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Paper is the basic material used for written communication and dissemination of information. The technique of papermaking stemmed from the necessity of cultural development and exchange in the human society. The word “paper” is derived from the papyrus, an aquatic reed-like plant that once grew abundantly in the swamps of the Nile Delta in ancient Egypt. Papyrus played a very significant role in ancient Egypt and it was used for a variety of practical purposes. The stems of papyrus were used by the ancient Egyptians to make sheets of writing materials. Papyrus also had many other uses. Its fibres were used for the manufacture of boats, cloth, baskets, straw sandals, the wicks of oil lamps, cords and hawsers; the root was employed as fuel; and the pith was a common food. Papyrus stems were tied together in bundles, served as pillars in early Egyptian architecture. Late, Greek and Roman architects took them as a model for their simple or clustered columns whose capitals were shaped like closed or open flowers. Papyrus was closely bound up with the dally life of the ancient Egyptians. The ancient Egyptians praised papyrus highly and they even took papyrus as the marker of the laceName w:st="on">LowerlaceName> laceName w:st="on">EgyptianlaceName> laceType w:st="on">KingdomlaceType>. In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a papyral sign(a clump of papyrus with buds bent down )is used to express a the word“Lower Egypt”. On some mural paintings of the ancient Egyptian mausoleums well preserved, pharaoh[1] was shown in the posture of holding scepter, the form of which liked the stem of papyrus. But, above all, papyrus was used to make sheets of writing, and it was the main writing materials “papyrus”’in ancient Egypt. And Thoth[2], the god of writings was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians throughout the country. According to Nature History written by Plinius Secundus[3] THE ELDER(23—79) of ancient Roma，there was a basic process of making “papyrus” in ancient Egypt. First, papyrus were cut into pieces according to the manageable lengths and peeled away the rind; then the pith of the stem was split into thin longitudinal strips; these strips were laid on a hard surface of board side by side to the required width, just slightly overlapping each other to make the first layer; and crossed at right angles with another layer of fine strips taken from the stem of the plant similarly arranged. The sheet so formed was dampened and pressed while still wet. Upon drying, the edges were trimmed and the glue-like sap of the plant, acting as an adhesive, pasted the layers together, a large sheet was formed. Finally, the surface of sheet was polished with round stone or smooth shell. The papyrus sheets were joined together into scrolls that averaged twenty sheets each. Every papyrus scroll was normally 3 to 6 metres in length. If more length was desired, scrolls could be joined together while they were still moist and reach a length of 30 or 40 metres. The books of the ancient Egyptians were made of such papyrus scrolls. Papyrus scrolls were rolled on a hardwood stick with an identifying leather tag on one end. While reading, each ancient Egyptian scribe held the papyrus scroll in his left hand and unrolled it as the reading proceeded. The longest papyrus scroll was the famous Papyrus Harris[4] in the British Museum, London, from the Twentieth Dynasty (c.1200—1085 BC)so far as we known, its length was 40.5 metres. Papyrus made by the ancient Egyptians was the most practical among the all writing materials employed in antiquity. It was tough, flexible and light. The only drawback of this plant was that it was fragile. Papyrus easily became damp, and it was also on fire easily while it was put for a long period of time. Papyrus had been the main writing materials of the ancient Egyptians all along. Papyrus was early used at very beginning of the 1th Dynasty (c.3100——2890BC)and it continued to be used throughout the whole Pharaonic period (namely the Dynastic Periods in the ancient history of Egypt, including 31dynasites from the 1th Dynasty to the 31th Dynasty, c.3100—332 BC) and Greco-Roman Egypt(332 BC—642AD). The Egyptians tried to keep the process of manufacturing papyrus a secret, but it spread throughout the Mediterranean world. Late, the Byzantines (the people who lived now in Turkey) and the Arabs (the people who lived in North Africa or the Arabian Peninsula) had adopted the process of making papyrus. The contents recorded on papyrus were very abundant and a large part of Greek and Latin literature has coming down to us on papyrus. There are more than 2500 volumes, including On the Polity of the Athenians written by Aristotle(384—322 BC)[5]. The ancient Egyptian papyrus scrolls had marketed in the Mediterranean world. It was one of the principal exports of Egypt and made the ancient Egyptians win rich profit. It is generally speaking，papyrus was one of the important legacies bequeathed to the human civilization by the ancient Egyptians. In the 9th or 10th century AD, the Chinese technique of papermaking had spread to Egypt. Compared with Egyptian papyrus, paper was cheaper and more durable. Thus paper had eventually replaced the Egyptian papyrus used for more than 4000 years. The Chinese characters have had a long history of about 5000 years. Before the invention of paper, the people of Shang Dynasty (c.21-16 centuries BC) inscribed characters on animal bones and tortoise shells. In 1899 a large quantities of tortoise shells and animal bones bearing inscriptions were discovered at Anyang, the capital of the Shang Dynasty. So they are commonly known as oracle bone (or shell-and–bone) inscriptions. In the late Shang Dynasty characters were cast on bronze vessels in order to keep inscriptions permanently. These inscriptions are known today as Zongdingwen or bronze inscriptions. Around 600 BC, people carved characters on bamboo and wooden strips. Characters carved on such strips are known as inscribed bamboo and wooden strips respectively. People then strung the bamboo (or wooden) strips together with strings to form books. Such kinds of books were too cumbersome to be convenient both in inscribing and reading. Qinshihuang[6](259—210 BC)was said to read over official amounts on such strips weighing up to 60 kilograms every day. A man whose name was Hui Shi in the Warring State of Periods (473-221 BC) had to load his books with 