Ts'ai Lun, The inventor of paper

The inventor of paper materials Ts'ai Lun likely a foreign sounding name in the reader's ear. Considering how important findings, it is surprising that the Western people just despise. Not a big free goods do not put her name word. This is really outrageous. Judging from the corner of the importance of the paper uses a very rare Ts'ai Lun mentioned can lead to suspicion lest Ts'ai Lun an erratic figure, and there can not be trusted or not.
However, careful investigation proves absolutely clear that Ts'ai Lun was really there and not the kind of genie in a fairy tale.
He was a civil servant at the royal court in the year 105 AD paper presents examples to the Emperor Ho Ti. Chinese records of the discovery of this Ts'ai Lun (contained in the official historiography of the Han dynasty) completely honest and trustworthy, without the slightest scent of magic or fairy tales. Chinese people always connect the name of Ts'ai Lun with the inventor of paper and his name famous throughout China.
Not much is known about the life of Ts'ai Lun, unless there were people calling him kebirian. Caesar also recorded very excited with the discovery of Ts'ai Lun, and he made him a promotion, can be knighted and become brokers themselves. However, later he was involved in anti-palace conspiracy that dragged into the fall. Chinese records mention - after he kicked - Ts'ai Lun clean bathroom, wearing a beautiful dress, then drank the poison.
The use of paper spread across China in the 2nd century, and in a few centuries the Chinese have been able to export the paper to the Asian countries. China's long time secret of how the fabrication of this paper. In 751 years, what is immoral, some experts were captured by the paper maker to the Arabs in a short time so that the paper had diprodusir in Baghdad and Sarmarkand. Fabrication technique of paper spread across the Arab world and the new in the 12th century the Europeans learned this technique. After that the use of paper and began expanding after Gutenberg invented the modern printing, replace the paper as a means of goatskin writing in the West.
Now the general use of paper so that no one could imagine the world without paper forms. In China before the invention of Ts'ai Lun is generally made of bamboo books. Just awful sort of book that is too heavy and clumsy. There is also a book made of silk but the price is very expensive for the public. Whereas in the West - before there was paper - the book written on goat skin or cow. This material as a substitute for papyrus that favored by the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians. Both leather and papyrus not only includes rare commodity prices but also difficult to reach.
Now, whether a book written some other stuff can diprodusir cheaply and in large numbers at the same time-scale. This is all thanks to the paper. Indeed, the significance of the paper is not so prominent without the printing press, but instead of printing was not much sense without the paper material so much and so cheap.
Somewhat abstruse question now: Who should order more top level between Ts'ai Lun and Gutenberg? Although I also complicated to determine who among these two men in connection equally important, but eventually I took the decision Ts'ai Lun levels slightly higher in order than Gutenberg. My reasons for this: (1) Paper used a lot of business solely for the material. (2) Ts'ai Lun preceded Gutenberg and Gutenberg probably unthinkable to make printing paper if not found. (3) If only one of them made creation, I suspect without any engine Gutenberg's creation of books can still diprodusir through block printing system (which had long known, long before Gutenberg) through a combination of paper rather than through the combination with sheep skin.
Is the best place to enter or Gutenberg Ts'ai Lun in the order of the most influential people in the world? To explore the significance of the discovery of the perfect paper and printing, it is necessary to understand the development of Western and Chinese culture. Before entering the 2nd century AD in Chinese culture is still lower than tarap Western culture. But in a thousand years AD, the Chinese advances have been over the West and even in the 7th century and the 8 Chinese culture in many ways is the world's advanced culture. After the 15th century AD, western China sped away in the back. Various cultural settlement of these changes has been developed, but the lesson seems to preach the theory of one important aspect that I think it just an explanation of the simplest nature.
Bamboo strips are washed and dipped in water rights as a beginning step fabrication of paper preparation.
Of course true, agriculture and writing evolved over the Middle East duIu than China. But this is not an answer because the Chinese culture is so slow and behind the West. One problem impossible, in my opinion, is before the Ts'ai Lun no one any good quality writing in China. Papyrus in the Western world already exists, and although the material was on the decline, writing in the form of an unlimited number of scrolls and books better quality than is written on wood or bamboo. Lack of materials for writing are the main inhibiting factor of progress of Chinese culture. A Chinese scholar needs a cart to carry a number of books it deems useful. Just imagine how berabenya administration tried to regulate such circumstances.
Invention of paper by Ts'ai Lun total overhaul that. With a number of writing materials available, Chinese culture jumped up so fast that in just a few centuries the West has been able to keep up. Of course, the political divisions in the West became an important cause, but this was not the main cause. In the 4th century AD China was politically fragmented, but let it stay advanced culture so quickly. In the following centuries, when the progress in halting the West, China actually managed to achieve important discoveries such as the compass, explosives, and how to print with blocks. Since the paper is cheaper than the fall in goat skin and can be obtained in large numbers, the situation is now reversed.
After the Western people began to use paper, they were able to sit face to face with China, even managed to narrow the cultural gap. The writings of Marco Polo, emphasizing his belief that even in the 13th century AD the Chinese were far above Europe in terms of prosperity.
Why then the Chinese are behind Europe? Various cultural complex assessments have been tried, but perhaps the simple observation that the technology can find the answer. In the 15th century in Europe, a genius named Johann Gutenberg discovered how to produce a book as much as possible. As a result of those findings, the European culture thrive. Because China does not have a man like Gutenberg, the Chinese persisted in block printing system so that progress more slowly crawling culture.
Squash stems
Raise a sheet of paper
Pressing the sheet of paper
Paper drying
If one accepts the above analysis, he could not not have to accept the conclusion that Ts'ai Lun and Gutenberg are two people who are central figures in the history of the world.
Indeed, Ts'ai Lun was in the front row of the other inventor-inventor for several reasons. Generally the findings are the product of its time and can also occur even if people really find it had never lived at all. However, this situation is not entirely applicable to the problem of paper. The Europeans did not begin producing paper thousands of years after Ts'ai Lun. They just open your mind and learn the process membikinnya after pembikinannya from the Arabs. In this connection, even though people have seen how the Chinese to produce paper, the other Asian nations have never had the ability to produce it. So clearly, finding ways to produce paper is not an easy job, can not simply be implemented by the advanced culture of the all responsibilities, but is closely related to the mind of the individual contributions that have a tremendous advantage. Ts'ai Lun is a model like that, and how to make paper that does (in addition to the modernization which was introduced around 1800 AD) is essentially the same as what people are doing today.by Michael H. Hart,One hundred most influential figures in the history.