Cai Lun Memorial Park

Cai Lun Memorial Park

Cai Lun Memorial Park in Leiyang City, Hunan Province, is an important site built by the Leiyang Municipal Committee and the People's Government of Leiyang to commemorate Cai Lun, the great inventor of papermaking. Located by Caizi Pond on Caihou Road in Leiyang City, the park covers an area of 116 mu, with an investment of 140 million RMB. It was reopened to the public on August 28, 2001, and is a major national tourist attraction.

Paper and papermaking are among the Four Great Inventions of ancient China. In the first year of the Yuanxing era during the Eastern Han Dynasty (105 AD), Cai Lun used cheap and readily available materials such as tree bark, waste hemp, old cloth, and torn fishing nets to create a lightweight, affordable, and writing-friendly plant fiber paper, historically known as "Cai Hou Paper." This replaced the cumbersome bamboo slips and expensive silk, making an outstanding contribution to the dissemination of human culture and the advancement of world civilization, and has been revered and commemorated for thousands of years.

The existing Caihou Temple, Caizi Pond, stone mortars, and the Cai Lun papermaking workshop within the park are important historical testimonies to Cai Lun’s summarization of previous experiences, his invention of papermaking, and its generational application and spread. They serve as vital physical materials for studying Cai Lun and the history of papermaking techniques. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Cai Lun Memorial Park has become an important venue for promoting science, inheriting civilization, and conducting patriotic education, drawing attention from central leaders and widespread interest from all sectors of society. Notable figures such as Guo Moruo, Zhou Gucheng, Hu Sheng, Zhou Guangzhao, and Mao Zhiyong have inscribed words for Cai Lun’s Tomb, Cai Lun Memorial Hall, Cai Lun Memorial Park, and the Science and Technology Inventors Square. In 1985, the People's Government of Hunan Province designated Caihou Temple and Cai Lun’s Tomb as provincial-level key cultural relics protection units. In 1996, the State Education Commission, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, the National Cultural Heritage Administration, the Communist Youth League Central Committee, and the General Political Department of the PLA named Caihou Temple (Cai Lun Memorial Hall) as one of the “100 National Patriotic Education Bases for Primary and Secondary Schools.”

The bronze statue of Cai Lun stands 3.7 meters tall and was designed by Professor Hu Bo from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, and manufactured by the Guangzhou Daguan Environmental Sculpture Studio. The image of Cai Lun features sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, a full forehead, and a tall, robust stature, reflecting the demeanor of a great nation. Cai Lun is depicted sitting cross-legged, in accordance with the sitting posture common in his era. His left hand rests on a stack of paper, while his right sleeve naturally drapes over his right knee. His slightly tilted head gazes into the distance as if deep in thought, portraying the wisdom, perseverance, and indomitable spirit characteristic of an inventor.

Caizi Pond is rectangular, measuring 190 meters in length and 47 meters in width. Legend has it that it was built when Cai Lun returned to his hometown to teach papermaking. The pond water is clear and shimmering, surrounded by lush green trees. Later, the embankment collapsed and the pond silted up, leaving the area desolate. From 1949 to the present, the People's Government of Leiyang City has carried out several renovations, lining the pond banks with stone slabs and planting swaying green trees around it. A stone-paved causeway bridge (2 meters wide and 47 meters long) was also added. On moonlit nights, the reflection of the moon can be seen dancing on the water’s surface through the bridge. A poem about the Eight Scenic Spots of Leiyang reads: “Only the Double Moon of Caizi Pond is beautiful.” In 1997, a stone pavilion was built on the bridge, named “Double Moon Pavilion,” also known as “Si Hou Pavilion.”

The “Huaisheng Platform” covers an area of 2,000 square meters and is shaped like a crescent moon. The platform surface is paved with 1,600 square meters of hemp stone, and the perimeter is inlaid with 99.8 meters of white marble railings. The relief wall has a radius of 19 meters, an arc length of 55 meters, and an effective display area of 43 meters. It showcases the entire process of Cai Lun’s dedicated invention of papermaking, highlighting his great contribution of “spreading paper use across all nations.” The “Huaisheng Platform” was built in August 2001 and named by Lei Liangyu, the then Party Secretary of Leiyang.

The Stele Corridor is 66.8 meters long and 3.6 meters wide, featuring a semi-enclosed classical garden architectural style arranged in a zigzag layout. The corridor has 44 stone pillars and 75 marble steles. The inscriptions include construction records and evaluations of Cai Lun by historical and contemporary celebrities. Space has been reserved for future additions. The construction technique employs traditional Chinese architectural “Golden Dragon He Xi” color painting, resulting in a corridor adorned with carved dragons and painted phoenixes, radiating splendor. The Stele Corridor was built in August 2001.

