Its performance: First, Confucian classics, philosophy and religion.
1. Confucian classics
The Qin dynasty not only "burned books to bury Confucianism", but also issued a "book-carrying order" to punish those who had Confucian classics, so there were no people who taught and studied Confucian classics in the Qin dynasty.
Jin Wenjing
In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang paid little attention to Confucianism. By the time of Hui Di, the "Book Carrying Order" was abolished, and the forbidden area of Confucianism and speech began to loosen. From then on, to the Wendi period, some surviving old Confucianists relied on memory and oral transmission. Disciples couldn't find any books, so they used the official script prevailing at that time to record the classic scriptures and explanations recited by the old Confucianism. Such a classic is called "Jinwen", and the interpretation of the text is called biography. When Emperor Wen began to set up scholarships for Confucian classics, which were filled by modern scholars of Confucian classics as consultants. During the reign of Emperor Wu, he served as a doctor of the Five Classics, and was also appointed as a doctor of Classics, teaching his disciples in Imperial College. Since then, Confucian classics have been widely circulated.
This passage comes from the memory of ancient Confucianism. Because each Confucian has different memories and different interpretations, there are several versions. From generation to generation, some academic schools have gradually formed. By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there were 12 doctors in imperial academy, including Yi, Shu, Shi, Li and Chunqiu. In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he became a 14-year-old doctor.
China ancient classics
China's ancient classics were copied with seal script before the unification of Qin Dynasty. When Qin burned books, people buried such classics and other ancient books. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, due to the demolition of old houses, some ancient books were discovered one after another. When Emperor Wu was emperor, he presented books today. When he became emperor, officials began to collect ancient books and began to sort them out. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, when sorting out ancient books, Liu Xin found that China's ancient literary classics were not only different from Ling Wen's, but also had many more chapters. For example, there are more than 39 articles in the Book of Rites and 6 articles in the Book/kloc-0. The Spring and Autumn Annals written by Zuo is not included in this article. These newly discovered classics are called "ancient classics".
Liu Xin appreciated China's ancient classics very much, and suggested setting up a learning palace in Imperial College, but it was strongly opposed by Dr. China's classics in modern times. Liu Xin criticized these doctors for being "selfish, partisan and jealous of talents." However, due to the opposition of the ruling minister, the proposal of March 6th was not adopted. When Emperor Ping was in power, Wang Mang was in power. In order to make use of China's ancient books to carry out system reform, he established four doctors, namely, China Ancient History, Shi Mao, Yi Li and Zuo's Chunqiu. At the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was cancelled again.
Although it is impossible to set up a scholar-bureaucrat, ancient classics are widely circulated among the people. Although some contents in China's ancient books were tampered with or supplemented by Han scholars; But generally speaking, the scholars of China ancient classics interpret the classics according to the form, sound and meaning of the characters, and try to restore the original meaning of the classics without giving any play. So a set of systematic training methods was formed. China classical scholars Jia Kui, Ma Rong and Zheng Xuan also made a general preface to the classics. Zheng Xuan broke all kinds of traditions, learned from others' strong points, re-annotated the classics, and won praises from both Confucian classics and ancient prose, so he was called "Zheng Xue". At this point, the dispute between classics, modern prose and ancient prose has basically ended. Xu Shen, a student in Jia Kui, spent 22 years writing Shuo Wen Jie Zi to oppose the infiltration and misinterpretation of Confucian classics by the Confucian School, and collected 9353 pieces of Xiao Zhuan and 1 163 ancient (Warring States) and Shu (Western Zhou Dynasty, Spring and Autumn Period) essays: each word was marked. It is the earliest dictionary with perfect editing and rich content in China.
