Question

Tsai Lun is famous for inventing
A. Paper
B. Use of tannins
C. Rubber
D. Silk

Answer 1

Hint: Cai Lun formerly romanized as Ts'ai Lun, was a Chinese discoverer and eunuch court executive of the Eastern Han dynasty.

Complete Answer:
- Contemporary history of paper-like materials started some 6 thousand years ago in the delta of the Nile. When prehistoric Egyptians first started using papyrus plants for the production of many things, as well as papyrus paper. On the other hand, papyrus had serious disadvantages and it could be developed and processed only in Egypt and Sudan. So other civilizations had to find their paper-like material. Whereas some strived to perfect the use of parchment that is dried and stretched animal skin, the Chinese paid attention to their real wood-based paper.

- Paper appeared in China in the third or second century BC. But it was greatly popularized in the life of Chinese political official and inventor Cai Lun. His foundations in the innovation of papermaking made a significant effect on the Chinese empire. It caused the rapid rise in paper production, standardization, and future development of Chinese data recording capabilities.

- Tsai, Lun, is the founder of paper. He lived and served as an official at the Chinese Imperial Court during the Han Dynasty in China over 1800 years ago. Chinese records do mention and praise Tsai Lun with the invention of paper. His name is much known in China.

- Tsai, Lun enhanced the technology of manufacture of paper from sesame fiber. He used eco-friendly materials such as bamboo, tree skin, and shabby cloth to make paper. The method of papermaking was kept a secret for five centuries in China. In the year 751, some Chinese papermakers were caught by Arabs, and afterward, the paper was produced in the Middle East. The arts of papermaking slowly spread and in the twelfth century, the Europeans learned the arts from the Arabs. Paper became the most widespread writing material in the West.
Today, paper is the most usually used material in human life not just as a medium of communication.

So the correct answer to this question is an option a) paper.

Note: Cai Lun is considered a Chinese national hero, accepted for his creativity and his outspoken nature, and a memorial hall is reserved in his tribute in his hometown of Leiyang.