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The Hidden History of Paper: How a Chinese Eunuch, a Lost Battle, and an Accidental Discovery Built the Modern World
Before paper, a single book cost as much as a house. A government report weighed as much as a small child. And an entire civilization's knowledge could vanish in a single fire.
In this episode of Hidden History with Aiden Thomas, we uncover the dramatic story of paper — from an accidental discovery in ancient China to a forgotten battle in 751 AD that changed the intellectual destiny of the Western world.
You'll hear about Cai Lun, the eunuch who standardized papermaking and was destroyed by the very court documents he made possible. The Battle of Talas, where Chinese prisoners of war built…
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