History and Typology of Paper in Central Asia during the First Millennium AD: Analysis of Chinese Paper Manuscripts

纸是人类历史上最重要的发明之一，关于纸的知识在第一个千年是非常有选择性和支离破碎的。纸的发明可以追溯到公元前2-1世纪的某个时候的中国人。根据文字记载，造纸技术在公元751年后经由撒马尔罕向西转移到阿拉伯。然后，造纸技术从伊斯兰亚洲慢慢传播到欧洲，然后是世界各地，但几乎没有证据表明中国和中亚的发展。对公元10世纪以前丝绸之路沿线发现的手稿的研究，将是重建这一早期造纸史上决定性时期的宝贵资料。该项目的目标将通过多方面的方法来实现：a)通过研究古代手稿并创建纸张类型学；b)实地研究中亚造纸厂及其在今天和过去的分布；c)参照西方专业文献发展中国的造纸术语，并编制东亚语言的造纸书目。技术方面，如纸张成分的记录和保存的手稿的其他特征，将作为书面来源以外的独立记录使用。所取得的所有成果都将在数据库中组织和列报。

Knowledge about paper, one of the most important inventions in human history, is very selective and fragmentary for the first millennium. The invention of paper is traced back to the Chinese sometime in the 2nd-1st centuries B.C. According to written record, paper manufacturing techniques were transferred westward to Arabia via Samarkand after A.D. 751. Papermaking abilities then spread slowly from Islamic Asia to Europe and next, around the world, but there is little evidence for the developments in China and Central Asia. Research on manuscripts dated before the 10th century A.D. and found along the Silk Road will be a valuable source to reconstruct this decisive period in early papermaking history.The goal of this project will be achieved through a multi-faceted approach: a) by studying the ancient manuscripts and creating a paper typology, b) by field study of papermaking plants and their distribution in Central Asia present and past, and c) by developing a terminology on paper production in China with respect to Western professional literature, and compiling a bibliography on papermaking in East Asian languages. Technological aspects such as records of paper components and other features of preserved manuscripts will be used as independent records alternative to written sources. All results achieved will be organized and presented in a data base.