Auther：2023-08-22
Before printing was invented, a scholar had to copy characters one by one if he wanted to get a new book. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, block technology was invented, which improved the speed of printing.
In block technology, Chinese characters were engraved on a wooden plate and coated with Chinese ink, and then covered with paper to print. Block technology sped up the printing of books, but was still impractical because engraving blocks was time-consuming, such blocks could not be easily preserved, and misplaced words could not be easily corrected.During the Northern Song Dynasty, Bi Sheng finally invented movable-type printing. He engraved the characters on small pieces of clay, and heated them until they became hard movable characters. Such movable characters could be repeatedly used for the type setting and printing of different printed sheets. This method was both economical and timesaving, ushering in a new age of printing. In the development afterwards, clay used to make movable types was replaced with tin, wood, copper, lead and so on. So to speak, mankind had been using Bi Sheng's movable-type print until the emergence of the electronic typeset system in the 20th century.
China's movable-type printing first spread eastward into Korea and Japan, and then westward into Persia and Egypt, and at last, across the world. The invention of printing greatly sped up the development of exchanges between cultures of all the countries throughout the world.
