What is the perfection and inheritance of printing?

After the invention of movable type printing by Bi A in the Northern Song Dynasty, through the efforts of successive dynasties, the raw materials of movable type have been expanded, the production process has been improved, and the printed materials have become more and more abundant.

The art of printing not only promoted social progress and the development of science and technology, but also, together with the written word, recorded and passed on the civilization of China and even the whole world.

With the modern scientific and technological development by leaps and bounds, printing technology is also rapidly changing face. In this process, Yangzhou's inheritance of traditional printing is unique.

Wang Zhen, an agronomist at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, combined his experience with the wooden movable type tested by Bi A during the Northern Song Dynasty, and recruited craftsmen to carve wooden movable type in Jingde, Anhui Province, which was finally carved into more than 30,000 pieces.

In 1298, Wang Zhen used wooden movable type to test print his own compilation of "Dade Jingde County Records". In less than a month to print 100, visible efficiency. This is the first recorded wooden movable type printed Fangzhi.

Wang Zhen created the wood type, was recorded in a book summarizing the experience of ancient agricultural production, "Nongshu", the book recorded the wood type of engraving, repairing the word, selecting the word, the word row, printing and other methods.

Wang Zhen in the printing technology, another contribution is the invention of the wheel type plate. Because in the original printing of the word picking process, tens of thousands of movable words lined up, the workers shuttle to take the word is very inconvenient. So he designed the wheel type tray, thus creating conditions for improving the efficiency of word picking and reducing labor intensity.

Wang Zhen with lightweight wood made of a large wheel, about 7 feet in diameter, the wheel axis is 3 feet high, the wheel is mounted on the wheel axis can be free to rotate.