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June 1, 2014
Gutenberg we know. But what of the eunuch Cai Lun?
a close aide to the Emperor Hedi in the Chinese imperial court of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai invented paper one fateful day in the year 105. At the time, writing and drawing were done primarily on silk, which was elegant but expensive, or on bamboo, which was sturdy but cumbersome. Seeking a more practical alternative, Cai came up with the idea of mashing bits of tree bark and hemp fiber together in a little water, pounding the resulting paste flat with a stone mortar, and then letting it dry into sheets in the sun. The experiment was a success. Allowing for a few industrial tweaks, Cai’s method is still pretty much the way paper gets made today.The eunuch’s children
Posted by gerardvanderleun at June 1, 2014 2:37 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
Well, I guess once the testicles are gone, one's interests shift from that friggin' blonde next door to the, ahem, arts. Still, they say it's all in the brain...maybe he needed a way to keep all those images he'd been scrawling...
Posted by: Will at June 1, 2014 3:56 PM
And the trees were not pleased with this new development!
Posted by: Jimmy J. at June 2, 2014 10:31 AM