost 2,000 years ago, the discovery of paper was made in China. In 105 AD, Cai Lon submitted his discovery to the Han emperor. His method of paper making soon spread to the rest of China, and the emperor rewarded Cai Lon by making him a member of the nobility.
The basic principles of papermaking invented by Cai Lon are still in use today. To make paper was a six-step process, and properly manufactured paper lasts for centuries.
In fact, Buddhism arrived in China about the time of the invention of paper and this helped spread Buddhist ideas, which contributed to the spread of that philosophy/religion.
For a long time, the Chinese closely guarded the secret of paper making, but by the 15th century, the paper making process finally reached Europe. It only took about fourteen-hundred years.
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine, Crazy is Normal, Running with the Enemy, and The Redemption of Don Juan Casanova.
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