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Paper has a rich, colorful history which has spanned the world's
geography and its cultures. To trace its development offers us
insight into humanity's relentless imagination, creativity and
sometimes folly. Thanks to the wonderful creation of paper many
descriptions of our world have been stored so that we may share and
learn from them.
The Origins of Paper
Egypt - 3,000 BC
When we think of the origins of paper, our minds might wander back
over 5000 years ago to the Nile river valley in Egypt. It was there
that a marsh grass called Cyperous Papyrus flourished.
 The
Egyptians cut thin strips from the plant's stem and softened them in
the muddy waters of the Nile. These strips were then layered in
right angles to form a kind of mat. The mat was then pounded into a
thin sheet and left in the sun to dry. The resulting sheets were
ideal for writing on. Since they were also lightweight and portable
they became the writing medium of choice of Egyptians, Greeks and
Romans for record keeping, spiritual texts and works of art. It is
from papyrus that the word paper comes from.
Although papyrus sheets were similar to paper in terms of function,
being laminated sheets they were technically more like a mat and
therefore not the same as the papers of today. Similar processes
were developed in other lands - in Central America during the 2nd
Century AD the Mayans fashioned a similar product for bookmaking. In
the Pacific Islands, a paper was made by beating a fine bark over
specially shaped logs to make clothes and ritual objects. However,
none of these sheets would qualify as true paper today.
The Father of True Paper - T'sai Lun
Paper as we know it today comes from another source - China.
Excavations of tombs of the Former Han Dynasty (207BC-9AD) have
revealed silk cloth bearing the texts of Lao Tzu - the father of
Taoism (born in 604BC). In 105 AD, Han Emperor Ho-Ti's chief eunuch
T'sai Lun experimented with a wide variety of materials and refined
the process of macerating the fiber of plants until each filament
was completely separate. The individual fibers were mixed with water
in a large vat. Next, a screen was submerged in the vat and lifted
up through the water, catching the fibers on its surface. When
dried, this thin layer of intertwined fiber became what today we
call paper. T'sai Lun's thin, yet flexible and strong paper with its
fine, smooth surface was known as T'sai Ko-Shi , meaning:
"Distinguished T'sai's Paper" and he became revered as the patron
saint of papermaking.
Spread of Papermaking
"a million prayers"
It wasn't until the 3rd century that the secret art of papermaking
began to creep out of China, first to Vietnam and then Tibet. It was
introduced in Korea in the 4th century and spread to Japan in 6th.
There, during the 8th century, the Empress Shotuka undertook a
massive project consisting of printing a million prayers - dharani -
on individual sheets of paper, with each mounted in its own pagoda.
With such a profound inception, it is not surprising that the fine
art of papermaking has continued in Japan to this day, garnering
deep appreciation and ever increasing sophistication.
The Journey to the West
Papermaking spread slowly throughout Asia to Nepal and later to
India. It made its true push westward in 751AD when the Tang Dynasty
was at war with the Islamic world. During a battle on the banks of
the Taurus river, Islamic warriors captured a Chinese caravan which
happened to include several papermakers. They spirited them away to
Samarkand, which soon became a great centre for paper production.
Gradually papermakers made their way further west through the Muslim
world - to Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo. Finally, when the Moors from
North Africa invaded Spain and Portugal they brought the technology
with them and so it was that papermaking entered Europe in the 12th
century.
 Spreading
the Word
In Europe, the use of papyrus had dropped out in the 9th century.
The preferred medium for the artists and literati of the time was
the smooth and lustrous parchment. However, parchment - made from
animal skin - was extremely expensive. In fact, it has been
estimated that a single bible hand written on parchment required the
skins of 300 sheep. The notion of paper being used as a practical
everyday item did not occur until the 15th Century. When Johann
Gutenberg perfected movable type and printed his famous bible in
1456, he not only spread the word of Christianity, but also sparked
a revolution in mass communication. The birth of the modern paper
and printing industry is commonly marked from this date.
Paper Becomes an Industry
The Age of Experimentation
Printing technology rapidly developed and created an ever increasing
demand for paper. The early European papers were made from recycled
cotton and linen - and a huge trade quickly developed around the
trading of old rags. It is said that the black plague entered
England from Europe on these old rags. Yet soon this source became
insufficient and some curious attempts were made to source new
materials - the most macabre of which was the recycling of Egyptian
mummies to create wrapping paper! Others experimented with fibers
such as straw, cabbage, wasp nests and finally wood, resulted in
inexpensive - and replaceable - materials for paper making. Today,
the long soft fibers of softwoods such as spruce have become the
most suitable source of pulp for mass production.
