East Asian History of Sci & Tech 101: The Four Great Inventions Part 1: Paper

EDIT: To be revised as I have time accordingly, this is more of a rush, and leans quite a bit on Wikipedia, and some other sources.  Just wanted to make a start on it here, though I have very little time to write a proper article.
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Introduction

Hello all, or is it just me in here?  Sorry for the late start on this, it's not as if anyone was clamoring for it anyway, though I feel like this is something that I promised to myself.  In any case, I am now beginning my series on the history of science and technology of East Asia, and if we look back on the ancient times, it's no surprise that China was the leader.  Many/most people who study, or think about race frequently like to point out that East Asians have really achieved relatively little in terms of science and technology, and that they haven't contributed much in terms of science and technology for the West, however, and hopefully after this series those that read it will realize that that assumption simply is not true.  Here's the beginning of what I hope will become a long series.

It may surprise some to learn of how advanced ancient China really was in comparison to the rest of the world, in the heyday of the Roman Empire ancient China was in many respects at the same level of development, and in some ways even superior to the civilization in the West.  That, however, did change when the scientific method was discovered in Europe and it shot way ahead of East Asia in terms of scientific progress and achievement. Still, relatively few people today know of the great variety of scientific and especially technological achievements that ancient China has had.  Well, known however are the Four Great Inventions: Papermaking, compass, gunpowder, and printing.

These are all inventions that helped to revolutionize the world, however, as I've said there were many inventions that the Chinese made; many of them were more sophisticated.

History

The first traces of papermaking appear in China as hemp paper that was used to wrap and pad things in the 8th century BCE. There has been paper with legible writing found on it dating from 8 BCE. According to tradition the inventor was Cai Lun, an official in the Imperial court, who was said to have invented paper in 105 CE.

Apparently the first kinds of paper were made from mulberry, other bast fibers with fishnets, old rags and hemp waste. From Wiki:

"The earliest extant paper fragment was unearthed at Fangmatan in Gansu province, and was likely part of a map, dated to 179–141 BCE.^[5] Fragments of paper have also been found at Dunhuang dated to 65 BCE and at Yumen pass, dated to 8 BCE.^[6]"

Oldest fragment of paper discovered in Fangmatan. Likely used as a map.

Paper was first used for wrapping and padding bronze mirrors according to archeological evidence. It was also used as protection for the user in case poison medicine was involved.  Paper was used for writing by the 3rd century although it was still used for wrapping.  By the 6th century it was used as toilet paper. 

The archeological evidence suggests that paper was made prior to Cai Lun's alleged invention of it, and he simply may have been the first to systematically make an improved method for making better quality paper. In the 3rd century paper became more widely used for writing. 

During the Song dynasty (960–1279) the government produced the world's first known paper-printed money, or banknote (see Jiaozi and Huizi). Paper money was bestowed as gifts to government officials in special paper envelopes.^[12]

^{Paper played a pivotal role in Chinese written culture, and it helped to develop a reading 
culture among the Chinese. The introduction of paper also meant that books became portable, 
since an entire book could fit into one volume (in its entirety) that could be easy to carry, rather 
than having to have a cart full of scrolls for one work.} 

Oldest paper book, composed of six different materials, circa CE 256

^{From Wiki:}

"Textual culture seems to have been more developed in the south by the early 5th century, with individuals owning collections of several thousand scrolls. In the north an entire palace collection might have been only a few thousand scrolls in total.^[16] By the early 6th century, scholars in both the north and south were capable of citing upwards of 400 sources in commentaries on older works.^[17] A small compilation text from the 7th century included citations to over 1,400 works.^[18]

The personal nature of texts was remarked upon by a late 6th century imperial librarian. According to him, the possession of and familiarity with a few hundred scrolls was what it took to be socially accepted as an educated man.^[19]"

^...

During the Tang dynasty, China became the world leader in book production. In addition the gradual spread of woodblock printing from the late Tang and Song further boosted their lead ahead of the rest of the world.^[20]

^{However by the 9th century when the Islamic world had obtained the method for producing
 paper, from China via Central Asia, and it had closed the gap between the two regions. 
 Between the 9th and 12th centuries libraries in Cairo, Baghdad and Cordoba are larger than
 those in China and far greater than those in Europe. Eventually from about the 15th century
 onwards collections in Europe exceeded both those in China and the Middle East and North
 Africa region.} 

^{The Impact of Paper}

Papermaking spread to all parts of the world, from East Asia, to Central Asia, South Asia, the Islamic world in the Middle East and North Africa, and Europe.  Later on it went to the Americas, and basically everywhere else. It developed a reading and written culture among the Chinese and many other places as well.  It made portable books possible and allowed people to amass huge collections of knowledge, and art, and entertainment. But aside from writing and books so many other uses of paper were possible.  Tissues, boxes, toilet paper, paper for art, paper for currency...a very large number of uses.  Paper along with the invention of the printing press helped to expand knowledge in Europe, and make it accessible not just to the very rich but the average man as well.  Prior to paper, with how expensive and difficult parchment was to make, apparently even some royalty in Europe were somewhat illiterate.  Paper truly was an important advance in the world. It is important to consider how the Chinese invention benefitted mankind, and indeed was put to great use by the Chinese after it was invented there.