<P> During the Shang ( 1600 -- 1050 BC ) and Zhou ( 1050 - 256 BC ) dynasties of ancient China , documents were ordinarily written on bone or bamboo ( on tablets or on bamboo strips sewn and rolled together into scrolls ) , making them very heavy , awkward , and hard to transport . The light material of silk was sometimes used as a recording medium , but was normally too expensive to consider . The Han dynasty Chinese court official Cai Lun ( ca . 50 -- 121 ) is credited as the inventor of a method of papermaking ( inspired by wasps and bees ) using rags and other plant fibers in 105 CE . However , the discovery of specimens bearing written Chinese characters in 2006 at Fangmatan in north - east China 's Gansu Province suggests that paper was in use by the ancient Chinese military more than 100 years before Cai , in 8 BC , and possibly much earlier as the map fragment found at the Fangmatan tomb site dates from the early 2nd century BC . It therefore would appear that `` Cai Lun 's contribution was to improve this skill systematically and scientifically , fix a recipe for papermaking '' . </P>
<P> During the Shang ( 1600 -- 1050 BC ) and Zhou ( 1050 - 256 BC ) dynasties of ancient China , documents were ordinarily written on bone or bamboo ( on tablets or on bamboo strips sewn and rolled together into scrolls ) , making them very heavy , awkward , and hard to transport . The light material of silk was sometimes used as a recording medium , but was normally too expensive to consider . The Han dynasty Chinese court official Cai Lun ( ca . 50 -- 121 ) is credited as the inventor of a method of papermaking ( inspired by wasps and bees ) using rags and other plant fibers in 105 CE . However , the discovery of specimens bearing written Chinese characters in 2006 at Fangmatan in north - east China 's Gansu Province suggests that paper was in use by the ancient Chinese military more than 100 years before Cai , in 8 BC , and possibly much earlier as the map fragment found at the Fangmatan tomb site dates from the early 2nd century BC . It therefore would appear that `` Cai Lun 's contribution was to improve this skill systematically and scientifically , fix a recipe for papermaking '' . </P>
what was paper made of in ancient china
what was paper made of in ancient china
rags and other plant fibers
rags and other plant fibers