Editing Cai Lun (section)

===Global influence===
====Historical assessment====
Due to modern archeological investigations, it is now certain that different forms of paper existed in China as early as 3rd-century BCE,{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2011|1p=203|2a1=Kern|2y=2001|2p=89}}{{efn|Prior to this, older sources such as {{harvtxt|David|1935|p=115}} gave the date as 1st-century BCE; {{harvtxt|Tsien|1985|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Lx-9mS6Aa4wC&pg=PA38 38]}} and {{harvtxt|Eliot|Rose|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=CFiDCjMcnvcC&dq&pg=PA99 99]}} (citing {{harvtxt|Tsien|1985}}) gave the 2nd-century BCE as the oldest; {{harvtxt|Barrett|2011|p=203}} gave the 3rd-century BCE and noted that Tsien updated his 2nd edition of ''Written on Bamboo and Silk: The Beginnings of Chinese Books and Inscriptions'' (2011), to give the date as 3rd-century as well.}} though the findings do not necessarily discount the credit given to Cai.{{sfn|Tsien|1985|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Lx-9mS6Aa4wC&pg=PA41 41]}} The Chinese scholar Tsien Tsuen-hsuin explained that the term used in Cai's ancient biography, ''zào yì'' ({{lang|zh-Hant|造意}}), can be understood as "to initiate the idea", meaning that he furthered the ongoing process with the addition of important materials.{{sfn|Tsien|1985|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Lx-9mS6Aa4wC&pg=PA41 41]}} Additionally, Cai is responsible for the earliest known use of tree bark and hemp as ingredients for paper,{{sfn|Tsien|1985|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Lx-9mS6Aa4wC&pg=PA41 41], 57}} and it is clear that paper did not see widespread use in China until Cai's improvements.{{sfnm|1a1=Kern|1y=2001|1p=89|2a1=Poo|2y=2018|2p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z7paDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA120 120]}} As such, scholars have revised his contributions as ones that furthered an ongoing process instead of a sudden discovery.{{sfnm|1a1=de Crespigny|1y=2007|1p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=49OvCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 27]|2a1=Holdstock|2y=2018|2p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7-mKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 101]|3a1=Monro|3y=2016|3p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-Y6mCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 13]}}{{efn|{{harvtxt|Wilkinson|2018|p=1029}} concludes that "The consensus today is that although Cai did not invent paper, he may have improved the way it was manufactured or cut the costs (using the bark of trees, cloth rags, and old fishing nets)."}} However, due to the pivotal significance of his improvements and the resulting spread of paper use throughout China,{{sfnm|1a1=Hunter|1a2=Hunter|1y=1978|1p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1sEp3rtK994C&pg=PA53 53]|''Britannica''|2020}} Cai continues to be traditionally credited with inventing paper.{{sfnm|1a1=Day|1a2=McNeil|1y=1996|1p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415060424/page/122/mode/2up 122]|2a1=''Britannica''|2y=2020|3a1=Monro|3y=2016|3p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-Y6mCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 13]|4a1=Tsien|4y=1985|4p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Lx-9mS6Aa4wC&pg=PA4 4]|5a1=Tsien|5y=1962|5p=131}} There is also speculation that Cai was the patron of this achievement and took credit from someone else, as [[Feng Dao]] may have done with his improvements to [[printing]].{{sfnm|1a1=Day|1a2=McNeil|1y=1996|1p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415060424/page/122/mode/2up 122]|2a1=Tsien|2y=1962|2p=135}}

====Spread of paper====
{{further|History of paper}}
[[File:Cai Lun with Donchō and Mochizuki Seibee (Minobu Museum of History and Folklore).jpg|thumb|upright|right|''The Three Gods of Paper-making'', Cai Lun (in the middle) with the Korean monk [[Damjing]] (on the left), who brought the art to Japan, and Mochizuki Seibei (who brought the art to {{nihongo|Nishijima|[[:ja:西嶋和紙|西嶋]]}}). Kept in the [[Minobu]] Town Museum of History and Folklore.{{sfn|Minobu Town Museum of History and Folklore}}|alt=One man standing behind two seated men; they all are in particularly formal garb]]