Mass Production
 The
demand for paper also created the need for greater efficiency in
production. In the late 18th century the labors of Nicholas Luis
Robert resulted in the creation of a machine that could produce a
seamless length of paper on a endless wire mesh with squeeze rollers
at one end. Perfected and marketed by the Fourdrinier brothers, the
new machine made papers soon replaced traditional single sheets made
by hand. In Europe and America, the mass-production of paper became
a thriving industry supplying huge volumes of paper for the
production of newspapers, books, magazines, paper bags, toilet
paper, money and a huge variety of other purposes - including
clothing, chimney's and even coffins! Today, the increasing volume
of paper consumption has become a complex environmental matter - and
the need for new materials increasingly urgent. While recycling has
done some good, much paper is still wasted.
The Future of Paper
Looking Ahead
Owing to the ceaseless imagination of humanity, the words you are
reading at this moment are digitally arranged and sent across the
world via a new technology - signaling a new revolution in mass
communication. As these new technologies develop where does the
future of papermaking lay? Some believe it lies in the past, when
paper was valued for its innate sensual qualities - an appreciation
which deeply respects the materials used, the skill of the artisan
and the unique quality of the finished product.
Return to Tradition
In the west, as industrial paper production boomed the art of hand
paper-making has been driven nearly to extinction - being practiced
only by a few fine artists and crafts people. However, in small
areas throughout Asia, the tradition has lived on. Incidentally, the
traditional Asian paper which is often referred to as "rice paper"
is not made from rice fibers at all. More commonly it is made from
the versatile mulberry tree - varieties of which are also used for
feeding silkworms and in medicine. In contrast to the cold precision
and standardization which industrial production demands, the soft,
subtle textures and natural feeling of hand made paper is said to
echo the warm heart of the papermaker who makes each sheet with
devotion.
Papermaking in Thailand
In Thailand there are records of paper making going back seven
hundred years. Traditional uses of paper have been for Buddhist
texts, temple writings and ritual purposes. It used to be that paper
was made from the inner bark of the Khoi tree Streblus Asper (L.)
Lour. Earlier in the 20th century paper production from Khoi began
to die out because of a shortage of Khoi trees. It was not until the
Japanese occupied the kingdom during the second world war that paper
making again flourished in Thailand. For centuries the Japanese had
been making paper called "Kozo" from the inner bark of the mulberry
tree Broussonetia Papyrifera (L.) Vent. In Thailand the mulberry
tree - known as "sa" - grew in abundance and the Japanese demand for
maps, banknotes and other documents caused sa paper production to
flourish.
The mulberry tree is still abundant in Thailand - growing wild all
over the Northern forest and lowland areas - and Thai artisans
continue to produce handmade paper using the same technique that
they have done for centuries. Yet, as international demand for these
products is increasing, new specialty papers are being developed
which incorporate color dyes, flower petals and other materials into
their design.
Making Paper
The Process
Although there are many subtleties which affect the quality of a
paper, papermaking in essence is a simple process.
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Whether using recycled materials or fresh organic matter, the
process starts by shredding the material into small strips and
soaking them overnight to loosen the fibers.
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Next, the fibers are boiled for 2-6 hours, being turned every so
often.
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When finished, the fibers are washed with fresh water to remove
impurities and then small particles or specks are removed by hand.
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The fibers are beaten in a blender or by hand to a creamy pulp. At
this stage, dyes can be added to create colored papers.
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The pulp is poured into a large tub and the fibers are suspended in
the water.
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The artisan dips a framed screen into the water and with great
skill, lifts it to the surface catching the fibers onto the screen.
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The screens can either be left in the sun to dry, or be transferred
to boards, pressed, smoothed and then dried.
The Possibilities
Papers made in this tradition are durable, flexible and extremely
versatile. They can be used by anyone for gift-wrapping, writing,
drawing and painting. They are also used by craft-makers to produce
books and binding, stationery and greeting cards, boxes, picture
frames and so on.
Paper also has many applications in architecture and interior
design, such as wallpaper, screens, blinds and lampshades. By using
techniques such as molding and papier-mâché one can make almost
anything - vases, trays, jewelry, furniture and utilitarian products
such as cartons and packaging.
In fact, paper is such a versatile medium, its uses are only limited
to the imagination...
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