Rag paper, containing hemp fiber, is the highest quality and longest lasting paper ever made. It can be torn when wet, but returns to its full strength when dry. Barring extreme conditions, rag paper remains stable for centuries. It will almost never wear out. Many U.S. government papers were written, by law, on hempen “rag paper” unt…il the 1920s.
It is generally believed by scholars that the early Chinese knowledge, or art, of hemp paper making (First Century C.E.—800 years before Islam discovered how, and 1,200 to 1,400 years before Europe) was one of the two chief reasons that Oriental knowledge and science were vastly superior to that of the West for 1,400 years. Thus, the art of long-lasting hemp paper making allowed the Orientals’ accumulated knowledge to be passed on, built upon, investigated, refined, challenged, and changed, for generation after generation (in other words, cumulative and comprehensive scholarship).
Hemp paper lasted 50 to 100 times longer than most preparations of papyrus, and was a hundred times easier and cheaper to make.
Makes some of the best paper,from toilet paper to documents.