2. Philosophy
During the Han Dynasty, the representative of philosophical idealism was Dong Zhongshu in the middle of the Western Han Dynasty, and the representative of materialism was Wang Chong in the early Eastern Han Dynasty.
pshchism
Dong Zhongshu is the leader of the Jinwen School. His thoughts are embodied in Three Strategies of Heaven and Man and Numerous Exposures in the Spring and Autumn Period. He opposed the concept of heaven and man, and further developed the thought of "the unity of heaven and man" in the pre-Qin period, the core of which was the theory of "the connection between heaven and man". He said: "the country will lose its way, and it will be warned for the first disaster every day. I don't know how to introspect, and the police will be weird; I still don't know how to change, but I am hurt and even defeated. " He added: "The greatness of Tao comes from heaven; The sky remains the same and the Tao remains the same. " Tao is law, law, and what we are talking about here is feudal system. From this point of view, Dong Zhongshu's world outlook is idealistic and his methodology is metaphysical.
materialism
Wang Chong was born in a "small family" and worked as a county magistrate. He spends most of his time teaching for a living. He wrote a book, Lun Heng, with 85 articles (now 84 articles) and more than 200,000 words.
He believes that everything is made up of vitality. "Life is not divided, and chaos is one." And its separation, light is the sky, and turbidity is the ground. "People and animals also evolved from vitality. He believes that vitality is an objective substance. He opposed the theory of induction between heaven and man and theism and developed the ancient view of heaven and man. He said: "it is also essential for people to live;" "Death kills the essence. Can be fine, blood also; People die, blood is exhausted, essence is exhausted. When he dies, his body will rot and he will turn to dust. What's the use of ghosts? " He added: "The death of human beings is better than the extinction of fire." He thinks that ghosts are just an illusion of people.
Wang Chong's argument method is "an introduction to test his words and deeds", which is more scientific. However, due to the underdevelopment of natural science at that time, the things cited as arguments were somewhat untrue, and the conclusions reached were inevitably wrong. When he comments on social problems or historical figures, he often attributes them to fate, which is idealism.
3. Religion
The main religions in the Han Dynasty were Taoism and Buddhism, both of which spread from the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Taoism
Taoism is formed by combining the theory of Huang Lao with witchcraft. When the Eastern Han Dynasty went to Emperor Shun, the wicked Gong Chong presented his teacher Gan Ji with the book Taiping Qingling 170. This is the earliest Taoist classic in China. The surviving copy of Taiping Jing has basically preserved the face of this classic.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Taoism was divided into three tribes. One is Taiping Road, with Zhang Jiao as the leader, preaching in the north and south of the Yellow River. The other is Shitiandao, also known as Wudou Mi Dao, which was founded by Zhang Xiu and Zhang Lu and only preached in the Central Plains and Bashu areas. The third branch, headed by Shang, preached in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Most of the believers in the three factions are poor peasants, and most of them have become the main force of the peasant uprising.
Buddhism
Buddhism came back from studying Buddhism in India and translated Buddhist scriptures in Luoyang Temple. China began to have Buddhist scriptures translated into Chinese. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, an Shigao (now Iran) and Qi Lian, a Yue monk, successively came to Luoyang to translate Buddhist scriptures. Han people learn classics from An Shigao and participate in translation. Since then, Buddhist teachings have also spread in China.
Second, literature and art
1. Literature
The literature in Qin and Han dynasties is mainly composed of prose, fu and poetry.
essay
Prose can be represented by historical records, which are a good collection of essays. Many biographies vividly describe or depict events or figures in all aspects of society, and vividly express the author's love and hate.
During the Han Dynasty, there were many political essays with vivid words and profound truth, among which Jia Yi's On Tongqin and Public Security Policy, Chao Cuo's On Gui Su Shu and Immigrating to Bian Ce were the most representative. Huan Kuan's On Salt and Iron is an excellent literary work with vivid words and fluent language, which focuses on the salt and iron policy in the Western Han Dynasty.
award
Fu is a new literary material in Han Dynasty, and most scholars like to write Fu. At first, Fu in the Western Han Dynasty mainly expressed the author's thoughts and feelings. After the mid-Western Han Dynasty, it became a tool for the supreme ruler to sing praises. This kind of fu is very long, and it is called Da Fu. Such as Zi Xufu and Shang are typical examples. Although there is a little irony in the ruler, it doesn't work.
