Papermaking is one of the four great inventions of China. In the Western Han Dynasty, people already understood the basic method of making paper. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the eunuch CAI Lun summed up the experience of his predecessors, improved the papermaking process, and used plant fibers such as bark, hemp heads, rags, and old fishing nets as raw materials to make paper. This kind of paper material is easy to find, cheap and easy to promote. Since then, the use of paper has become more and more common, and paper has gradually replaced silk and silk, becoming a widely used writing material for people, and facilitating the circulation of classics.

Other scholars believe that only CAI Hou paper is the real paper, CAI Lun is not only the inventor of paper, but also the basic papermaking process of its invention has been used until now. More importantly, among the many types of paper in ancient times, only the Caihou paper made of plant fibers had a profound impact on the development of the world paper industry and the spread of human civilization.

Most of the papermaking techniques in the world were passed down from China. The invention of paper making is one of China's great contributions to world civilization.

At the 20th Congress of the International Papermaking Historical Association held in Malmedy, Belgium, from August 18 to 22, 1990, experts unanimously recognized that CAI Lun was a great inventor of papermaking, and China was the country of invention of papermaking.