Ciekawostka: Paper was invented early in the second century by Chinese eunuch

Evidence: 65 • authority: 72

China has been the source of many innovations, scientific discoveries and inventions. This includes the Four Great Inventions: papermaking, the compass, gunpowder, and early printing (both woodblock and movable type). The list below contains these and other inventions in ancient and modern China attested by archaeological or historical evidence, including prehistoric inventions of Neolithic and early Bronze Age China. The historical region now known as China experienced a history involving Steel, hydraulics and mathematics applied to horology, metallurgy, astronomy, agriculture, engineering, music theory, craftsmanship, naval architecture and warfare. Use of the plow during the Neolithic pe…

Evidence: 53 • authority: 72

Rag paper is a category of paper that is made from a pulp of discarded textiles, rope and other fibre products. Rag paper in its various forms was a widely-used paper for most of the past two millennia. Production spread along the Silk Road from its early 2nd-century origin in China to the Islamic world by the 8th century. It was introduced into Christian Europe by the 12th century, and western Europe came to dominate rag production up until the mid-19th century, when rag paper was displaced in favour of far more cost-efficient pulpwood acidic paper. Rag paper is valued today as a specialty paper for its archival quality and tear resistance compared to wood pulp paper. Modern rag paper is o…

Evidence: 53 • authority: 72

Paper is a thin nonwoven material traditionally made from a combination of milled plant and other textile fibres. The first paper-like plant-based writing sheet was papyrus in Egypt, but the first true papermaking process was documented in China during the Eastern Han period (25–220 CE), traditionally attributed to the court official Cai Lun. This plant-puree conglomerate produced by pulp mills and paper mills was used for writing, drawing, and money. During the 8th century, Chinese paper making spread to the Islamic world, replacing papyrus. By the 11th century, papermaking had reached Europe, where it initially coexisted with animal-skin-based parchment before eventually replacing it, alo…

Evidence: — • authority: 35