Cai's improvements to paper and the papermaking process are considered especially impactful to [[human history]],{{sfnm|1a1=Eliot|1a2=Rose|1y=2009|1p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=CFiDCjMcnvcC&dq&pg=PA99 99]|2a1=Hart|2y=2000|2p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jvbNRbDKY1wC&pg=PA39 39]|3a1=Day|3a2=McNeil|3y=1996|3pp=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415060424/page/122/mode/2up 122–123]|4a1=David|4y=1935|4p=115}} as they resulted in the spread of literature and [[Democratization of knowledge|knowledge]] around the world, and advancements in communications.{{sfnm|1a1=Tsien|1y=1985|1p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Lx-9mS6Aa4wC&pg=PA2 2]–3|2a1=Eliot|2a2=Rose|2y=2009|2p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=CFiDCjMcnvcC&dq&pg=PA99 99]}} However, Cai is only somewhat known outside [[East Asia]] and is often excluded from major encyclopedias.{{sfn|Hart|2000|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jvbNRbDKY1wC&pg=PA36 36]}} The scholar of paper history, [[Thomas Francis Carter]], drew parallels between Cai and [[Johannes Gutenberg]], the inventor of the first [[printing press]] which was [[movable type]], calling them "spiritual father and son" respectively.{{sfn|Carter|1925|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=PgEYAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA180 180]}} In his 1978 book, ''[[The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History]]'', [[Michael H. Hart]] ranked him 7th, above figures such as Gutenberg, [[Christopher Columbus]], [[Albert Einstein]] and [[Charles Darwin]].{{sfn|Hart|2000|p=vii}} In 2007, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' ranked him among the "Best Inventors" of all time.{{sfn|''Time''|2007}}

{{anchor|Zuo Bo|Tso Po|Tzu-i|Tso Tzǔ-yi}}<!--Zuo Bo, Tso Po, Tzu-i and Tso Tzǔ-yi redirect here, do NOT unbold these names below-->After Cai's efforts in 105 CE, a renowned paper maker who may have been an apprentice to Cai{{sfn|Hunter|Hunter|1978|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1sEp3rtK994C&pg=PA53 53]}}—variously recorded by modern sources as '''Zuo Bo''';{{sfn|''Britannica''|2020}} '''Tso Po''' ({{lang|zh|左伯}}, [[courtesy name]]: '''Tzu-i''': {{lang-zh|labels=no|c=子邑|p=Ziyi}}<ref name="Sanfu Juelu" group="‡" />) from [[Donglai Commandery|Donglai]], [[Shandong]];{{sfn|Tsien|1962|p=[https://archive.org/details/writtenonbamboos0000chie/page/137/mode/1up 137]}} or '''Tso Tzǔ-yi'''{{sfn|Hunter|Hunter|1978|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1sEp3rtK994C&pg=PA53 53]}}—improved the process in 150 CE{{sfn|Hunter|Hunter|1978|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1sEp3rtK994C&pg=PA466 466]}} or later in the Han dynasty.{{sfn|Tsien|1962|p=[https://archive.org/details/writtenonbamboos0000chie/page/137/mode/1up 137]}} Other than this, the basic principles of Cai's papermaking process have changed little over time,{{sfn|Day|McNeil|1996|p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415060424/page/122/mode/2up 122]}} and the new form of paper spread throughout China.{{sfnm|1a1=Hunter|1a2=Hunter|1y=1978|1p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1sEp3rtK994C&pg=PA53 53]|''Britannica''|2020}} According to legend, the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] monk [[Damjing]] brought the process to [[Japan]], though this is unconfirmed. Damjing occupies a similar [[patron saint]] position in Japan that Cai does in China.{{sfnm|1a1=Hunter|1a2=Hunter|1y=1978|1p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1sEp3rtK994C&pg=PA53 53]|2a1=Tsien|2y=1985|2p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Lx-9mS6Aa4wC&pg=PA108 108]}} By the 600s the process appeared in [[Turkestan]], [[Korea]], and [[India]],{{sfnm|1a1=Tsien|1y=1985|1p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Lx-9mS6Aa4wC&pg=PA3 3]|2a1=Carter|2y=1925|2p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=PgEYAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA4 4]}}{{efn|Although India seems to have only begun widely producing paper in the 12th-century.{{sfn|Tsien|1985|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Lx-9mS6Aa4wC&pg=PA3 3]}}}} while Chinese prisoners from the [[Battle of Talas]] spread the knowledge to Arabs in the [[Abbasid Caliphate]].{{sfnm|1a1=Narita|1y=1966|1p=14|2a1=Tsien|2y=1985|2p=3}} Unlike many [[List of Chinese inventions|Chinese inventions]] that were created independently in [[Western Europe]], the modern papermaking process was a wholly Chinese product and gradually spread via the Arabs to Europe, where it also saw widespread manufacturing by the 12th century.{{sfn|Day|McNeil|1996|p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415060424/page/122/mode/2up 122]}} On 2 August 2010, the [[International Astronomical Union]] honored Cai's legacy by naming [[Cai Lun (crater)|a crater on the Moon]] after him.{{sfn|USGS Astrogeology Science Center|2010}}