48 - 121
Cai Lun (Chinese: 蔡伦; courtesy name: Jingzhong (Chinese: 敬仲); c. 50–62 – 121 CE), formerly romanized as Ts'ai Lun, was a Chinese inventor and eunuch court official of the Eastern Han dynasty. He is traditionally regarded as the inventor of paper and the modern papermaking process, as he originated paper in its modern form. Read more on Wikipedia
Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Cai Lun has received more than 323,974 page views. His biography is available in 62 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 59 in 2019). Cai Lun is the 17th most popular inventor (up from 19th in 2019), the 25th most popular biography from China (up from 41st in 2019) and the most popular Chinese Inventor.
Cai Lun is most famous for inventing paper.
Page Views (PV)
Historical Popularity Index (HPI)
Languages Editions (L)
Effective Languages (L*)
Coefficient of Variation (CV)
Among inventors, Cai Lun ranks 17 out of 355. Before him are Louis Braille, Charles Babbage, Louis Daguerre, George Stephenson, Samuel Morse, and Nikolaus Otto. After him are Nicéphore Niépce, Samuel Colt, Thomas Newcomen, Werner von Siemens, Antonio Meucci, and Karl Ferdinand Braun.
1809 - 1852
HPI: 82.29
Rank: 11
1791 - 1871
HPI: 81.81
Rank: 12
1787 - 1851
HPI: 81.74
Rank: 13
1781 - 1848
HPI: 81.49
Rank: 14
1791 - 1872
HPI: 81.45
Rank: 15
1832 - 1891
HPI: 81.22
Rank: 16
48 - 121
HPI: 80.82
Rank: 17
1765 - 1833
HPI: 80.28
Rank: 18
1814 - 1862
HPI: 79.10
Rank: 19
1663 - 1729
HPI: 78.76
Rank: 20
1816 - 1892
HPI: 78.46
Rank: 21
1808 - 1889
HPI: 78.43
Rank: 22
1850 - 1918
HPI: 78.30
Rank: 23
Among people born in 48, Cai Lun ranks 1. After him is Ulpia Marciana. Among people deceased in 121, Cai Lun ranks 1. After him is Pompeia Plotina.
Among people born in China, Cai Lun ranks 25 out of 1,186. Before him are Xi Jinping (1953), Hu Jintao (1942), Kangxi Emperor (1654), Qianlong Emperor (1711), Mencius (-372), and Xuanzang (602). After him are Zhuge Liang (181), Liu Bei (161), Guan Yu (162), Du Fu (712), Zhuang Zhou (-369), and Hongwu Emperor (1328).
1953 - Present
HPI: 81.64
Rank: 19
1942 - Present
HPI: 81.41
Rank: 20
1654 - 1722
HPI: 81.25
Rank: 21
1711 - 1799
HPI: 81.22
Rank: 22
372 BC - 289 BC
HPI: 80.97
Rank: 23
602 - 664
HPI: 80.91
Rank: 24
48 - 121
HPI: 80.82
Rank: 25
181 - 234
HPI: 80.75
Rank: 26
161 - 223
HPI: 80.74
Rank: 27
162 - 220
HPI: 80.69
Rank: 28
712 - 770
HPI: 80.25
Rank: 29
369 BC - 286 BC
HPI: 80.13
Rank: 30
1328 - 1398
HPI: 80.07
Rank: 31
Among inventors born in China, Cai Lun ranks 1. After him are Bi Sheng (990), Charles K. Kao (1933), Taiichi Ohno (1912), Thonmi Sambhota (618), An Wang (1920), and Robin Li (1968).
48 - 121
HPI: 80.82
Rank: 1
990 - 1052
HPI: 71.06
Rank: 2
1933 - 2018
HPI: 70.91
Rank: 3
1912 - 1990
HPI: 69.96
Rank: 4
618 - Present
HPI: 62.59
Rank: 5
1920 - 1990
HPI: 59.20
Rank: 6
1968 - Present
HPI: 56.87
Rank: 7