In the beginning was papyrus
What we call paper, without which modern office life is simply unthinkable, did not always represent an A4 sheet . So, the question of where the paper was invented cannot give an unambiguous answer. Four thousand years ago, the ancient Egyptians used papyrus for writing. The top layer of the skin was carefully removed from the stems. The removed thin sheets were stacked on top of each other and held under a heavy press. Glued and dried papyrus sheets and served as writing paper.
In ancient Russia, the inner layer of birch bark was used for writing. The birch bark letters discovered by archaeologists date back to the 11-15th centuries. Although the message of the Arab writer Ibn-en-Nedim states that "there are letters on the land of the Russians, cut out on pieces of white wood." The message dates from 987. Some folkloric sources indicate the use of birch bark letters by North American Indians.
Homeland of paper
The country where we invented the paper that we still use today presented the world with porcelain, compass, gunpowder, and fireworks. This, of course, is about China. And if the names of the inventors of the โprecursorsโ of the paper sheet - papyrus scrolls and tablets - remain unknown, then the name of the one who invented the paper, pretty well known. He is Cai Lun, who served as a eunuch at court. This event occurred in 105 CE, during the reign of the Han Dynasty.
The country where the paper was invented is not planted with birch groves. Mulberry tree, bamboo and rice grow here. Cai Lun shredded the fibrous bark of a mulberry tree. I mixed the resulting mixture with water, hemp and wood ash, and then placed it on a bamboo frame with a grill. He smoothed the resulting layer with a stone and dried it in the sun. That is how the first sheet of paper came out. Over time, manufacturing technology has improved. Starch, silk fibers, dyes began to be added to the mixture invented by Tsai Lun, which significantly improved the quality of paper sheets.
Everything secret becomes clear
The people of the eastern country where paper was invented carefully kept the secrets of its production. However, many centuries ago, Chinese merchants traveled with their goods around the world. Caravans, arriving in a new city, communicating, shared news. Returning to their native lands, they brought news from across the seas. It was a bit of global communication. And somehow, in the city of Samarkand, Arab merchants learned the secrets of making paper, and when they found out, they brought it to Spain. Paper began to be made here in 1150. Soon papermaking technology became known in all European countries.
In Russia, paper production appeared only in the second half of the 16th century. Written sources report that in Moscow in the 16th century there were 10 paper mills and 50 enterprises where paper and cardboard were made manually.
Now every student knows where tea comes from, chopsticks, where paper is invented, in general, those things that are firmly in our everyday life.
However, the fact about where the first machines producing paper in the form in which we use it now appeared is less known. And this event happened in France in 1798. And already in 1807, England patented the primacy in the invention of a machine for making paper rolls. Soon begins the widespread manufacture of paper packaging. But that's another story.