Born of paper

Paper is the one of the greatest materials that human beings invented　and the symbol of history . Paper seems to be invented in China.

Before paper was devised, in the In(殷) era, letters was inscribed on animal bones(mainly cattle’s and deer’s scapula) and tortoise carapaces called Ko-kotsu character(甲骨文字) .They were mainly used for fortunate-telling.

In the Shu(周) era to the Spring and Autumn and Warring states(春秋戦国) era, characters was carved on stones and metal called Kinseki character(金石文). It is so suitable to remain and bring words to posterity.  Narrow strip of wood (called 木簡) and bamboo(called 竹簡) was used practically. They can be reused by shaving their surface but they are heavy and bulky.

In the Han(漢) era, how to make paper today was invented. The way is to break bark and hemp, called “pulp”, smash, to dissolve them in water, to spread them equally, and to dry them. Paper is thin and light, therefore it is very portable and able to keep lots. Sai-rin（蔡倫）, was a eunuch in the Later Han(後漢) era which was Chinese particular government official , is well-known to invent paper, However he seems to improve how to make paper actually because a piece of paper was excavated from the ruin in the Han(漢) era. Today, Sai-rin is believed warmly for Chinese as the God of paper.  Afterward, paper was brought to Europe via Islam and spread all over the world and today paper is familiar.