Cai Lun (61-121), courtesy name Jingzhong, was a native of Leiyang, Guiyang County in the Eastern Han Dynasty (today's Leiyang, Hunan Province). He was the revolutionary improver of papermaking, one of the four great inventions of ancient China. As an eunuch of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he was promoted to the rank of Chang Shi, Shang Fang Ling, and was granted the title of Marquis of Longting. Based on papermaking in the Western Han Dynasty, he pioneered a complete pulping and papermaking process using bark, hemp heads, rags, fishing nets and other cheap materials, and made high-quality "Caihou Paper" in the first year of Yuanxing (105). This invention enabled paper to replace bamboo slips and silk as the main writing material, which greatly promoted the spread of culture and the development of civilization. Its papermaking technology spread throughout the world via the Silk Road and is recognized globally as one of the inventions that has made the greatest contribution to the progress of human civilization. Although he committed suicide by taking poison due to court struggles in his later years, his reputation as "the wise eunuch of the Han Dynasty" and his achievements as the ancestor of papermaking will forever be remembered in history.
