Everywhere we go we are constantly surrounded by paper. Notebooks, money, cigarettes, packages and so much more. Paper has been around since it was invented in 105 AD (Britt, 2020). But actual print is shown less and less today due to digital media. The word “paper” is from the word “papyrus” which is the Cyperus papyrus plant. Paper was adopted by the Chinese and was spread to other parts of the world from the Silk Road (Wendorf, 2019). The Silk Road was a route that connected China to the west that carried goods and services.
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The invention of paper was created by Ts’ai Lun, a Chinese courtroom official (American Forest and Paper Association, 2021) Ts’ai Lun mixed mulberry bark, hemp, rags, and water to create a thin mat and hung it in the sun to dry (American Forest and Paper Association, 2021). Fibers from different plants, bark, and grasses were blended together to find the cheapest combination of materials that produced the highest quality of paper (Cartwright, 2017) Before the 3rd century, paper was made out of other materials like bark and vegetation (Fuller 2002). Paper was used for engravings and religious pictures (Fuller 2002).
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The invention of paper has greatly affected the spread of literature (Cartwright, 2017). Paper used to show high value in ancient China, it was used to pay tribute and taxes to the state during the Tang dynasty (Cartwright, 2017). The Tang used a color system on their paper, white was used for legal documents, yellow was for government papers, and blue was for communication with Taoist temples (Cartwright, 2017). The Tang dynasty used paper to make tea bags, while the Chinese government produced the world’s first known paper money (Wendorf, 2019). Today, paper is made from trees that are specifically planted for the making of paper. Recycled paper is used in the makings of newspaper, notebooks, and grocery bags (Wendorf, 2019).
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The industrial manufacturing of paper began in the nineteenth century (Cantavalle, 2019). Louis Nicolas Robert created the first Fourdrinier in 1797. This machine was able to produce 60-cm-long sheets of paper (Cantavalle, 2019). With the spread of cheap paper, newspapers and books became easily accessible (Cantavalle, 2019). This led to the explosion of literacy, especially for the lower and middle classes (Cantavalle, 2019).
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Paper is used in a wide variety of things today. Some examples of paper in everyday life are toilet paper, money, birth certificates, social security cards, and tissue paper. Computers are starting to make some paper objects unuseful now. For example, a lot of places give you the choice of an emailed receipt instead of a printed piece of paper. Another example would be the application Venmo where instead of paying people with paper money you can pay them over the internet paperless. A lot of cell phone data companies try to get you to switch to paperless billing by giving you money off your total bill. Schoolwork is often submitted online which eliminates a lot of the paper used in schools as well. These are just a couple of examples of how paper is fading out but it is impossible for it to become extinct.
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A lot of people believe paper is very secure. People have a sense of comfort when it comes to paper rather than digital files. (Consentia, 2021) Going paperless can be very environmentally smart and cost saving but paper will never go away. The Future is digital but the extinction of paper will never happen.
Since the invention of paper by Ts’ai Lun in 105 AD, paper has come full circle. From being a hand-made thing to a mass-produced product. Today, there are more than 400 million metric tons of paper produced each year. In one day there are around 1,260 newspapers printed each day in the United States in 2020 which is a drop off of around 1.5% from the years past (Tiseo, 2022).
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History of paper. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14, 2022, from http://users.stlcc.edu/nfuller/paper/
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Paper products: AF&PA. Paper Products | AF&PA. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14, 2022, from https://www.afandpa.org/paper-wood-products/paper
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Wendorf, M. (2019, April 25). The history of paper. Interesting Engineering. Retrieved February 14, 2022, from https://interestingengineering.com/the-long-and-complex-history-of-paper
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Cartwright, M. (2022, February 12). Paper in ancient China. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 14, 2022, from https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1120/paper-in-ancient-china/
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By, & Cantavalle, S. (2021, November 15). The history of paper: From its origins to the present day: Pixartprinting. The Pixartprinting blog. Retrieved February 14, 2022, from https://www.pixartprinting.co.uk/blog/history-paper/
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Will paper become obsolete some day?: Paper Scanning & Imaging. Consentia. (2021, November 2). Retrieved February 14, 2022, from https://consentia.com/2021/03/08/will-paper-become-obsolete-someday/
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Topic: Paper industry worldwide. Statista. Retrieved February 14, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/topics/1701/paper-industry/
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Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Papermaking. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 14, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/technology/papermaking
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Photo:
Paper. CellMark. (2021, February 1). Retrieved February 14, 2022, from https://www.cellmark.com/paper/
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Arifin, Z. (n.d.). Biography collection. The history Ts'ai Lun ± 105 ~ Biography Collection. Retrieved February 14, 2022, from http://biographycolllection.blogspot.com/2012/04/history-ts-lun-105.html
The History of Paper