5 vehicles whenever he made a trip. In order to lighten their writing materials, people began to use different methods. Late, inspired by the process of silk–reeling, people eventually produced a kind of paper that they called “bo”, a kind of silk fabrics. But bo was too expensive to be used often. In the Western Han Dynasty(202 BC—24 AD), the number of new schools proliferated. Both students and scholars were in urgent need of something cheaper and more convenient on which to write. People succeeded in first making cellulose paper that was made of fibres of hemp. In 1957, the Chinese archaeological workers found the old paper made of the fibres of hemp in an ancient tomb during the Western Dynasty on the building site of baqiao brick and watt factory of Xi'an outskirts in laceName w:st="on">ShaanxilaceName> laceType w:st="on">ProvincelaceType>. The paper was thus called baqiao paper according to the site on which it was unearthed. Baqiao paper is the earliest cellulose paper extant in the world. But fibres of hemp were mainly use to make clothes for the common people, Therefore it was impossible to produce paper in large quantities. At same time, paper made of fibres of hemp was very thick and coarse, and such kind of paper was not suitable to be written on. Thus people began looking for a new kind of writing material that is both cheap and available in large quantities. During the Eastern Dynasty (25—220 AD), a court eunuch named Cai Lun[7]was determined to use a new and better writing material. He was a man of talents, insight and creatively. And he was in charge of all the manufacturing work in the court at that time. Because he was an officer, Cai Lun was able to make full use of sufficient manpower and material resources to produce high quality paper on the basis of the experiences of his predecessors. He used bark, remnants of hemp, rags and old fish net as possible ingredients to make paper. First, all raw materials were cut into small pieces, soaked in water for quite a time and pounded into a paste or pulp. Then a sieve-like mold made of thin strips of bamboo was dipped into the pulp; as it was lifted out level from water, a wet thin layer of fibres was formed on the surface of the mold; water drained away between the bamboo strips as the mold was gently shaken; the shaking caused the fibres to interlock a mat of felt. Lastly, the matted fibres on the mold were place on a stove to dry a sheet of paper. This was the manner in which Cai Lun made paper. This kind of paper was thin and light as silk, but inexpensive to make and durable. In the year 105 AD, Cai Lun presented the first batch of paper made under his supervision to Emperor Han He Di and won his praises for the accomplishment. Chinese records mentioned and credited Cai Lun with the invention of paper and his name was well known in China. His technique of papermaking was soon introduced to all parts of the country and widely used, thus giving an impetus to the papermaking industry. Since he improved technique of papermaking and turned out high quality paper of plant fibres, Emperor Han He Di conferred a noble title of “Marquis Longting” upon him. After his death, people named this paper—“the Paper of Marquis Cai”—in attempt to commemorate his achievements. The invention of Cai Lun's papermaking process was a great event in the history of cultural development of China and it marked the ripening of China's papermaking craft. The invention and use of paper also brought about a renovation of human writing materials. From then on, the Chinese has left behind the days of writing on bamboo slips and silk fabrics. After this, the scopes of papermaking raw materials enlarged unceasingly, and the technique of papermaking ameliorated unceasingly. Paper was used widely in various fields, becoming the indispensable article of the people in their daily life. In 1974, Eastern Han Dynasty paper unearthed in a tomb in Wuwei County, Gansu Province carried words that were still clearly decipherable. This paper was thin, soft and with a smooth finish and tight texture, and it is the most refined and oldest paper discovered to date.. At beginning of the third century, the technique of papermaking first introduced to Korean and then to Japan. Paper first became available for the Arab world in the middle of the eighth century. In 751, the Arabs of the country of Dashi(one of the Arabian country in 8AD), who had occupied Samarkand(an eastern city in the churchyard of Uzbek, belonging to the former Soviet Union) early in the century, were attacked by a Chinese army of Tang Dynasty (618—907).The commander in chief of this army was Gao Xianzhi, one of the Jidushi[8] of Tang Dynasty. The Arabs defeated the Chinese army in the war and they had learnt the secret from some Chinese prisoners who were skilled in papermaking. The craft of papermaking was introduced to Baghdad[9] about forty years late. From Baghdad it reached Egypt in about 900AD and rapidly spread to the rest parts of Arab domains. In the twelfth century the Europeans learned the craft of papermaking from the Arabs. In the sixteenth century, it reached North America by way of Europe and from where it gradually spread all over the world. Now the people of each country in the world are able to use paper, and many countries can produce paper by themselves now. Paper has already become people’s necessities of their dally life. Therefore, both Chinese and Egyptians have accumulated rich experiences in papermaking and have made great important contributions to the human cultures. * Ruoming Linghu is PH.D and Professor of the History Department, School of Humanities of Jilin University, P.R. China. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHYBREASTED, J.H. Ancient Records of Egypt, vol.4, Landon, 1989. FAN WENLAN(ed.),The General History of China, vol.1, Beijing, 1978. GARNINA, A. EGYPTIAN GRAMMAR, Oxford,1957. HARIS, J.R. The Legacy of Egypt, Oxford, 1971. JIA BOZAN(ed.), The Outline of the Chinese History, Beijing, 1983. HAH JIANTANG, China's Culture Heritage, Beijing, 1999. JAMES, T.G.H. An Introduction to Ancient Egypt, Landon, 1979. LIU WENPENG, A History of Ancient Egypt, Beijing, 2000. MOKHTOR, G. General History of Africa II. Ancient Civilization of Africa, California, 1981 NICHOLSON, P.T. & SHAW, I. Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technique, Cambridge, 2001. PAPANEK, J.L. Land of the Pharaohs, Virginia, 1992. PLINY, Nature History, London, 1952. (责任编辑：admin) |