Tsai Lun Invents Paper
故事全文
Nowadays, if we want to record something, we have many tools to choose from. We have paper, pens, PDAs, etc. However, in ancient times, what did people use to write?
Long ago, when people wanted to record something, they had to carve letters on thin wood or bamboo strips with a knife. This took a lot of time. Furthermore, the wood and bamboo strips were not only heavy, they were also hard to store. As time passed, some people started to write on silk cloth. Silk cloth was light and easy to carry, but it was very expensive. Most people could not afford to use silk.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, a person called Tsai Lun (63-121) felt that writing was too troublesome. It either took a long time to carve, or was too expensive. He wanted to find something that would make writing and recording easier. But he could not find it.
One day, Tsai Lun went on a sightseeing trip with his friends. He saw something tangled in the grass by the lake. It looked like balls of cotton. Tsai Lun asked an old fisherman fishing nearby, "Hello Sir, Could you tell me what this is?" The old fisherman took a look and laughed. He told Tsai Lun, "This is nothing special. Just tree bark and hemp that has been soaked in water for a long time." Tsai Lun took a closer look at the material, and found that it was smooth, soft, and did not break easily.
"This is similar to silk!" he thought. "Well..." Tsai Lun suddenly had an idea. After he got home, Tsai Lun started to collect old rags, tree bark and fishnets. Tsai Lun cut the materials into small pieces, and soaked it in limewater to form pulp. The pulp was boiled to a thick paste, and poured into clear water. Then, Tsai Lun ran a fine curtain through the water to collect the fiber and laid a thin layer. Then, he dried it and made the world"s very first sheet of paper. From then on, it became much easier for people to write and record things.
