Cai Lun standardises papermaking
- Date
- 105 CE
- Category
- Science, technology & invention
- Region
- China (Luoyang)
- Era
- Classical Antiquity
- Significance
In 105 CE the eunuch court official Cai Lun reported to the Eastern Han emperor a refined method for making paper from cheap, abundant materials — macerated tree bark, hemp ends, old rags and fishing nets — pulped and dried into thin sheets.
Although fragments of earlier paper predate him by two centuries, Cai Lun's improvements made paper far cheaper to produce and superior for writing than the silk and bulky bamboo strips then in use, enabling its large-scale manufacture. Paper rapidly became the principal medium of Chinese administration, scholarship and literature, and centuries later spread westward across the Islamic world to Europe, transforming record-keeping, education and the circulation of knowledge worldwide. Honoured in his lifetime and revered thereafter, Cai Lun became the traditional patron figure of papermaking, and the technology he standardised ranks among the most influential inventions in human history.
One piece of history in your inbox, weekly
New empires, events and features as they land — one good email a week. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Empires active in 105 CE
- Han Dynasty202 BCE – 220 CE
- Roman Empire27 BCE – 476 CE
- Kingdom of Funan50 CE – 550 CE
- Zapotec State of Monte Albán500 BCE – 800 CE
- Kushan Empire30 CE – 375 CE
- Parthian Empire247 BCE – 224 CE
Related science, technology & invention events
- Zhang Heng invents the seismoscope132 CE
- Compilation of the Charaka Samhita and the Codification of Ayurvedac. 100 CE
- Inauguration of the Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheatre)80 CE
- Ptolemy completes the Almagestc. 150 CE
- The Bakhshali manuscript and the earliest recorded zeroc. 224–383 CE (carbon-dated)
- Earliest securely dated Maya/Mesoamerican Long Count inscription36 BCE (Long Count 7.16.3.2.13)
Further reading
The wider story
A Little History of Science
Warm, jargon-free tour of discovery from Babylonian stargazers to the genome.
Get it on Amazon →As an Amazon Associate, Human Saga earns from qualifying purchases.