In the first year of Yuan Xing in the Eastern Han Dynasty (105), Cai Lun improved papermaking. He made paper from bark, hemp head, cloth, fishing net and other raw materials through crushing, ramming, papermaking and baking, which is the origin of modern paper. This kind of paper is easy to find, cheap and has improved quality, so it is gradually widely used. In order to commemorate Cai Lun's achievements, later generations called this kind of paper "Cai Hou Paper".
Paper is the crystallization of the long-term experience and wisdom of the Han working people. Paper is a sheet fiber product, which is used for writing, printing, painting or packaging. Generally, it is made from the aqueous suspension of plant fibers through pulping, staggered combination on the net, preliminary dehydration, compression and drying. China was the first country in the world to invent paper. According to archaeological findings, in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC to 8 BC), China already had hemp fiber paper. Rough texture, small quantity, high cost and low popularity.
Since ancient times, working people of Han nationality in China have known about sericulture and silk reeling. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the handicraft industry with cocoon as silk floss was very popular. This method of treating secondary cocoons is called flossing, and the basic points of operation include repeatedly beating and mashing silkworm clothing. This technology later developed into beating in paper making. In addition, in ancient China, lime water or plant ash water was often used to degum silk and hemp, which also gave the enlightenment of degumming plant fibers in papermaking. Paper was developed with the help of these technologies.
There are few documents about paper-making technology in Han dynasty in history, so it is difficult to understand its complete and detailed technological process. Although later generations have speculated, it can only be used as a reference. Generally speaking, there are many links in papermaking technology, and there must be a process of development and evolution, which is by no means a person's work. It is the crystallization of the long-term experience and wisdom of the Han working people in China.
In the early days of papermaking, the main raw materials for papermaking were bark and rags. At that time, the rags were mainly hemp fibers, and the varieties were mainly ramie and hemp. It is said that cotton from China was introduced from India at the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty at the same time as Buddhism, and was later used for textile. The bark used at that time was mainly sandalwood and Broussonetia papyrifera bark (that is, Broussonetia papyrifera bark). At the latest in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty in the 2nd century BC, China already had paper. The original paper was made of hemp fiber or hemp fabric. Because papermaking is still in the primary stage, the process is simple, and the made paper has rough texture, loose fiber bundles and unsmooth surface, which is not suitable for writing. Generally only used for packaging.
Until the Eastern Han Dynasty and the period of Emperor Wudi, after Cai Lun's improvement, a set of relatively stereotyped papermaking technology was formed, which can be roughly summarized into four steps:
The first is the separation of raw materials, that is, the raw materials are degummed by soaking or cooking in alkaline solution and dispersed into fibers;
The second is beating, that is, cutting off fibers by cutting and ramming, and sweeping them into pulp;
The third is papermaking, that is, the pulp is made into slurry through water seepage, and then the pulp is picked up by a fishing machine (pad) to interweave the pulp into thin wet paper on the fishing machine;
The fourth is drying, that is, drying or drying wet paper, and taking it off becomes paper.
After the Han Dynasty, although the craft was constantly improved and matured, these four steps remained basically unchanged. Even in modern times, in the production of wet papermaking, there is still no fundamental difference between the production process and the papermaking method in ancient China. The development of papermaking technology is mainly reflected in two aspects: in terms of raw materials, mulberry bark and rattan bark were used for papermaking in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. By the Sui Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, bamboo, sandalwood bark, wheat straw and rice straw had also been used as raw materials for papermaking, providing a rich and sufficient source of raw materials for the development of papermaking pages.
Among them, bamboo paper made of bamboo in the Tang Dynasty marked a major breakthrough in papermaking technology. Bamboo fiber is hard, brittle and easily broken, which is technically difficult to handle. The success of making paper with bamboo shows that the paper-making technology in ancient China has reached a quite mature level. In the Tang Dynasty, processing technologies such as adding alum, adding glue, coating powder, sprinkling gold and dyeing came out one after another, which laid a technical foundation for the emergence of various technical papers. The quality of the paper produced is getting higher and higher, and there are more and more varieties. From the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, in addition to ordinary paper, there were various precious papers such as waxed paper, cold gold, staggered gold, rib, clay gold and silver plus painting, calendering paper, and various rice paper, wallpaper, flower paper and so on. Make paper a necessity for people's cultural life and daily life. The invention and development of paper also went through a tortuous process.
/kloc-after the invention of papermaking in 0/05, papermaking spread from Henan to other economically and culturally developed areas. Cai Lun sealed the Dragon Pavilion in Yangxian County, Shaanxi Province, and papermaking spread to Hanzhong area, and gradually spread to Sichuan. According to the folklore of Cai Lun's hometown Leiyang, Hunan, Cai Lun also taught papermaking to his hometown before his death. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Shandong's papermaking was also relatively developed, and it was an expert in papermaking in Donglai County (now Yexian County) of Zuo Bo. After the popularization of papermaking in China in the second century, paper became a strong competitor of silk books and bamboo slips.
