In Romance of the Three Kingdoms why do people still use bamboo sticks when paper had already been invented?












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By the era of the Romance of Three Kingdoms, paper had already been invented. Why do kings often (according to the movies) receive letters in bamboo sticks.



Is this historically accurate?










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  • 6





    The UK government was still keeping all its financial records on tally sticks (literally, pieces of wood) until 1826. In fact, disposing of them led to the fire in 1834 which destroyed most of the medieval building, and resulted in the current Houses of Parliament being built between 1839 and 1870. The Chinese were 1400 years ahead of the UK in abandoning this system!

    – alephzero
    12 hours ago








  • 1





    So, an interesting factoid I know of is that the majority of paperwork done by the US immigration service was done on typewriters on 9/11 (2001). 2001, of course, was decades after the invented and widespread adoption of computers. Just because a new, superior product comes along, doesn't mean that the old products and ways vanish from existence immediately. (The reasons for the adoption rate of new things are varied and interesting, and have had countless books devoted to the topic... something to consider/keep in mind.)

    – HopelessN00b
    4 hours ago


















8















By the era of the Romance of Three Kingdoms, paper had already been invented. Why do kings often (according to the movies) receive letters in bamboo sticks.



Is this historically accurate?










share|improve this question




















  • 6





    The UK government was still keeping all its financial records on tally sticks (literally, pieces of wood) until 1826. In fact, disposing of them led to the fire in 1834 which destroyed most of the medieval building, and resulted in the current Houses of Parliament being built between 1839 and 1870. The Chinese were 1400 years ahead of the UK in abandoning this system!

    – alephzero
    12 hours ago








  • 1





    So, an interesting factoid I know of is that the majority of paperwork done by the US immigration service was done on typewriters on 9/11 (2001). 2001, of course, was decades after the invented and widespread adoption of computers. Just because a new, superior product comes along, doesn't mean that the old products and ways vanish from existence immediately. (The reasons for the adoption rate of new things are varied and interesting, and have had countless books devoted to the topic... something to consider/keep in mind.)

    – HopelessN00b
    4 hours ago
















8












8








8








By the era of the Romance of Three Kingdoms, paper had already been invented. Why do kings often (according to the movies) receive letters in bamboo sticks.



Is this historically accurate?










share|improve this question
















By the era of the Romance of Three Kingdoms, paper had already been invented. Why do kings often (according to the movies) receive letters in bamboo sticks.



Is this historically accurate?







ancient-china






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edited 1 hour ago









user32121

444139




444139










asked 15 hours ago









user4951user4951

2,43782453




2,43782453








  • 6





    The UK government was still keeping all its financial records on tally sticks (literally, pieces of wood) until 1826. In fact, disposing of them led to the fire in 1834 which destroyed most of the medieval building, and resulted in the current Houses of Parliament being built between 1839 and 1870. The Chinese were 1400 years ahead of the UK in abandoning this system!

    – alephzero
    12 hours ago








  • 1





    So, an interesting factoid I know of is that the majority of paperwork done by the US immigration service was done on typewriters on 9/11 (2001). 2001, of course, was decades after the invented and widespread adoption of computers. Just because a new, superior product comes along, doesn't mean that the old products and ways vanish from existence immediately. (The reasons for the adoption rate of new things are varied and interesting, and have had countless books devoted to the topic... something to consider/keep in mind.)

    – HopelessN00b
    4 hours ago
















  • 6





    The UK government was still keeping all its financial records on tally sticks (literally, pieces of wood) until 1826. In fact, disposing of them led to the fire in 1834 which destroyed most of the medieval building, and resulted in the current Houses of Parliament being built between 1839 and 1870. The Chinese were 1400 years ahead of the UK in abandoning this system!

    – alephzero
    12 hours ago








  • 1





    So, an interesting factoid I know of is that the majority of paperwork done by the US immigration service was done on typewriters on 9/11 (2001). 2001, of course, was decades after the invented and widespread adoption of computers. Just because a new, superior product comes along, doesn't mean that the old products and ways vanish from existence immediately. (The reasons for the adoption rate of new things are varied and interesting, and have had countless books devoted to the topic... something to consider/keep in mind.)

