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Switzerland: Paper-making illustrated in an engraving from Basle, late 17th century. The technique is essentially the same as that attributed to the Chinese Cai Lun more than a millennium earlier

Switzerland: Paper-making illustrated in an engraving from Basle, late 17th century. The technique is essentially the same as that attributed to the Chinese Cai Lun more than a millennium earlier

Cai Lun (simplified Chinese: 蔡伦; traditional Chinese: 蔡倫; pinyin: Cài Lún; Wade–Giles: Ts'ai Lun) (ca. 50 CE – 121), courtesy name Jingzhong (敬仲), was a Chinese eunuch and political official. He is traditionally regarded as the inventor of paper and the papermaking process, in forms recognizable in modern times as paper (as opposed to papyrus).

Although early forms of paper had existed in China since the 2nd century BCE, he was responsible for the first significant improvement and standardization of paper-making by adding essential new materials into its composition.

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