Paper specimens from three different periods were examined at the Research Institute of Papermaking Industry, Ministry of Light Industry, by microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and zinc iodochloride staining. <i>Baqiao</i> paper from Baqiao, Xian, Shansi Province, is considered the earliest extant paper, dated not later than the reign of Han Wudi (140-87 BC). Specimens, now in the Museum of Chinese History and the Shansi Provincial Museum, have coarse and fluffed surfaces and incohesive textures, and are made of hemp and ramie rags, most of which are undispersed and as long as 70 mm. with several running across the whole surface. There is no trace of pulping and beating, and the authors conclude that <i>Baqiao</i> paper is not paper but fiber remnants that became thin sheets after having been pressed under bronze mirrors. <i>Juyan</i> paper (around 52 BC) from Jinquan, Juyan, Gansu Province, and <i>Fufeng</i> paper (73-49 BC) from Zhongyancun, Fufeng, Shansi Province, are the two earliest extant primitive papers of the Western Han (206 BC-8 AD). The larger <i>Juyan</i> paper specimen is 21 x 19 cm. and the smaller 11.5 x 9 cm. with a coefficient of whiteness of 40%. The surface is coarse, uneven, and fluffed, and the texture incohesive. The raw material, hemp and ramie fibers with ramie in greater proportion, was treated mechanically in water but shows no evidence of sheet forming, molding, or drying. The texture of <i>Fufeng</i> paper (largest specimen 6.8 x 7.2 cm.), made of similar materials, is more cohesive than that of <i>Juyan</i> paper and the degree of pulping higher. The fibers show evidence of simple cutting and pounding processes but the surface is uneven and unsuitable for writing. Paper of such quality could not have substituted for other writing supports such as wooden or bamboo strips, or silk. During the Eastern Han (25-220 AD) papermaking underwent great changes. The earliest extant paper with writing, excavated in 1974 at Hantanbo, Wuwei, Gansu Province, has well-mixed fibrous material with an average fiber length of 4-5 mm. and thickness of 0.07 mm., and an even and cohesive texture. The smoothness and cohesion prove that it was made via processes of washing, soaking, pounding, sheet forming, pressing and drying. One side is coated with a pasty sizing substance.