Nearly 2000 years ago, a Chinese court official named Cai Lun is believed to have created paper from mulberry tree bark and textile waste. There is speculation, however, that the credit more rightfully belongs to someone from the lower classes.

While Cai Lun has been crowned the ‘birth-parent of paper’, it should be noted that a different type of paper has also been found in Chinese tombs and refuse tips surrounding old military posts, which dates from the final centuries BCE—long before Cai Lun’s invention of 105CE or earlier.

Nevertheless, Cai Lun’s paper revolutionised China. It was used for wrapping and in clothing, but most significantly in writing, which facilitated the transmission of information and education throughout society. China also became the first nation to use paper for money.

As the papermaking process was refined, it spread across the globe; Chinese papermakers along the Silk Road in Central Asia passed on their skills to the people of the Himalayas, and Buddhist monks brought the first paper books to Japan.

Remarkably, the process for making paper has remained fairly similar for centuries, even though nowadays modern machinery is used in its manufacture.