In the third and fourth centuries, paper has basically replaced silk and bamboo slips as the only writing material in China, which has effectively promoted the spread and development of science and culture in China. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties from the third to the sixth century, China's papermaking was constantly innovated. In terms of raw materials, in addition to the original hemp and paper, it is also expanded to use mulberry bark and rattan bark to make paper. In terms of equipment, the paper-making technology of the Western Han Dynasty was inherited, and more movable curtain bed paper molds appeared. A movable bamboo curtain is placed on the frame, which can repeatedly fish out thousands of wet papers and improve work efficiency. In processing and manufacturing technology, alkali liquor cooking and beating were strengthened, and the quality of paper was improved, and processed paper such as colored paper, coated paper and filler paper appeared.
Judging from the ancient paper of this period unearthed from the Stone Chamber in Dunhuang and Shaqi in Xinjiang, it can be said that the paper fibers are evenly knotted, the appearance is white and the surface is smooth, which can be described as "brilliant". In the 6th century, Jia Sixie also wrote two articles in Qi Yao Min Shu, which recorded the treatment of papermaking raw materials and the technology of dyeing yellow paper. At the same time, papermaking spread to China's neighboring countries, Korea and Viet Nam, which was the beginning of the spread of papermaking.
Printing is one of the four great inventions of Han working people in ancient China. Printing originated from Taoist woodcut printing and was active in Sui Dynasty woodcut printing. In the Song Renzong era, it was developed and perfected by Bi Sheng, resulting in movable type printing, which was spread to Europe by Mongols, so people later called Bi Sheng the ancestor of printing. China's printing is the pioneer of modern human civilization, which has created conditions for the wide spread and exchange of knowledge. Printing first spread to Korea, Japan, Central Asia, West Asia and Europe. The invention of movable type printing is a great technological revolution in the history of printing. The method of movable type printing is to make the positive and negative character patterns of single words first, then select the single words according to the original manuscript, arrange them in the font plate, ink them, and then remove the font after printing, so as to use them again in the next typesetting.
China's first book on gunpowder formula was written in the eighth and ninth centuries. It is said in the book that "saltpeter is mixed with sulfur and realgar, and it burns densely", and there will be a phenomenon of "burning up, burning hands and burning face, and burning houses". The secret here should be honey. Honey can be turned into charcoal when heated. Sulfur, saltpeter and carbon are mixed together, which is the formula of gunpowder.
The invention of gunpowder is the result of people's long-term practice of alchemy, and it has a history of 1000 years.
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, gunpowder had been used in the military. In the first year of God's Blessing (904), Yang Xingmi led an army to besiege and led Zheng (leading troops to fire, burning dragons and shamans, and leading strong men to the city first, but the quilt was urgent). The (Fei Huo) here refers to (artillery) and (rocket). (artillery) is to make the powder into a ring, ignite the messenger wire and throw it out with a trebuchet; A rocket is to tie a powder ball under an arrow, light a fuse and shoot it out with a bow. In the Song Dynasty, wars continued, which accelerated the development of gunpowder weapons. The government of the Northern Song Dynasty established gunpowder workshops, and successively produced gunpowder arrows, artillery and other weapons with burning performance, as well as explosive weapons such as thunderbolt and thunderbolt. In the Southern Song Dynasty 1259, a musket with giant bamboo as barrel and gunpowder inside was manufactured. In the Yuan Dynasty, the bronze casting fire system appeared again, which was called (General Copper). These weapons are all driven by gunpowder explosion and have shown unprecedented power in the war. The picture below shows Nanwei musket and Wei Bei gunpowder arrow.
12 and 13 centuries, gunpowder was first introduced to Arab countries, and then to Greece, Europe and even the whole world. It has promoted the civilization and progress of human society and promoted the development of economy, science and culture. It was not until the middle of14th century that the use of gunpowder and firearms was recorded in Britain and France.
In ancient China, the compass was first used for rituals, etiquette, military affairs and divination, and to determine the orientation when looking at geomantic omen. 1 1 At the end of the century or at the beginning of the 2nd century, China ships began to use compasses for navigation. Zhou Ping can talk in the Northern Song Dynasty: "The shipowner (helmsman) knows geography, watches the stars at night, watches the sun by day, and watches the compass in the dark."
The working people of the Han nationality in the pre-Qin period accumulated their understanding of magnetic phenomena. When they are looking for iron ore, they often encounter magnetite, that is, magnetite (the main component is Fe3O4, alias iron oxide black, magnet, magnet, also called magnetic iron oxide). These findings have long been recorded in several articles in Guanzi: "There is a magnet on the mountain, and there is gold and copper under it." There is a similar record in Shan Hai Jing. The iron-absorbing property of magnets was discovered long ago, and the nine volumes of Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals are proficient in: "Kindly absorb iron, or absorb it." The ancients called "magnetism" kindness. The ancients regarded magnets attracting iron as the attraction of loving mothers to their children. And think: "Stone is the mother of iron, but there are two kinds of stones: kind and unkind. Kindness can attract his children, but not kindness. " Before the Han Dynasty, the ancients wrote magnets as "Ci Shi", which was a sign of love for stones. In the Western Han Dynasty, there was an alchemist named Luan Da. He made two pieces by using the characteristics of magnets. By adjusting the mutual position of the polarities of the two parts, sometimes the two parts attract each other and sometimes they repel each other. Luan Da called it "playing chess". He dedicated the novel to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and gave a live demonstration. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was pleasantly surprised. He was named "General Five Blessingg".