What did Cai Lun's Papermaking look like?

Fiber pulp is uniformly dispersed in water → a bamboo screen is lifted through it → water drains away and fibers remain on the screen → the wet sheet is couched off and pressed to remove water → dried → a sheet of plant-fiber paper is produced.

How did Cai Lun's Papermaking work?

Raw materials (bark, hemp, cloth, etc.) → chopped → soaked → cooked in limewater (degumming) → beaten into pulp → fibers uniformly dispersed in water → sheet formed on bamboo screen → pressed to remove water → air-dried → finished paper.

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蔡伦改良造纸术

Cai Lun's Papermaking

Using tree bark, hemp rags, worn cloth, and old fishing nets as raw materials, pulped and then formed into sheets on a screen — standardizing and industrializing papermaking.

蔡伦改良

Scientific Principle

Cellulose chemistry: cooking removes lignin and hemicellulose. Sheet formation: hydrogen bonding between cellulose fibers during drying produces paper strength.