A tall pine tree stood, leaves swaying to the mountain breeze.
Cast a long gaze across the dry clearing,
Sunlight bounced off pebbles scattered,
Blue skies darkened and rested heavily on the tree leaves,
But the tall pine tree remained standing.
A white winter passed,
Snow laced its bark,
Icicles oozed from its branches,
Green leaves buried under white snowflakes.
But the tall pine tree remained standing.
A rosy sunrise, a nest incomplete,
Grass spurted from beneath the lukewarm soil,
Sparrows intertwined on branches jagged,
The spring maiden flirted with myriad hues,
But the tall pine tree remained standing.
Blinding orange, stunning yellow,
Piercing blue, flamboyant green,
Intense red, enchanting violet,
Nature dressed in her best summer dress,
The tall pine tree leaned gently to its right.
A kingcup was sown,
Nurtured under the prickly heat,
Slowly spread its golden petals outward,
Brimming with nectar in the middle,
Voila! La Bella had been born,
The pine tree leaned forward.
A lovebird sang, the sun glittered like a distant coin,
Kingcup blossomed and the pine tree was enthralled,
Bees hummed, winds whispered,
Leaves twirled on the branches,
A love story was being knit.
But alas! Summer was too short a dream,
A wise owl flew by, stopped at the pine’s bough,
“Tis forbidden!” he hooted and flew away,
Dissolving into the black skies,
The pine tree bent over, heartbroken.
Grey clouds gathered,
The nocturnal beasts beat deadly drums,
The Sun God tried to slice through the night,
But only vain lightning slithered across,
Kingcup sobbed and so did the bitter sky.
Merciless clouds clanged together and caused chaos,
Animals trampled the grass, uprooting suppressed turmoil,
Evergreen leaves piled at the base,
The pine tree wept, and so did the life in the clearing.
Green envy, red rage,
Furious Orange, passionate purple,
Crippling blue, fading yellow,
Nature hurled her insults at the granite sky.
The Princess of night dried her tears,
Voiced a painful promise,
“Flower and Pine united, Thou shall create a masterpiece!”
But whispered gently,
“Only after death...”
Nature succumbed to silent wails,
Rested her head on the cool ground,
Drifted into deep slumber,
Caressed by the tender beams of dawn light.
Many moons passed,
Skies mirroring the conflicts in other lands,
Nature numbly watched,
The dusty kaleidoscope repainted around her,
Each spring morning, every other winter night.
On a bright sunny day, a eunuch strolled by,
Tshai Lun was his given name,
Stopped to pick a kingcup that withered in his hands,
Leaving a deep yellow stain.
Fearing it may be poisonous,
Lun wiped his fingers on the bark,
Leaving behind deep strokes of brown.
Puzzled, he gathered a few kingcups, a piece of the pine,
And headed back home.
The waxing moon glistened,
Nature stirred in her numb sleep,
Little dew drops slid down green veins,
The rusty wheels of history turning slowly,
The promise was one for keeps.
Tshai Lun later discovered that patterns could be made,
Left strokes, right dots and crossed lines,
A new art was born,
From the kingcups’ crushed petals and dried pinewood,
We got Blue Ink and White Paper.
Transforming thought into shapes,
Numbers into symbols,
Ideas into images,
Memories into memoirs,
Enlightening young, reminding the old.
Alphabets bundled into words,
Words placed in sentences,
Sheets bound together,
Tales, poems, manuscripts,
It gave birth to the first book.
A masterpiece,
A wonder,
Indispensable,
Evolving,
Essential,
Kingcups and Pine trees,
A promise unbroken,
A wish fulfilled,
A love story that would go on forever.
Fin.
The creator of this extremely important invention, Cai Lun (Tshai Lun) is only somewhat known outside East Asia. After Cai invented the papermaking process in 105, it became widely used as a writing medium in China by the 3rd century.[6] It enabled China to develop its civilization (through widespread literature and literacy) much faster than it had with earlier writing materials (primarily bamboo and silk).
By the 7th century, China's papermaking technique had spread to Korea, Vietnam, and Japan.[9] In 751, some Chinese paper makers were captured by Arabs after Tang troops were defeated in the Battle of Talas River. The techniques of papermaking then spread to the West. When paper was first introduced to Europe in the 12th century, it gradually revolutionized the manner in which written communication could be spread from region to region. Along with contact between Arabs and Europeans during the Crusades (with the essential recovery of ancient Greek written classics), the widespread use of paper aided the foundation of the Scholastic Age in Europe.
Author’s Note:
Scribbled only because today is an auspicious day. Not very intense, neither have I put in deep thought. Neither a poem nor an article. Just a bunch of lines.
Happy Vidyarambham!