The main materials for cultural paper include plant fiber raw materials such as wood, bamboo, rattan, and plant stalks. Modern production primarily uses wood pulp (such as coniferous and broadleaf wood), but recycled paper made from waste paper can also be used.
Depending on the production process, cultural paper can use virgin wood pulp or recycled fibers. Cultural paper made from waste paper is called recycled paper, and its secondary fiber content usually needs to reach more than 50%, offering environmental advantages such as reducing deforestation, saving energy, and reducing pollution.
Ancient papermaking mostly used natural plant fibers such as hemp, tree bark (such as paper mulberry bark), bamboo, and rattan. Different raw materials resulted in diverse paper characteristics; for example, hemp paper has high toughness, while bamboo paper is low in cost and has good ink absorption.
