The Chinese — who lay claim to inventing paper — were using it 100 years earlier than previously thought, state press said on Wednesday following a new discovery of an ancient scrap of the material.
The 10-square-centimetre piece of paper was found in north-west China’s Gansu province and is believed to have been made in eight BC — 113 years earlier than the previously known first use of paper, the Xinhua news agency said.
China was thought to have invented paper in 105 AD when Cai Lun successfully made it out of tree bark, cloth and fishing nets — centuries before the papermaking industry developed in the rest of the world.
The latest discovery was made from linen fibres and was inscribed with legible handwriting, Xinhua said, citing the curator of the Dunhuang Museum in Gansu, Fu Licheng.
The paper — believed to be part of a letter — was found during restoration of an ancient garrison near the Yumen Pass at Gansu’s Dunhuang city. The garrison was in use during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-25 AD).
So far, more than 20 ancient Chinese characters on the paper have been identified, Xinhua said.
Paper is one of four great inventions China claims, alongside moveable type printing, gunpowder and the compass.
Prior to the invention of paper, people used various surfaces for writing, including clay tablets, palm leaves, animal skins, bones, bamboo, silk and papyrus, an Egyptian plant. — Sapa-AFP