Q 01/05

Which Han dynasty court official is traditionally credited with inventing paper in 105 CE?

A) Zhang Heng

B) Bi Sheng

C) Sima Qian

D) Cai Lun

Answer · why

D) Cai Lun

He was a eunuch who improved the process using tree bark, hemp waste, old rags and fishnets; older paper fragments show he refined rather than invente...

Q 02/05

The word 'paper' derives from the name of which plant-based writing material?

A) Papyrus

B) Vellum

C) Amate

D) Parchment

Answer · why

A) Papyrus

Despite the shared name, the two are separate technologies: papyrus is laminated plant strips, paper is macerated fibre.

Q 03/05

The Egyptian writing material that gave paper its name was made from the pith of what kind of plant?

A) A wetland sedge

B) A giant bamboo

C) A reed grass

D) A palm tree

Answer · why

A) A wetland sedge

Cyperus papyrus once grew abundantly across the Nile Delta, and Arab attempts to grow it north of Baghdad in the 830s failed.

Q 04/05

Before wood pulp, the most common paper was made from what?

A) Discarded rags

B) Tree bark

C) Bamboo slips

D) Rice straw

Answer · why

A) Discarded rags

Ragpickers collected worn-out natural-fibre textiles to feed the mills, and shortages of rags drove the search for alternatives.

Q 05/05

The earliest surviving paper fragment, found at Fangmatan in Gansu, was probably part of what?

A) A calendar

B) A tax record

C) A love letter

D) A map

Answer · why

D) A map

It dates from 179–141 BCE, roughly two and a half centuries before Cai Lun.