A Research on Early Spread of Traditional Hand-Made Paper in East Asia Countries

Abstract

Lots of unearthed objects and historical documents indicate the paper-making technology which had been invented in Western Han Dynasty moved to Japan through the Korean peninsula. This paper took the development of paper-making technology and how it spread to the major countries of East Asia as a clue to find out evidence of the early transmission of traditional handmade paper from the ancient literature, archaeological materials, research papers, and museum collections. Literature studies, field inspections and the traditional ways of recovery process were the main methods we used. After collecting and studying the materials, we drew the outline of the general picture of traditional handmade paper transmitting in the major countries of East Asia, and made a discussion about the relevant issues on the condition that the traditional handmade paper how to adapt to the geographical variation and the printing technology.