Invented in China by Bi Sheng
Bi Sheng
Bì Shēng was a Chinese artisan and inventor of the world's first movable type technology, one of the Four Great Inventions of Ancient China. Bi Sheng's system was made of Chinese porcelain and was invented between 1041 and 1048 during the medieval Song dynasty. Bisheng Community in Wenquan, Huanggang, Hubei is named for Bi Sheng. The Bi Sheng crater located in the LAC-7 quadrant near the n…
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song often came into conf…
Chinese characters
Chinese characters (simplified Chinese: 汉字; traditional Chinese: 漢字; pinyin: hànzì; literally: 'Han characters') are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. They have been adapted to write a number of other Asian languages. They remain a key component of the Japanese writin…
Who invented movable type in China?
Bi Sheng (970-1051) developed the ceramic movable-type system for printing in China during the Northern Song Dynasty (1041-1048). It was not until four centuries later that German Johannes Gutenberg invented the metal movable-type system for printing.
What is the significance of the invention of movable type?
Movable type printing is one of the four great inventions in China and symbolizes the great technological revolution in printing history. In the Song dynasty, Bi Sheng invented the clay movable type, which marks the birth of movable type printing.
What is movable-type printing?
Movable-type printing is an ancient Chinese system and technology, developed through long-term practice and research. Its invention marked a great technological revolution in the history of printing. Craftsmen need to cut types in relief, then select characters according to the manuscript, arrange them in a type case, and paint ink on the surface.
What is movable type?
A case of cast metal type pieces and typeset matter in a composing stick Modern, factory-produced movable type was available in the late 19th century. It was held in the printing shop in a job case, a drawer about 2 inches high, a yard wide, and about two feet deep, with many small compartments for the various letters and ligatures.
What is Chinese movable type printing?
Movable type was never widely used in China because whole-block printing was less expensive, but when movable type reached Europe in the 15th century, it revolutionized the communication of ideas. Movable type was first created by Bi Sheng (990-1051), who used baked clay, which was very fragile.
What is movable type in Ancient China?
Between 1041 and 1048 the Chinese alchemist Bi Sheng (畢昇) invented movable type made of an amalgam of clay and glue hardened by baking, similar to Chinese porcelain. He composed texts by placing the types side by side on an iron plate coated with a mixture of resin, wax, and paper ash.
What was movable type used for?
A printing system based on the use of separate elements to reproduce the individual symbols on a page. This technique was pioneered in China using ceramic pieces in the 11th century; the first movable metal type was produced in Korea in the 13th century, where the first book using this method was printed in 1377.
Which Chinese dynasty invented movable type?
the Northern Song DynastyInscribed in. As one of the Four Great Inventions in ancient China, movable-type printing technique was invented during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty (1041-1048 AD).
Is movable type still used today?
Invented by Gutenberg around 1450, and still in use, the movable type has survived numerous technological advances and it's still in use, although to a considerably lesser extent, which is pretty good for a piece of 600-year old technology.
How did movable type impact the world?
In the 15th century, an innovation enabled people to share knowledge more quickly and widely. Civilization never looked back. Knowledge is power, as the saying goes, and the invention of the mechanical movable type printing press helped disseminate knowledge wider and faster than ever before.
Why was movable type important in Song Dynasty?
Throughout the Song Dynasty there were many advances and inventions. One very notable invention was printing. Woodblock printing and Movable-type printing allowed people to produce books or texts quicker than handwritten ones. This helped spread medical texts among other texts in a more timely manner.
What is movable type machine?
Instead of using wood blocks, Gutenberg used metal instead. This became known as a "movable type machine," since the metal block letters could be moved around to create new words and sentences. With this machine, Gutenberg made the very first printed book, which was naturally a reproduction of the Bible.
How did the Chinese print?
Woodblock printing started in China in 593 CE. Traditionally, there have been two main printing techniques in East Asia: woodblock printing (xylography) and moveable type printing. In the woodblock technique, ink is applied to letters carved upon a wooden board, which is then pressed onto paper.
How was movable type printing made in ancient China?
Printing was one of the great inventions of ancient China. Woodblock printing began in China in the 700s and 800s. Woodblock printing involves carving the characters onto a wooden board, then brushing ink onto the board, and pressing the paper onto it. Entire pages were carved on separate pieces of wood.
Which country first produced metal movable type?
The invention of movable metal type is regarded as a technological revolution that contributed to the civilization of humanity. It was invented during Korea's thirteenth-century Goryeo dynasty. Find out how it was invented, and see the oldest book printed with movable metal type.
When was the movable type publicly released *?
2001Movable Type Release History. The following tables include all publicly announced Movable Type versions since the first release in fall 2001.
How was movable type printing made in ancient China?
Printing was one of the great inventions of ancient China. Woodblock printing began in China in the 700s and 800s. Woodblock printing involves carving the characters onto a wooden board, then brushing ink onto the board, and pressing the paper onto it. Entire pages were carved on separate pieces of wood.
Why was movable type important in Song Dynasty?
Throughout the Song Dynasty there were many advances and inventions. One very notable invention was printing. Woodblock printing and Movable-type printing allowed people to produce books or texts quicker than handwritten ones. This helped spread medical texts among other texts in a more timely manner.
How does movable type printing work?
In Gutenberg's printing press, movable type was arranged over a flat wooden plate called the lower platen. Ink was applied to the type, and a sheet of paper was laid on top. An upper platen was brought down to meet the lower platen. The two plates pressed the paper and type together, creating sharp images on the paper.
Who created the movable type printing press?
