China Flag Makers Blog

HOW PAPER DEVELOPED Ts’ ai Lun, a Chinese court official, is credited with the invention of paper. He did this nearly 1900 years ago in the year 105A.D. Before the invention of paper, people wrote on a variety of materials. For example, animal skins called parchment and vellum were used by the ancient Greeks. And papyrus, a writing surface made by pounding a woven mat of papyrus reed into a thin, hard sheet was used by the ancient Egyptians. The word paper, in fact, is derived from the word papyrus. In the tenth century A.D. techniques for making paper by hand were introduced to the western world. North African moors discovered papermaking while trading with the East. In conquering Spain, the moors brought papermaking to the West. The first paper mill in America was established in 1690 by William Rittenhouse. It was located near Philadelphia. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, hundreds of paper mills had sprung up throughout the country. However, it w...