Movable type printing: the revolution of civilization’s leading technology

News:China’s movable type printing is a major revolution in the history of world printing. It began with block printing in the Sui Dynasty, was developed and perfected by Bi Sheng during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, and finally produced movable type printing, which was spread to Europe by the Mongols. As one of my country's four great inventions, China's movable type printing is the forerunner of human civilization, creating conditions for the spread and exchange of knowledge around the world.

  The development of science and technology in the Song Dynasty promoted the final formation of movable type printing. Correspondingly, the popularization and use of movable type printing promoted the rapid spread and development of culture, further improving the level of science and technology and culture in the Song Dynasty.

  Movable type printing is the pioneer of civilization

  Promoted the spread of world culture

  Song-printed books are recognized as the most beautiful and exquisite among ancient Chinese books. The reason is that their engraving quality is good, their layout is beautiful, their engraving techniques are excellent, and their calligraphy is exquisite. They have always been cherished by collectors of later generations.

  The development of woodblock printing reached its peak in the Song Dynasty. At that time, four major woodblock printing centers were formed in Bianjing (Kaifeng), Sichuan, Zhejiang, and Fujian. Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, and Hangzhou, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, were the most prosperous.

  Woodblock printing is beautiful, but the production is cumbersome and time-consuming. It takes at least several years to train a skilled woodblock worker, and it takes a lot of time to carve a page of woodblocks, and these blocks can only be used to print one book. Cannot be used multiple times. More importantly, if one word is engraved incorrectly, the entire engraving will be invalidated. Therefore, engraving-printed books are very expensive, requiring both labor and cost.

  The biggest advantage of movable type printing is "efficiency". Each character can be reused and can be freely combined and matched. This change greatly improves the efficiency of printing books. Mass production and rapidity allow book printing costs to be greatly reduced, allowing more people to have access to books and promoting the spread of knowledge and cultural development.

  However, Bi Sheng, the main inventor of this important technology, was not well-known at the time, and movable type printing did not attract enough attention from people at the time. There are very few records about Bi Sheng and his movable type printing technology in historical materials. "History of the Song Dynasty" There is no record of Bi Sheng. His invention was not promoted in the Northern Song Dynasty and was almost buried in history. It was not until the Southern Song Dynasty that anyone began to use this movable type printing technology.

  It was Shen Kuo who really made people understand movable type printing and Bi Sheng. It was he who realized the value of movable type printing and the technological revolution it would inevitably bring, so that the technology of movable type printing would not be covered with dust, and it would eventually become famous all over the world and invest in it. practical.