Papermaking ranks first among the four great inventions in China and has made great contributions to the process of world civilization. In the American best-selling book 100 celebrities who have influenced the course of human history in the world, Cai Lun ranks seventh, second only to Confucius among celebrities in China. Talking about his story helps us to understand the development of ancient science and technology in China.
(A) Cai Lun's paper-making theory comes from the official history.
Cai Lun's paper-making theory comes from the Book of the Later Han Dynasty written by Ye Fan, a Song Dynasty man in the Southern Dynasties: "Since ancient times, bamboo slips have been used in books and lines, and those who use silk paper are called knowing paper. Expensive and simple, it is inconvenient for people, but it is intentional, using bark, hemp head, cloth and fishing nets as paper. In the first year of Yuanxing, when it was played, the emperor was good at what he could do and used it naturally. The deceased called it' Cai Hou Paper'. "
Explain in modern language: In ancient China, tortoise shells, animal bones, bamboo slips, wooden slips, epigraphy and silk books were used to record things. Most of the previous books were written in bamboo slips, and a small number of "silk books" were used. Silk used to write books is called paper. Bamboo slips are heavy and expensive, which is not conducive to people's use. Cai Lun led craftsmen to make paper with bark, hemp heads, rags and rotten fishing nets.
In the first year of Yuan Xing (A.D. 105), Cai Lun presented this paper to Han and Emperor. Han and Emperor happily praised his ability and began to use this kind of paper from then on. This kind of paper is called "Cai Hou Paper" all over the world, and AD 105 is regarded as the first year when Cai Lun invented paper.
According to textual research, Ye Fan's Book of the Later Han Dynasty is mostly taken from the official history of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Cai Lun was not mentioned in the edition of Dong Guan Han Ji written in 58-75 AD. It was added in A.D. 15 1 year after Du Yan and others were ordered by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to supplement the Biography of Cai Lun. It was only thirty years after Cai Lun's death. Therefore, historians believe that Du Yan, the author, and others are basically contemporaries, which is believable.
(2) Cai Lun is actually improving its papermaking technology.
The existing history of the East View of Hanshu is a compilation of Sikuquanshu, which was copied by hand before the invention of printing. Because it was a long time ago and was copied many times, there are subtle differences in the official narrative. One is "Cai Lun shop uses bark to make paper" and the other is "Cai Lun shop makes paper". "Canon" means responsible or in charge, and "making" means invention and creation. The word "creation" is the difference between these two sentences, which makes "Cai Lun invented papermaking" an unsolved case.
Let's shelve this unsolved case for the time being. In any case, "Cai Hou Paper" has gradually entered all aspects of society. In the first year of Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1 14), Cai Lun was responsible for supervising the revision of Confucian classics. After the revision was completed, he had to copy several volumes and distribute them to various places, thus forming the climax of copying Confucian classics on paper on a large scale, and gradually replacing bamboo slips with paper books, which became the most effective tool for spreading culture.
Back to the unsolved case, was paper invented by Cai Lun? It can be concluded through modern archaeology that paper was not invented by Cai Lun-
1933 In the summer, archaeologist Huang Wenbi found a piece of paper from the Western Han Dynasty in Lop Nur. "Hemp, white, made into square slices, with incomplete periphery," Huang Wenbi said.
Is this paper or not? Some papermaking experts said: The key is to look at its fiber, if it is animal fiber, it is silk, if it is plant fiber, it is paper. According to this standard, what Huang Lao's experts found was paper. Unfortunately, when this paper was exhibited as a cultural relic in Wuhan, it was blown up by the Japanese plane, because it was in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period.
1957, archaeologists discovered Baqiao paper in Baqiao ancient tomb in the suburb of Xi. According to experts' argument, the time of this ancient tomb is no later than that of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. From 1974 to 1975, the composition of Baqiao paper was determined by relevant scientific research institutions and proved to be paper.
Later, Golden Crown Paper, Zhongyan Paper and Maquanwan Paper were unearthed in ancient paper of the Western Han Dynasty.
Now we can think that China's papermaking began in the Western Han Dynasty and was perfected and popularized in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Cai Lun is the core figure to promote the development of papermaking in this historical stage, and he is a technical innovator, organizer, advocate and promoter.
Besides papermaking, Cai Lun also made a remarkable achievement by improving the manufacturing technology of steel knives. He is a man who is good at learning and pays attention to practice. He often personally went to the workshop for technical inspection, summed up the rich experience accumulated by craftsmen for many years, and combined with his own ingenious innovation, the smelting technology of that period was qualitatively improved. It is said that the skill of casting swords at that time was superb, and it was able to cast what later generations called "Fang Shangjian".
(3) Cai Lun died in a palace fight.
Cai Lun (6 1— 12 1), a native of Songyang, Guiyang County (now Songyang, Hunan Province), was born in a peasant family. He has been farming with his parents since childhood and has a good understanding of literature and ink painting. He was elected to the palace when he was about 0/5 years old, and later served as the young emperor (and emperor). Because of his cleverness and cuteness, he was promoted from Xiaohuangmen to Huangmen Assistant.
According to the Records of the Later Han Dynasty, Cai Lun soon entered the palace and became the confidant of the autocratic queen Dou in the harem. Dou Taihou had no children and was always worried about the instability of the throne. After the son of a noble Song was made a prince, Empress Dou was afraid that her throne would be replaced by a noble Song, so she instructed Cai Lun to plan a "witchcraft" case, framed the noble Song for "obsequiousness" and cursed the emperor. The case was presided over by Cai Lun. Song Guiren's sisters were forced to confess under torture. Cai Lun suggested that the emperor sentence Song Guiren and his sisters to be hanged. The tortured Song sisters committed suicide by taking poison in prison.
With the help of Cai Lun, Empress Dou coerced Liang Guiren to "voluntarily" adopt Liu Zhao, who was still in infancy, as his adopted son, and made the emperor make Liu Zhao a prince. After the death of Emperor Gaozu Zhang, the ten-year-old adopted sons of Queen Dou succeeded to the throne as Emperor Gaozu and Dou Taihou. Cai Lun was promoted to be a servant, a squire and an emperor. He participated in state secrets and received a salary of 2,000 stone, and his status was equal to that of Jiuqing. It is said that in the history of China, eunuchs intervened in state affairs, which was the beginning.
The wall has wind walls and ears. Over time, who doesn't know the things mentioned above? After Emperor Han 'an, the grandson of Song Guiren, succeeded to the throne, someone had to pay back the blood debt that persecuted his mother-in-law. After the death of mastermind Dou Taihou, he began to liquidate Cai Lun's crimes. Father Cai knew it was impossible to get away with it, so he took poison and killed himself.
(4) Review
China always looked down on craftsmen in ancient times, but it was simple and ignored technology. Cai Lun's introduction in history books is mostly written by Gong Du, and his main achievement, that is, his contribution to the paper industry, is only a few dozen words.
The brief records in history books are quite different from our later generations' understanding of the importance of papermaking. There are even some extremists who think that Cai Lun is an unscrupulous person with bad conduct. He also believes that he mainly makes paper to please those in power and seek benefits for himself.
The author has always insisted on a historical and comprehensive analysis of historical figures. It is an indisputable fact that Cai Lun participated in the court struggle by hook or by crook, but he made great contributions to the improvement of papermaking technology and the progress of world civilization.
Author brief introduction Zhao, pen name, member of Chongqing Nan 'an Writers Association and vice president of Literature Society.