Fu in the Eastern Han Dynasty was short and developed in the direction of reflecting reality, which was called Fu Xiao. Zhang Heng's Four Books, Returning to Tianfu and Zhao Yi's Historical Records of Ci all expressed the author's dissatisfaction with the society at that time, exposed the darkness and decay of the court, and sympathized with the people's poor life.
poetic sentiment
Poems in Han Dynasty are represented by Yuefu and nineteen ancient poems. Yuefu, also known as Yuefu Poetry, is a collection of poems composed of folk poems collected by Yuefu during the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, which widely reflected all aspects of social life at that time. Among them, Expedition to the North, Joining the Army in the Tenth Five-Year Plan, East of Ping Ling, Sorrow for Weng, Journey to the East Gate, Thinking, Stranger on Mulberry, etc. , respectively, reflect the tragic experience of the people, their dissatisfaction with heavy corvee and exorbitant taxes and fees, and reflect the unfortunate fate of women and their unyielding character.
Nineteen Ancient Poems is the work of middle and lower intellectuals in the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty. In the dark society at that time, these intellectuals left their homes and ran around for fame and fortune. They pour their feelings about society into their works. For example, Ran Ran's Lonely Bamboo, Meng Dong's Cold Night, the bright moon and the distant morning altar are all poems about where you will go, his emotional pursuit and bumpy life. Born Less than 100 and Grass by the Green River are full of negative and decadent thoughts about the impermanence of life, reflecting the author's desperate and depressed situation.
Poetry in the Han Dynasty is natural and simple in form, popular and profound in language, which is quite different from Fu style. It carried forward the realistic spirit of Guo Feng in The Book of Songs and had a great influence on the development of later literature.
2. Art.
draw
The painting art in Han Dynasty was very developed. Painting is a popular decoration on the walls of palaces, temples, mansions and tombs of nobles, bureaucrats and landlords. One of the most representative is the Lingguang Hall built in Qufu by Lu Gong, the son of Han Jing. According to Wang Yanshou's "Lu Lingguang Dian Fu", murals are first strange mythical figures who are too old and naked (ancient m 4 ng wide), followed by Huangdi and Yao Shun wearing crowns, and then the rise and fall of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. The deeds of famous loyal ministers, dutiful sons, martyrs and virgins in history, the virtue and stupidity of monarchs, and the success or failure of political affairs are all recorded. In addition to the theme, it is also dotted with astronomy, everything, monsters and grotesque things. It is a group of huge pictures with bright colors and vivid modality.
A colored silk painting was unearthed from the Han Tomb No.1 in Mawangdui, Changsha, with a total length of 205 cm, an upper width of 92 cm and a lower width of 47.7 cm. The content of silk painting consists of three parts. The upper part is painted with two fairy tales, Nine Days of Fusang and the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon. The middle part is painted with a picture of a lady traveling, and the lower part is painted with a picture of a feast. Besides the theme, it is decorated with dragons, animals, special clocks and giant chimes. , and painted with cinnabar, azurite and stone green. The lines are smooth, the colors are bright and delicate, the characters are unique, and the birds and animals are lifelike.
carve
The sculpture art in Qin and Han dynasties was very developed. The Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit of Qin Shihuang Mausoleum is a treasure house of sculpture art. This cave was discovered in 1974, and there are more than 6,000 terracotta warriors and horses on display. Each warrior is 1.8 1.86 meters tall, some are dressed in short brown, some are wearing armor, some are holding bows, and some are holding swords, all of them are full of vigor and vitality. The unearthed terracotta horses, 1.7 meters high and more than two meters long, all looked back with their legs upright and imposing. This is really a powerful army, and it seems to be on standby at any time.
The most representative stone carving in the Western Han Dynasty is the stone carving in front of Huo Qubing's tomb. Among them, the stone carving "Treading the Xiongnu" is carved to commemorate Huo Qubing's meritorious military service, which is vivid and lifelike, and is the most famous. Other stone carvings are made of huge and complete natural stones. There are tigers, lying horses, cows, prancing horses, lying elephants, people and bears fighting, and wild animals eating sheep.
Among the sculptures in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the bronze horse and bronze figurines found in a tomb in Leitai, Wucheng, Gansu Province in 1969 are the most representative. Forty bronze horses and twenty-eight bronze maids. There is a Tianma flying in the air, with a vigorous figure, its head slightly tilted to the left, its legs held high, and a swallow flying on one foot, which made it look back in fear. This is an excellent masterpiece of ancient sculpture art in China.
