You’re holding a book, writing on a notebook, maybe even wrapping a gift – but have you ever wondered who invented the paper that makes all this possible?
两千年前，中国人写字用竹子。竹子很重，带着很不方便。有钱的人用丝绸写字，但是丝绸太贵了。
东汉时候，有一个人叫蔡伦。他在皇帝的宫里工作。他很聪明，喜欢想新办法。
蔡伦用树、旧布和水做了很多试验。公元105年，他做出了好的纸。这种纸又轻又便宜。
皇帝很高兴，让大家都用这种纸。后来，纸从中国去了世界很多地方。
因为有了纸，更多人可以读书学习。蔡伦的发明改变了世界。
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| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| <p>纸 | zhǐ | paper |
| 竹子 | zhú zi5 | bamboo |
| 丝绸 | sī chóu | silk |
| 皇帝 | huáng dì | emperor |
| 发明 | fā míng | invention |
| 试验 | shì yàn | experiment |
| 便宜 | pián yi5 | cheap |
| 改变 | gǎi biàn | to change |
| 世界 | shì jiè | world</p> |
| 两千年 | liǎng qiān nián | the year 2000; 2000 years |
| 前 | qián | front; forward; ahead; first; top (followed by a number); future; ago; before; BC (e.g. 前293年); former; formerly |
| 中国人 | Zhōng guó rén | Chinese person |
| 写字 | xiě zì | to write (by hand); to practice calligraphy |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ; (coverb) with; using; to need; to have to (usu. used in the negative or in questions); usefulness; utility; (bound form) expense; outlay; (courte… |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 重 | chóng | to repeat; repetition; again; re-; classifier: layer |
| 带 | dài | band; belt; girdle; ribbon; tire; area; zone; region; CL:條|条[tiao2]; to wear; to carry; to take along; to bear (i.e. to have); to lead; to bring; to look after; to raise |
| 着 | zhāo | variant of 著|着[zhao1]; a move in chess (Taiwan pr. [zhuo2]); trick; tactic; (dialect) okay; all right; (dialect) to put in; to add |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 方 | Fāng | surname Fang |
| 便 | biàn | plain; informal; suitable; convenient; opportune; to urinate or defecate; equivalent to 就[jiu4]: then; in that case; even if; soon afterwards |
| 有钱 | yǒu qián | well-off; wealthy |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 太 | tài | highest; greatest; too (much); very; extremely |
| 贵 | Guì | short name for Guizhou 貴州|贵州[Gui4 zhou1] |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 东 | Dōng | surname Dong |
| 汉 | Hàn | Han ethnic group; Chinese (language); the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 候 | hòu | to wait; to inquire after; to watch; season; climate; (old) period of five days |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 一个人 | yī gè rén | by oneself (without assistance); alone (without company) |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 蔡 | ||
| 伦 | lūn | human relationship; coherence |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 宫 | Gōng | surname Gong |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | to work; (of a machine) to operate; job; work; task; CL:個|个[ge4],份[fen4],項|项[xiang4] |
| 聪明 | cōng ming | intelligent; clever; bright; acute (of sight and hearing) |
| 喜欢 | xǐ huan | to like; to be fond of |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 新 | Xīn | abbr. for Xinjiang 新疆[Xin1 jiang1]; abbr. for Singapore 新加坡[Xin1 jia1 po1]; surname Xin |
| 办 | bàn | to take care of (a matter); to deal with (a task, procedure etc); to organize (an event); to establish; to set up; to manage; to run (an enterprise); (law) to handle; to investigat… |
| 法 | fǎ | variant of 法[fa3]; France; French; abbr. for 法國|法国[Fa3 guo2]; Taiwan pr. [Fa4]; old variant of 法[fa3]; law |
| 树 | shù | tree; CL:棵[ke1]; to cultivate; to set up |
| 旧 | jìu | old; opposite: new 新; former; worn (with age) |
| 布 | bù | variant of 布[bu4]; to announce; to spread; cloth; to declare; to announce; to spread; to make known |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 水 | Shuǐ | surname Shui; Shui ethnic group |
| 做 | zuò | to make; to produce; to write; to compose; to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc); (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc); to become (husband and wife, frien… |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duo2]); (bound form) multi-; poly- |
| 公元 | gōng yuán | CE (Common Era); Christian Era; AD (Anno Domini) |
| 年 | Nián | surname Nian; grain; harvest (old); variant of 年[nian2] |
| 出 | chū | to go out; to come out; to arise; to occur; to produce; to yield; to go beyond; to exceed; (used after a verb to indicate an outward direction or a positive result); classifier for…; variant of 出[chu1] (classifier for plays or chapters of classical novels) |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (… |
| 纸 | zhǐ | variant of 紙|纸[zhi3]; paper (CL:張|张[zhang1],沓[da2]); classifier for documents, letters etc |
| 这种 | zhè zhǒng | this kind of |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 轻 | qīng | light; easy; gentle; soft; reckless; unimportant; frivolous; small in number; unstressed; neutral; to disparage |
| 高兴 | gāo xìng | happy; glad; willing (to do sth); in a cheerful mood |
| 让 | ràng | to yield; to permit; to let sb do sth; to have sb do sth; to make sb (feel sad etc); by (indicates the agent in a passive clause, like 被[bei4]) |
| 大家 | dà jiā | everyone; influential family; great expert |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 从中 | cóng zhōng | from among them; from it |
| 国 | Guó | surname Guo |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 地方 | dì fāng | region; regional (away from the central administration); local |
| 因为 | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 有了 | yǒu le | I've got a solution!; to have a bun in the oven (abbr. for 有了胎[you3 le5 tai1]) |
| 更 | gēng | to change or replace; to experience; one of the five two-hour periods into which the night was formerly divided; watch (e.g. of a sentry or guard) |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good |
| 读书 | dú shū | to read a book; to study; to attend school |
| 学习 | xué xí | to learn; to study |
Two thousand years ago, Chinese people wrote on bamboo. Bamboo was very heavy and inconvenient to carry. Rich people wrote on silk, but silk was too expensive.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a man named Cai Lun. He worked in the emperor’s palace. He was very clever and liked to think of new ways to do things.
Cai Lun used trees, old cloth, and water to do many experiments. In the year 105 CE, he made [a new kind of] good paper. This kind of paper was both light and cheap.
The emperor was very happy and made everyone use this paper. Later, paper traveled from China to many places in the world.
Because of paper, more people could read and study. Cai Lun’s invention changed the world.