Printing
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Before modern paper was invented in ancient China, recording the writing was a great consuming of labor and time, because the text had to be engraved on animal bones, stones, bronze or bamboo. In Egypt and the Classical West, papyrus paper existed, but the Chinese did not have this until Cai Lun (Lun Cai in English format) during the Eastern Han Dynasty around 105 AD invented modern paper, made from sheets of matted bast fibers screened from water on nets. After paper was invented, it became clear to Chinese writers that they could copy writing engraved on stones with ink and the paper, and by the 9th century many Chinese books were printed, first with whole pages carved from wood or stone, in woodblock printing. Although the complete stone or wood plate could be used multiple time for printing many copies, the text was fixed, and it took a long time to carve the master block. Therefore when the movable type printing press emerged in Song dynasty, it addressed this problem, although Chinese has so many characters that for centuries in actual practice woodblock printing remained popular and less expensive for most Chinese publishers. The movable type printing press was invented by a civilian named Bi Sheng 畢昇(990-1051) around 1041-1048 AD in the Northern Song dynasty, China. Bi Sheng used the characters for “live word(活字)” to describe the type pieces, implying that these punch pieces could be moved. Blocks for each character allowed flexible typesetting and quick changes to type arrangement, and also allowed printers to reuse their blocks for other printing jobs. Printing articles became simple and convenient. The inventions of paper, woodblock-printing, and then movable-type printing allowed a massive increase in the production of written records, and accelerated the spreading of literacy and knowledge through the society. Shen Kuo 沈括 (1031–1095) (Kuo Shen in Western format), a scientist from the Song Dynasty described the processes of making a movable type printing press in his writing,《Dream Pool Essays (meng xi bi tan)夢溪筆談》: ...... the translation for the general idea of this article on printing instructions is as follows: first engrave the character on the clay block, the embossed character is as thin as the thickness of a coin, one word for one block, then harden the clay word blocks by firing them, and for the purpose of typesetting, a word can be reproduced with a few more identical blocks. Two iron plates are the basic requirement for taking turns during the typesetting. First, spread a layer of mixture of confections including turpentine, wax, and ashes on the top of an iron plate for gluing. Next, set an iron frame on the iron plate, then place the word blocks inside the frame for typesetting. Once the blocks are filled in one iron plate, place the iron plate into the fire to melt the mixture, then use a flat board to press down on the surface of the word blocks. The word blocks will be fixed neatly after the mixture cools down. The benefit of this type of printing is it allows a massive printing in a short time, simply by brushing ink on top of the clay word blocks, laying a piece of paper, and pressing down gently. When one iron plate is on duty for printing process, another iron plate can take place for typesetting. After the printing work is completed, to remove word blocks out of the iron plate, simply put the iron plate in the fire. Once the heat has softened the mixture, then the clay word blocks can be removed. The movable type printing press was invented in Europe by a goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg and his associates in Strasbourg (now in France), which was at that time a city in the German part of the Holy Roman Empire. Before 1450, the printing machine was still in a testing stage, but Gutenberg certainly had his machine ready to print by then, because it is mentioned in a lawsuit brought against him by his business partner in Strasbourg. Later in 1450, Gutenberg returned to his birthplace of Mainz, and reopened his printing business. Gutenberg had his first perfect printed books, such as the bible. Unlike Chinese clay word blocks, Gutenberg used a metal alloy of zinc, lead, and antimony to make his word blocks, and turned the printing process into mechanical reproducing of pages. This technology was far beyond Chinese movable type printing press, and began an information revolution in Europe through the late 15th century.
Back to the World History Timeline in English Back to the Historylines home page. Articles of French history:Eiffel tower, Louvre, Versailles, Notre-Dame de Paris, Paris Opera house. Articles of Chinese history: oil well, abacus, compass, gunpowder, first dictionary, paper money, wheelbarrow
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