In the early days of papermaking, rags and bark were the main raw materials for papermaking. At that time, the rags were mainly hemp fibers, and the varieties were mainly ramie and hemp. It is said that cotton in China was introduced from India at the same time as Buddhism in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, so it should be later for textiles. In addition, the bark used at that time was mainly Broussonetia papyrifera, which was once called "Mr Broussonetia papyrifera".
By the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties (3rd-5th century A.D.), the variety, output and quality of paper had increased and improved, and the sources of papermaking raw materials were more extensive. History books have talked about the names of some kinds of paper related to raw materials in this period, such as white hemp paper, jute paper, leather paper made of orange peel, rattan paper made of rattan fiber, mulberry root paper made of mulberry bark, papyrus and so on. It seems that during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, hemp, orange peel, mulberry bark, rattan fiber and straw were widely used as raw materials for papermaking.
Bamboo, as a raw material for papermaking, began in Jin Dynasty or Song Dynasty, and there are still different opinions. Xiao Ceng, a calligrapher in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, said in a letter, "Zhang Mao makes foil, which is convenient for calligraphy.". According to research, tin foil paper is tender bamboo paper, and Zhang Mao was from the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It seems that papermaking with bamboo may have originated in the Jin Dynasty. But the dose is very small.
China witnessed unprecedented prosperity in politics, economy and culture in the Tang Dynasty, and the paper industry also entered a prosperous period. The variety of paper is increasing, resulting in many famous papers and a large number of artistic treasures. Bark is the most widely used raw material for papermaking. Mainly papermulberry bark and mulberry bark, there are also records of agarwood bark and stack incense bark. Rattan fiber was also widely used, but in the late Tang Dynasty, because a large number of wild vines were cut down and cultivated without management, and the supply of raw materials was short, rattan paper collapsed and disappeared in the Ming Dynasty.
Bamboo paper developed rapidly in Song Dynasty. In the later period, bamboo paper was used in the market, which consumed a lot. As far as producing areas are concerned, there are Sichuan, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan and Hubei. And Zhejiang and Sichuan are the most prosperous places. In terms of technology, most of the bamboo paper in Song Dynasty has no bleaching process, and paper is the natural color of raw materials. Besides color Huang Zhi, bamboo paper has the disadvantage of brittleness.
The prosperity of bamboo paper in Yuan and Ming Dynasties opened a new chapter in history, especially in Fujian. The use of "clinker" production and natural bleaching has greatly improved the output of bamboo paper.
Due to the great development of the paper industry in Qing Dynasty, traditional paper-making materials such as hemp and bark can no longer meet the needs. Bamboo paper occupied a dominant position in Qing dynasty, and other straw pulp also developed. Some people in Henan, Shandong and Shanxi use wheat straw and cattail. Some people in Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia use Alternanthera philoxeroides, Achnatherum splendens in the northwest and Wusu grass in the northeast. Make some wild plants, which were used by local residents to make coarse papyrus in the late Qing Dynasty. China began to use bagasse to make paper in the late Qing Dynasty, and Zhang Dongming started a paper mill in Xujiapo with bagasse as raw material, which was recorded in Qing Continued Literature (Volume 384). The production technology of straw pulp in Qing dynasty has made great progress. Bleached straw pulp is refined from bamboo pulp and sulfate pulp. The famous Jingxian Xuan paper is made of refined rice straw pulp and sandalwood pulp in a certain proportion, and its manufacturing technology has continued to this day. Reed was also used in the late Qing Dynasty. According to the three volumes and three issues of Oriental Magazine in the thirty-second year of Guangxu, "Chen Xingtai set up a paper mill in Hankou Qiaokou, and tried to make household paper with reed pulp (reed), bagasse and straw, which was fruitful."
Papermaking developed from the invention of China to all over the country. By the beginning of the 7th century (the end of Sui Dynasty and the beginning of Tang Dynasty), it spread eastward to Korea and Japan. In the 8th century, he was introduced from the west to Samarkand, later Arabia, and then served in Baghdad. 10 century to Damascus and Cairo; 1 1 century was introduced to Morocco; /kloc-was introduced to India in the 0/3rd century; From14th century to Italy, many cities in Italy built paper mills, which became an important base for the spread of papermaking in Europe, and then spread to Germany and Britain. /kloc-was introduced to Russia and Holland in the 6th century; /kloc-spread to Britain in the 0/7th century; It was introduced to Canada in the19th century.
After papermaking spread to the west, the raw materials and techniques used were still familiar to China, mainly hemp and rags. In Europe, rags are generally cotton fibers, so the paper is not as supple, light and tough as China products, and the supply of rags is in short supply. By the end of 19, under the impetus of industrial revolution in europe, machine-made paper with wood as raw material developed rapidly, and it is generally believed that wood is a better raw material for papermaking. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, a mechanized paper mill appeared in China, with both wood and non-wood raw materials.