Bi ShengMovable type / InventorBì Shēng was a Chinese artisan, engineer, and inventor of the world's first movable type technology, with printing being one of the Four Great Inventions of Ancient China. Bi Sheng's system was made of Chinese porcelain and was invented between 1039 and 1048 during the medieval Song dynasty. Wikipedia
Who invented the movable type system?
More than four centuries earlier, the Chinese inventor Bi Sheng (990-1051 AD) created the world's first known movable type system for printing.
What type of clay did Bi Sheng use?
Bi Sheng carved individual characters on identical pieces of fine clay. Each movable type had on it only one Chinese character which was carved in relief on a small block of moistened clay. After the block had been hardened by fire, the type became durable and could be used anytime and anywhere.
How many characters did Bi Sheng make?
Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5) It did not take Bi Sheng long to make 30,000 characters in common use. Movable type printing developed very fast and spread to Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and finally to Europe, while based on the clay type, the type made of wood, lead, tin, and copper gradually appeared.
Is Bi Sheng's clay hard?
The movable type pieces could be glued to an iron plate and easily detached from the plate. Contrary to many claims, Bi Sheng's clay types were not fragile but in fact, 'hard and tough as horn' as described by Bao Shicheng (1775-1885). 81,738. • Promoted Content.
Why did movable type not advance in China?
Because the Chinese alphabet is primarily pictographic and ideographic rather than alphabetic, movable type did not advance in China at this time. " Shen Kuo wrote that during the Qingli reign period (1041–1048), under Emperor Renzong of Song (1022–1063), an obscure commoner and artisan known as Bi Sheng ...
Who invented the movable type?
Between 1041 and 1048 the Chinese alchemist Bi Sheng (畢昇) invented movable type made of an amalgam of clay and glue hardened by baking, similar to Chinese porcelain. He composed texts by placing the types side by side on an iron plate coated with a mixture of resin, wax, and paper ash.
What type of clay did Bi Sheng use?
Bi Sheng carved individual characters on identical pieces of fine clay. Each movable type had on it only one Chinese character which was carved in relief on a small block of moistened clay.
Can movable type be glued to iron plate?
The movable type pieces could be glued to an iron plate and easily detached from the plate.
What is movable type?
Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric characters or punctuation marks) usually on the medium of paper .
Who made the clay movable type?
In this way the two forms alternated and the printing was done with great rapidity. In 1193, Zhou Bida, an officer of Southern Song Dynasty, made a set of clay movable-type method according to the method described by Shen Kuo in his Dream Pool Essays, and printed his book Notes of The Jade Hall ( 《玉堂雜記》 ).
Why was the Gutenberg Bible movable type?
For alphabetic scripts, movable-type page setting was quicker than woodblock printing. The metal type pieces were more durable and the lettering was more uniform, leading to typography and fonts. The high quality and relatively low price of the Gutenberg Bible (1455) established the superiority of movable type in Europe and the use of printing presses spread rapidly. The printing press may be regarded as one of the key factors fostering the Renaissance and, due to its effectiveness, its use spread around the globe .
When was the first book printed with movable metal type?
In 1193, a book in the Song dynasty documented how to use the copper movable type. The oldest extant book printed with movable metal type, Jikji, was printed in Korea in 1377 during the Goryeo dynasty. The diffusion of both movable-type systems was, to some degree, limited to primarily East Asia.
When was the first movable type book made?
The world's first movable type printing technology for paper books was made of porcelain materials and was invented around AD 1040 in China during the Northern Song Dynasty by the inventor Bi Sheng (990–1051). The earliest printed paper money with movable metal type to print the identifying code of the money was made in 1161 during the Song Dynasty. In 1193, a book in the Song dynasty documented how to use the copper movable type. The oldest extant book printed with movable metal type, Jikji, was printed in Korea in 1377 during the Goryeo dynasty.
Which dynasty used bronze type in printing books?
During the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), Hua Sui in 1490 used bronze type in printing books.
How did Korean metal printing differ from European printing?
However, Korean movable metal type printing differed from European printing in the materials used for the type, punch, matrix, mould and in method of making an impression. The techniques for bronze casting, used at the time for making coins (as well as bells and statues) were adapted to making metal type.
What is the wood type printing of China?
Wooden movable-type printing of China is one more solid proof of the spectacular ingenuity of the ancient people who interacted with wood to create not only practical but also revolutionary inventions.
What are the four inventions of Ancient China?
Ancient China has earned world recognition for the Four Great Inventions, namely the compass, gunpowder, printing, and nonetheless, papermaking.
What did Bi Sheng do as an apprentice?
While Bi Sheng eagerly embraced his passion for working with wood as an apprentice, he couldn’t stop wondering how the printing technique could be upgraded as it was rather inefficient and extremely laborious.
Where is the old printing house in China?
Thus, each weekend, a classroom is organized right next to the side of the old printing house in Rui’an, Zhejiang province.
What wood did the master craftsmen use?
The master craftsmen would use wood blocks of about 2 centimeters thickness that were cut off out of fine-grained pear or jujube trees. Next, the wood blocks had to be carved into a relief matrix.
Can China make progress without traditions?
No matter how much ahead of time a country like modern-day China is able to grow and develop, no real progress can be made without staying rooted to the traditions. It is traditions that make up the consciousness of a nation and they keep people close together not only in times of glory but also in times of despair.
Was printing on paper in ancient China?
With all of this in mind, even though the early form of printing on paper in ancient China existed, it was a rather low-product ive, as well as an extremely complicat ed technique, especially if many different materials had to be printed.
