Cai Lun (Traditional Chinese: 蔡伦; Simplified Chinese: 蔡伦; Hanyu Pinyin: Cài Lún; Wade-Giles: Ts'ai Lun) (ca. AD 50—121), courtesy name Jingzhong (敬仲), was a Chinese eunuch, who is conventionally regarded as the inventor of paper, in forms recognizable in modern times as paper (as opposed to Egyptian papyrus).