How did people in the Han Dynasty make paper?

There are five main steps.

Cut bamboo and float it in the pond: Cut the bamboo and soak it in the pond to make the fiber fully absorb water. You can add bark, hemp heads, old fish nets and other plant materials and mash them.

Cook at high heat: Boil the scraps until the fibers are dispersed and cooked into pulp. In the picture, you can see that the broken materials in the large pot are pressed down with large stones to help them cook completely.

Putting the material into the curtain: After the pulp is cooled, a flat bamboo curtain is used to pick up the pulp, filter the water, and become a paper film. This step requires skillful skills in order to remove the paper film with moderate thickness and even distribution.

Curtain covering and pressing paper: Fold the scooped paper films one by one, press them tightly with wooden boards, place heavy stones on top, and press out the water.

Fire drying: stick the semi-dry paper film next to the fire to dry, then peel it off to get the finished product.