    – HopelessN00b
    4 hours ago










6




6





The UK government was still keeping all its financial records on tally sticks (literally, pieces of wood) until 1826. In fact, disposing of them led to the fire in 1834 which destroyed most of the medieval building, and resulted in the current Houses of Parliament being built between 1839 and 1870. The Chinese were 1400 years ahead of the UK in abandoning this system!

– alephzero
12 hours ago







The UK government was still keeping all its financial records on tally sticks (literally, pieces of wood) until 1826. In fact, disposing of them led to the fire in 1834 which destroyed most of the medieval building, and resulted in the current Houses of Parliament being built between 1839 and 1870. The Chinese were 1400 years ahead of the UK in abandoning this system!

– alephzero
12 hours ago






1




1





So, an interesting factoid I know of is that the majority of paperwork done by the US immigration service was done on typewriters on 9/11 (2001). 2001, of course, was decades after the invented and widespread adoption of computers. Just because a new, superior product comes along, doesn't mean that the old products and ways vanish from existence immediately. (The reasons for the adoption rate of new things are varied and interesting, and have had countless books devoted to the topic... something to consider/keep in mind.)

– HopelessN00b
4 hours ago







So, an interesting factoid I know of is that the majority of paperwork done by the US immigration service was done on typewriters on 9/11 (2001). 2001, of course, was decades after the invented and widespread adoption of computers. Just because a new, superior product comes along, doesn't mean that the old products and ways vanish from existence immediately. (The reasons for the adoption rate of new things are varied and interesting, and have had countless books devoted to the topic... something to consider/keep in mind.)

– HopelessN00b
4 hours ago












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Yes, this is historically accurate. Writing on bamboo slips was not entirely abandoned until the 4th century CE---over a century after the Romance of the Three Kingdoms takes place. As the Wikipedia article on the history of paper that you linked to states, the primary use of ancient Chinese paper before this was for wrapping things, not writing. One of the largest collections of bamboo and wooden slips to be found (140,000 pieces from Zoumalou) dates to the Three Kingdoms period.






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    11














    Yes, this is historically accurate. Writing on bamboo slips was not entirely abandoned until the 4th century CE---over a century after the Romance of the Three Kingdoms takes place. As the Wikipedia article on the history of paper that you linked to states, the primary use of ancient Chinese paper before this was for wrapping things, not writing. One of the largest collections of bamboo and wooden slips to be found (140,000 pieces from Zoumalou) dates to the Three Kingdoms period.






    share|improve this answer




























      11














      Yes, this is historically accurate. Writing on bamboo slips was not entirely abandoned until the 4th century CE---over a century after the Romance of the Three Kingdoms takes place. As the Wikipedia article on the history of paper that you linked to states, the primary use of ancient Chinese paper before this was for wrapping things, not writing. One of the largest collections of bamboo and wooden slips to be found (140,000 pieces from Zoumalou) dates to the Three Kingdoms period.






      share|improve this answer


























        11












        11








        11







        Yes, this is historically accurate. Writing on bamboo slips was not entirely abandoned until the 4th century CE---over a century after the Romance of the Three Kingdoms takes place. As the Wikipedia article on the history of paper that you linked to states, the primary use of ancient Chinese paper before this was for wrapping things, not writing. One of the largest collections of bamboo and wooden slips to be found (140,000 pieces from Zoumalou) dates to the Three Kingdoms period.






        share|improve this answer













        Yes, this is historically accurate. Writing on bamboo slips was not entirely abandoned until the 4th century CE---over a century after the Romance of the Three Kingdoms takes place. As the Wikipedia article on the history of paper that you linked to states, the primary use of ancient Chinese paper before this was for wrapping things, not writing. One of the largest collections of bamboo and wooden slips to be found (140,000 pieces from Zoumalou) dates to the Three Kingdoms period.







        share|improve this answer












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        answered 14 hours ago









        Brian ZBrian Z

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