Papermaking

Timeline

1. c. 105–750Luoyang · LuoyangFrom the Eastern Han onward, China established official and private papermaking workshops in Luoyang, Chang'an and elsewhere, using hemp, mulberry bark and bamboo as raw materials. Paper gradually replaced bamboo slips and silk as the main writing material, and spread westward with Tang expansion and Silk Road trade.
2. 751–1200Samarkand · SamarkandAfter the Battle of Talas, Tang papermaking craftsmen were captured, and the technique took root in Samarkand and spread into the Abbasid Empire. Workshops were successively set up in Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo, producing paper from linen and rags, supporting the Islamic translation movement and administrative document systems.
3. 1411–1420Timurid Empire territories · Timurid EmpireIn the early 15th century, paper mills in Samarkand and Herat of the Timurid Empire continued to supply court documents and scholarly manuscripts, while early mills in Iberia and northern Italy gradually went into production, forming a paper production and trade network across Eurasia from East Asia through Central and West Asia to southern Europe.
4. c. 1300–1600Northern Italy · ItalyFrom the 13th to 15th centuries, papermaking entered Christian Europe through Muslim Spain and Italian merchant networks. Water-powered mills rose in Fabriano and elsewhere, and falling paper costs provided a cheap medium for 15th-century movable-type printing, promoting the mass dissemination of modern knowledge.