How Paper Is Made

       When mankind discovered the art of embodying  its knowledge in writing progress toward civilization began. The preservation of the discoveries and  acquirements of one generation for the enlightenment  of succeeding generations, made possible through the  art of writing, has enabled man to acquire an intellectual development that has gradually given to him  mastery over the world.          

Papyrus growing wild on the banks
of the Nile in Uganda.

       Primitive man began his groping for a written language with the making of pictures, crude and simple to  be sure, but fairly representative of what they were  supposed to stand for. From this humble beginning  man gradually progressed upward in the search for  expressive signs and marks, the passing generations  recording their deeds in ancient pictures, sound marks,  hieroglyphics, cuneiform marks, syllabary signs, etc.,  until they reached the ancient Phoenician alphabet,  and still following an upward course gradually evolved  the Greek alphabet and then the Roman, which, with  very little change, is our alphabet of today.   

       Obviously, early writing materials were as crude as  the writing itself, and consequently we find that the  surface of a stone, a bone, or a shell, a flat piece of  wood, bark or leaf of a tree, a plate of metal, the facet  of a gem, any one of a thousand things that could be  used was employed for this purpose. The Egyptians  and Greeks were in the habit of using even the fragments of broken pottery for their less important records.  But the materials most used before the invention of  paper were the Assyrian clay tablet, papyrus, and  vellum.  

       Paper is said to have been invented by the Chinese  at an unknown but very early date. It was introduced  to Europe by the Arabs about the tenth century A. D.  It was made of linen rags and did  not vary much from the rag paper  of today, except in finish. Paper was not much used in Europe  until the invention of printing.  Being much less substantial than vellum it did not commend itself  to the makers of manuscript  books. Paper was, however, immediately found to be much better  suited to printing than any other  material and with the advent of  the printed book it very quickly  superseded other materials for the  purpose. Owing to its resemblance to papyrus it was given this  name; the word being derived  from the name of this ancient  paper-making plant.   

       Late in the nineteenth century some new materials in wood and  other flexible fibers treated with chemicals and loaded  with clay were adapted for making into sheets. These  new materials have largely superseded the linen and  cotton rags and are today the recognized paper-making  material of commerce. Much of the paper made from  these materials is far inferior to rag paper. The inferior  qualities at any rate lack durability, even when not  exposed to wear. They are good enough for the great  number of uses where permanence is not required, but  should not be used for books of permanent value records and historical matter, where there must be no  doubt of the quality of the fiber employed and of the  care used in manufacture. A fifteenth century book of  rag paper is practically as good today as it was the day  it was printed. Most of the paper now in use possesses  no such lasting qualities.  by Wheelright

"From books, to confetti, to origami, our lives wouldn't be the same without paper. Modern day paper making began in ancient China. And even though today most paper is made in factories, there are those who carry on the ancient tradition, with beautiful results. China Uncencored presents another lost episode of Journey to the East."