Stone reliefs (bricks), which were mainly used to build tombs in the Eastern Han Dynasty, were also a precious carving art ... Portraits mostly used single-line negative engraving or positive engraving techniques, including official tour maps, hunting maps, war maps, agricultural production, salt cooking, forging iron, carpentry, textile, feasting, various plays, cooking and other scenes. This is the earliest batch of relief art in China.
Third, historiography
In the Han Dynasty, the feudal rulers inherited the tradition of compiling history in the previous generation, and set up historians to compile history in the central government. The most famous history books are Historical Records and Hanshu.
Sima Qian and Historical Records
Sima Qian (93 years before 65438 BC+035 BC? Zichang was born in xia yang (now Hancheng, Shaanxi). Father Sima Tan was a great scholar when he was Emperor Wu. I was going to write a history book, but I died before I wrote it. Sima Qian was very clever when he was young, and began to recite ancient Chinese at the age of ten. At the age of twenty, I visited many famous mountains, rivers, places of interest in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Anhui, Shandong and Henan, learned some local customs and met people from all walks of life. Later, he became a doctor. Today, he was sent to Sichuan, Yunnan and other places to get to know the local ethnic minorities. In the future, my stepfather will be appointed as a teacher, and I will read the books collected by historians. His profound academic foundation and rich experience are extremely favorable conditions for him to write Historical Records later.
The compilation of Historical Records began in the first year of Emperor Wudi's Taichu (BC 104) and took about ten years to write. From the Yellow Emperor to the "contemporary" (Liang Wudi era), biographies are the main ones, supplemented by chronology and chronology. It is the first biographical general history of China in ancient times, which has established a standard for the compilation of official history in the next two thousand years. The book is divided into twelve biographies, ten tables, eight books, thirty books and seventy biographies, with a total of 130 articles and 526,500 words.
As a historian, Sima Qian's original writing purpose was to promote "Ming Sheng's virtue" and "the cause of a virtuous family and a virtuous doctor mentioned by his ancestors" to serve the rule of the Western Han Dynasty. However, in the second year of Tian Han (the first 99 years), he defended Li Ling's surrender to the Huns, angered Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and was punished by corruption (castration), which dealt a great blow to him and changed his mind. He said, "Shame is greater than castration." He was so angry that he thought of death; However, in order to complete the writing of Historical Records, we still need to survive. Sun Tzu's feet, Qu Yuan's exile and other ancient things inspired him. He wrote stories to express his anguish and ambition. He was extremely dissatisfied with the rulers of the Western Han Dynasty, and exposed the political brutality and extravagance and decay of the emperors, nobles and consorts. He sympathized with Chen Sheng, Guangwu and other peasant uprising leaders. He said: "Qin lost its political power, but made a fortune. The princes rebelled and the Qin clan perished. And heaven remains our neighbourhood is self-involved. " As a result, Chen Sheng and Guangwu became "aristocratic families", and they were highly respected, alongside the five tyrants, seven chivalrous men and other governors. In addition, he also made biographies for famous scholars, doctors, businessmen and other representatives from all walks of life at home and abroad, and devoted special chapters to astronomy, calendars, music, water conservancy, economy, ethnic minorities, etc., which more specifically and vividly reflected the face of a multi-ethnic country that was forming in the early feudal society of China.
Ban Gu and Hanshu
Ban Gu (AD 3292) was born in Fufeng Anling, Mengjian (now northeast of Xianyang, Shaanxi). His father Ban Biao is a famous historian. Because Sima Qian's historical records only reached the early years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he collected historical materials and made 65 biographies of historical records to supplement the Western Han part of Historical Records. Before the book was finished, Biao died. His son was appointed as the historian of Lantai, moved to Lang, and was appointed as the school secretary to complete his father's work. It took him more than 20 years to compile 100 volume of Hanshu (later divided into 120 volume). The book is divided into twelve chapters, eight tables, ten records and seventy biographies. From the beginning of Liu Bang's uprising to the end of Wang Mang's downfall, historical figures of more than 230 years were described. The contents belonging to the early years of the Western Han Dynasty are mostly collected from Historical Records. The style of the book is also modeled after Historical Records, but the book is changed to annals and the "aristocratic family" is abolished. Ten records in Hanshu are more detailed than eight records in Shiji. The four aims, five elements, geography, art and literature, and official table of criminal law are new creations of Ban Gu. Hanshu is the first dynastic history with complete style and rich content in China. Biographies and local chronicles record many articles on academic and political issues, so they have the collection nature of articles of a generation. When Ban Gu died, Eight Tables and Tian Zhi had not yet been written, but were later written by his sister Ban Zhao and historian Ma Xu.
