Cai Lun's paper

Around AD 105 Cai Lun, chief eunuch at the Eastern Han court, reported to Emperor He a way of making paper from tree bark, hemp waste, old rags and fishnets, cheaper than silk and better to write on; the method spread across China and reached Samarkand by 751 and Baghdad by 793. Older paper fragments have been excavated in China, so his report marks an improvement and its adoption, not the first paper.

The mechanism

A TECHNOLOGY THAT TURNS THE BOARD

How it was checked

• EvidenceT5 INDEPENDENT SECULAR; Status: ADDED 2026-09-19
• Letter eraTHE WITNESSES AND THE TURN 44 to 312 AD
• SourcesRECORD — Britannica, 'Cai Lun'; Britannica, 'papermaking' (Samarkand 751, Baghdad 793); Wikipedia, 'History of paper' (Fangmatan fragment, 179-141 BC) · checked 19 September: Britannica (read in a browser; WebFetch is refused by the site), 'Cai Lun'; Britannica (read in a browser; WebFetch is refused by the site), 'papermaking'