ABSTRACT

Paper Facts and Figures The Cltlnese did not use paper just for writing. Coarse hemp paper was used to wrap valuable objects. Pharmacists put their medicines into paper packages, and there is even a suggestion that paper handkerchiefs were in use in the first century B.C.E. It is certain that the Chinese were the inventors of toilet paper, which was being used by the sixth century C.E. We even have some impressive statistics for one year in the court of the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 C.E.): 720,000 sheets of straw paper measuring 2 feet by 3 feet (0.6 meters by 0.9 meters) were made for the court as a whole, and an extra 15,000 smaller, softer, perfumed sheets were made especially for members of the royallarnily. Apart from hats, paperfabric made from the bark of the paper-mulberry tree was very practical because it was long-lasting, warm, and comfortable. It was even soft enough to make blankets. At the other extreme, the Cltlnese also found a way of making paper so hard that it could be used to make armor, which was said to be able to keep out not just arrows, but even bullets. There were countless other uses for paper in ancient Cltlna. When drinking tea for pleasure, rather than as a mediCine, became popular in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 C.E.), people even had teabags and paper cups to drink from. The Cltlnese also invented wallpaper, paper umbrellas, and paper flowers.