Cai Lun Papermaking Workshop: In August 2001, the Cai Lun Papermaking Workshop was reconstructed on its original site in the architectural style of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It is said to be the place where Cai Lun taught disciples how to make paper. The workshop displays the ancient papermaking processes of soaking materials, pounding materials, forming sheets, pressing, separating, and drying (or airing) paper. It also houses a stone mortar believed to have been used by Cai Lun for pounding materials during his papermaking teachings: the “Cai Lun Paper-Pounding Mortar.” Visitors can personally operate the equipment to experience this ancient papermaking technique and take home handmade straw paper as a souvenir.

Incense Burner and Precious Tripod

Within Cai Lun Memorial Park stands a hexagonal pavilion containing a white marble sculpture of a “Precious Tripod.” It is divided into upper and lower sections. The upper part features a four-cornered spire top, with the inscription “Precious Tripod” engraved in relief on the forehead, and couplets in relief reading: “A thousand-year flame in the burner, incense for ten thousand generations in the vase.” It was added during the Qing Qianlong period, with the stone engraving “Constructed in the Second Spring Month of the 35th Year of Qianlong.” The middle section is drum-shaped, resting on a Sumeru pedestal, giving it an elegant and ancient appearance, likely dating back to the Tang Dynasty at the earliest. Originally, there were two such tripods, but only one remains today. It was used by the people of Leiyang to offer spirit money in worship of Cai Lun.

Caihou Temple: Originally the residence of Cai Lun, the Eastern Han Dynasty inventor of papermaking (63–121 AD), the temple was later built on the site of his home to commemorate him. The Commentary on the Water Classic states: “(The Leishui River) flows northwest through Cai Zhou, with Cai Lun’s former residence located to the west of the island, adjacent to Caizi Pond.”

The exact year of Caihou Temple’s establishment is unknown. In the fourth year of the Yuanshuo era of the Yuan Dynasty (1338 AD), Chen Zongyi, the prefect of Leiyang, renovated the temple. After several periods of rise and decline, the current structure is a Qing Dynasty renovation, characterized by its simple and elegant style. Covering an area of 408 square meters and facing north, the temple is built with brick and wood. It consists of three courtyards and two halls. The front hall has three single-slope minor blue-tiled roof rooms, with corridors on both sides and a central axis corridor connecting to the middle hall. The middle and rear halls have three hanging-roof rooms, also connected by corridors and axial passageways. The main gate stone plaque reads “Caihou Temple,” and the stone couplet reads: “The fragrant pond reflects the moon, the old residence preserves the spirit.”

Cai Lun Ancient Well: With a depth of 18.3 meters and a diameter of 0.9 meters, this vertical cylindrical well has hard yellow clay walls. The surrounding area is paved with hemp stones, covering 3.9 meters by 3.9 meters. It is said to be the well where Cai Lun fetched drinking water. The water is clear, sweet, and of high quality, believed to strengthen the body and prolong life. Later, when Cai Lun took an official post and moved to the capital, the Zhi family moved into the area. To show gratitude, descendants maintained and expanded the well on its original site as a token of remembrance.

Cai Lun’s Tomb: Built in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, this is a cenotaph for Cai Lun. The tomb is a single-chamber, vaulted brick structure, 2.2 meters high, 7.84 meters long, and 2.7 meters wide. It is surrounded by granite, with a tomb door and staircase leading into the chamber. The bricks feature common Han Dynasty geometric patterns. In August 2001, the People’s Government of Leiyang City constructed a protective stele pavilion in front of the tomb. The front of the tombstone is inscribed with Guo Moruo’s 1959 calligraphy “Tomb of Cai Lun,” while the back bears an inscription about Cai Lun written by the People’s Government of Leiyang City.

Address: No. 74 Renmin Road, Leiyang City

Cai Lun

( —121)

A native of Leiyang County, Hunan during the Eastern Han Dynasty. His courtesy name was Jingzhong, and his birth year is unknown. In the late years of Emperor Ming, he entered the palace as a eunuch and later served as a minor eunuch. During the reign of Emperor He, he became a Central Regular Attendant and began participating in court politics. He once held the position of Superintendent of the Imperial Workshops, in charge of crafting imperial utensils.

In the past, people wrote on silk or bamboo and wooden slips. “Silk was expensive and slips were heavy, making them inconvenient for people.” By the Western Han Dynasty, a primitive form of paper had emerged. People often found a layer on bamboo mats while washing silk floss... [Cai Lun Detailed Information++]