Which technology appeared earlier, block printing or movable type printing?

Engraving printing is an important invention of ancient Chinese people, and it is a technology of engraving pictures and texts on plates for printing. Its development in China has gone through several stages, from seal, inkstone to engraving, and then to movable type. Wood with fine and solid grain, such as jujube and pear, is generally used as a plate for block printing.

Then saw the wood into pieces of boards, wrote the words to be printed on thin paper, and stuck them on the boards in turn. According to the strokes of each word, carved the embossed words one by one with a knife, so that the strokes of each word stood out on the boards. After the board is carved, you can print books.

Engraving printing was invented in the Tang Dynasty and was widely used in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. Although movable type printing was invented in Song Dynasty, block printing is still widely used.

Usage in Song Dynasty:

Ruling the country by culture In the Song Dynasty, several emperors attached great importance to cultural construction. Shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China in the Song Dynasty, they organized and compiled three large-scale series, namely, Tai Ping Guang Ji, Tai Ping Yulan and Wen Yuan Hua Ying, with a total volume of 2,500. Later, he compiled large-scale history books such as Yuan Gui and Zi Tong Zhi Jian.

He also carved a series of books in imperial academy, such as Shuo Wen Jie Zi, Thirteen Classics and Seventeen History. The prosperity of folk printing industry in Song Dynasty triggered the widespread circulation of books as commodities. In the history and typology of printing, private prints are called family prints, family prints, workshop prints, bookstore prints and so on.

Family block prints are mostly books written by literati and extended families by themselves or their ancestors, as well as books that they think are precious. Most of these prints are given away or sold at low prices, not for profit. For example, the son of the poet Lu You carved his father's poems many times and gave them to relatives and friends. In the folk printing industry. The most representative is the book engraving in the bookstore.