The main shortcoming of Hanshu is the serious feudal orthodoxy. When commenting on Hanshu, Fu Xuan, a Jin Dynasty person, said: "On the national style, it is to decorate the subject, to be loyal to the minister, to teach the world to take the capacity, and to belittle the straight book." Hanshu is far less ideological than Shiji.
Fourth, school art
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, science and technology developed greatly.
mathematics
A little later than Zhou Kuai Shu Jing is Nine Chapters Arithmetic, which was written in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The book is divided into nine chapters: (1) square field (quartering method and plane shape area method) (2) millet (calculation method of grain trade) (8) decay (algorithm of Cu and urge) (algorithm of distribution ratio) (4) few and wide (square root and open method) (5) quotient (three-dimensional calculation). Among them, negative number, fractional calculation, simultaneous linear equations solving, etc. Are achievements of world significance. The book consists of 246 arithmetic propositions and solutions, which marks the formation of a complete system of ancient mathematics in China.
astronomy
In the Han dynasty, there were three theories about the structure of celestial bodies. One is the theory of declaring night, which has been lost. Second, Gai Tian said that "Zhou Pian" Shu Jing holds this view, saying that "the sky is covered with a hat and the earth is covered with a law." This statement violates so much that historians often don't use it. The third is Huntian, who thinks that the image of heaven and earth is like an egg wrapped in yellow. "The sky turns like a wheel hub and turns around for no reason. Its shape is muddy, so it is called the sky. " The idea of celestial structure in this statement is closer to reality and is mostly adopted by historians.
During the reign of Emperor An of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Taishi put Zhang Heng in charge of astronomy and wrote Lingxian, which gave a correct explanation to many astronomical phenomena. For example, "moonlight is born in the sun, and the soul is born in the shadow of the sun: the day is full of light, and the day is full of light." On the basis of the armillary sphere in the Western Han Dynasty, he designed a new armillary sphere. The armillary sphere rotates due to water leakage, and there are stars, which is consistent with what he observed on the platform.
Zhang Heng also works as a meteorologist and seismograph. The method of the weather meter is lost. The seismograph is made of pure copper, with a circular diameter of eight feet, which looks like a wine bottle. It has a built-in mechanism, an eight-way faucet and a copper pill in its mouth. When there is an earthquake in which direction, the faucet in the same direction will spit copper pills and call the police.
Zhang Heng is a great scientist. The manufacture of armillary sphere and seismograph is not only a great achievement in science and technology, but also promotes the development of materialistic world outlook, which is a powerful blow to the superstition of divination in the Eastern Han Dynasty. In Zhang Heng's inscription, Cui Yuan praised him for "poor mathematics and good luck."
Calendar system
After the Qin Dynasty unified China, Zhuan Xu Calendar was published nationwide. Zhuan Xu calendar is a quarterly calendar. The tropic year is 365 days, the first lunar month is 29 days, October is the beginning of the year, and the leap month is placed after September, which is called the last September. By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Zhuan Xu calendar had been in use for more than a hundred years, and there was a situation that "the new moon meets the moon and the strings are full of losses". Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty revised the calendar with more than 20 people, including Sima Qian, She Shi, Li Guan, folk calendar calculators and Luo, and compiled a new calendar in the first year of Taichu (before 104). This is the famous calendar in the beginning. Taichu calendar is more scientific than the four seasons calendar, and it took 189 years to make a major mistake. According to years of astronomical observation and records of historians, taichu calendar has established a solar eclipse cycle of 135 months (called "Wang Shuo's Meeting", with 22 eclipses in eleven years). With this cycle, Li Jia can correct the sun and predict the solar eclipse. Taichu calendar also included 24 solar terms in the calendar for the first time, which played an important guiding role in agricultural production. The compilation of taichu calendar Law is the first major reform in the calendar history of our country.
