Paper was invented in China some 3,000 years after the ancient Egyptians used papyrus for writing. Cai Lun, a government official from the eastern Han dynasty, made paper by mixing the bark of a mulberry tree and bamboo fibres with water, draining and drying the mixture on a flat bamboo frame. Other materials used in papermaking included tree bark, hemp, linen and even fishing nets.

During the Tang and Song dynasties, papers were developed for different purposes, including hemp paper, hide paper, bamboo paper, and xuan paper – made from a kind of pine tree – used particularly for calligraphy.

Advances in papermaking were complemented by the development of printing. Block printing, or xylography, was used in China by the 7th century and the earliest known printed text, a Buddhist scripture, was printed in AD868. Printing books was time-consuming, as the blackline method used required a new block to be carved for each page.

Movable type in printing was invented during the Song Dynasty. Movable Chinese characters were carved from wood, which could be arranged as needed and even reused. Later versions used clay, but these broke easily. During the Ming Dynasty, the wooden movable type was refined and books were printed using the two-colour printing process.

The rapid adoption of paper and printing technology in China precipitated the spread of knowledge among the Chinese literary elite and aristocracy.