Medical science
During the Han Dynasty, medicine was very developed. There are medical officials in the palace, and there are also many folk doctors, and most of them are doctors.
In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Chunyu Kun, a famous medical scientist, was the Taicang Prefecture of Qi. When I was young, I learned from Yang Qing, a native of the same county. "The Yellow Emperor and Bian Que's pulse book, five-color diagnosis, knowing people's life and death, and identifying suspects will definitely cure diseases and have good medical science." Louhu in the late Western Han Dynasty was also an accomplished doctor. He reads medical classics, materia medica, prescriptions and books, and has dozens of dialects. He is famous for practicing medicine in Chang 'an area.
Medicine was more developed in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The most famous doctors are Zhang Zhongjing and Hua Tuo.
Zhang Zhongjing is a famous machine in Nanyang. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, typhoid fever prevailed in Nanyang, and many people died. In order to cure diseases and save lives, he studied ancient medical books such as Neijing and Difficult Classic, collected effective prescriptions extensively, and wrote Treatise on Febrile Diseases. In the Northern Song Dynasty, it was divided into Treatise on Febrile Diseases and Synopsis of the Golden Chamber. The former discussed some diseases that belonged to typhoid fever at that time, while the latter discussed many common diseases such as gynecology and internal medicine.
69 Portrait of Zhongjing (Jiang)
Zhang Zhongjing also started from clinical practice, absorbed the new medical achievements at that time, and organically combined the etiological theory since Neijing with the theory of zang-fu organs and meridians by the dialectical method of four diagnosis (inspection, smell, inquiry and pulse) and eight classes (yin, yang, exterior, interior, deficiency, excess, cold and heat), and summarized sweating and vomiting. These are great contributions to the development of traditional Chinese medicine. Zhang Zhongjing is a physician of later generations and is respected as a medical saint.
Hua Tuo became a figure, and Pei Guoqiao (now Bozhou, Anhui Province) and Zhang Zhongjing were born at about the same time. He is an outstanding surgeon who is good at acupuncture. During his long medical practice, he developed anesthesiology and surgery in China. During the operation, he first asked the patient to take leprosy powder with wine, then cut open the abdomen or back, gouge out the blood, or clean up the internal organs, and then sew it up and apply ointment. The wound will heal in four or five days, and it will heal in one month. Hua tuo's anesthesiology and abdominal surgery were the most advanced in the world at that time.
70 Huatuo statue
Hua tuo also imitated the movements of tigers, deer, bears, apes and birds, and compiled "Five Birds Play" to teach people to keep fit. Wuqinxi is a kind of fitness exercise which is mainly based on sports activities and combined with Qigong.
Shennong Herbal Classic was written in the Eastern Han Dynasty and recorded 365 kinds of medicines, including 252 kinds of plant medicines, 67 kinds of animal medicines and 46 kinds of mineral medicines. Such as cassia twig, ephedra, almond, gypsum, aconite root, scutellaria root, coptis root, anemarrhena rhizome, Bupleurum root, rehmannia root, angelica root, peony root and the like. And has good clinical effect. This is the earliest and relatively perfect pharmacological work in China.
paper
During the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, bamboo slips and silk were used as writing and painting materials. Jane is heavy and expensive, so it is inconvenient to use. In the middle and late Western Han Dynasty, a thin and small silk paper was used in the court. I'm Yan Xingmi and Shen Qiangsong from Rongxian County. You're making trouble.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty and Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, eunuch Cai Lun improved the paper-making method, mashed plant fibers such as bark, hemp head, cloth and fishing nets into pulp, made better quality paper, and presented it to the emperor in the first year of Yuan Xing (105). Since then, this paper-making method has been popularized, and the paper made is called Cai Hou paper. After more than 200 years of development and improvement, papermaking made great progress in the Jin Dynasty. Paper is cheap and smooth, completely replacing bamboo and silk as the main writing materials.
China's papermaking was introduced to the Korean peninsula in the 3rd and 4th centuries, and then to Japan. In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, it spread to Central Asia, and then to North Africa and Europe through Arab countries. The invention and spread of papermaking played an important role in the development of world culture.