The evolution of printing

Printing is one of the four great inventions in ancient China. It began with engraving printing in the Sui Dynasty, developed and perfected by Bi Sheng in Song Renzong, resulting in movable type printing, which was spread to Europe by Mongols. Bi Sheng was also called the ancestor of printing by later generations. China's printing is the pioneer of modern human civilization, which has created conditions for the wide spread and exchange of knowledge. Printing first spread to Korea, Japan, Central Asia, West Asia and Europe.

During the Warring States Period (475 BC-22 BC 1 year), the specific process of the emergence and development of printing1and copper seal. Printing and dyeing technology also has great enlightenment to block printing. Printing and dyeing is to engrave the pattern on the board and print it on the cloth with dye. China's printing plates are divided into relief and hollowed-out versions. 1972 two pieces of printed yarn (about 165 BC) unearthed from the Han tomb at Mawangdui No.1 in Changsha, Hunan Province were printed by block printing. This technology may be earlier than Qin and Han Dynasties, but it can be traced back to the Warring States Period. After the invention of paper, this technology may be used in printing. As long as the cloth is turned into paper and the dye is turned into ink, the printed thing becomes block printing. In the stone chambers of Dunhuang, there are Buddha statues printed with convex plates and hollow plates in the Tang Dynasty.

2. Ge Hong, a famous alchemist in Jin Dynasty (AD 284-363), mentioned in his book Bao Puzi that Taoism used to be four inches square (13). 5× 13。 5) Woodprint 120 characters. This is already a small block.

3. In order to make Buddhist scriptures more vivid, Buddhists often print Buddha statues on the frontispiece of Buddhist scriptures, which is much more convenient than hand painting.

4. Inscription technology is very enlightening to the invention of engraving printing technology. The invention of stone carving has a long history. Ten-sided stone drums were discovered in Fengxiang, Shaanxi Province in the early Tang Dynasty. They are the stone carvings of Qin in the Spring and Autumn Period of the 8th century BC. Qin Shihuang went on patrol and carved stones in important places seven times. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, stone tablets prevailed. In the fourth year of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty (AD 175), Cai Yong suggested that the imperial court set up seven Confucian classic stone tablets in front of imperial academy, including The Book of Songs, The Book of Changes, The Book of Rites, The Spring and Autumn Annals, The Biography of the Ram and The Analects of Confucius. 90,000 words, carved on 46 stone tablets, each stone tablet is 175 high, 90 wide and 20 cm thick, with a capacity of 5,000 words. It took eight years to carve it all. Become a classic of scholars at that time. Many people compete to copy. Later, especially during the Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties, some people took advantage of being unprepared or unattended to print the scriptures on paper for their own use or sale. The results were widely circulated.

5. Rubbing is one of the important conditions for the production of printing technology. The ancients found that a slightly wet piece of paper was covered on the stone tablet and tapped with a soft mallet to make the paper fall into the concave part of the stone tablet. When the paper is dry, it is wrapped in cotton, dipped in ink, and tapped lightly on the paper, leaving the same black and white characters on the paper as the stone tablet. This method is simpler and more reliable than manual copying. So rubbing appeared.

Seal cutting, rubbing, printing and dyeing technologies are mutually inspired and blended, and with the experience and wisdom of our people, block printing technology came into being. Before the invention of printing, the spread of culture mainly depended on handwritten books. Handwriting is time-consuming and laborious, and it is easy to make mistakes and omissions. It not only hinders the development of culture, but also brings undue losses to the spread of culture. Seals and stone carvings provide direct experience enlightenment for printing, and the method of inking stone tablets with paper directly points out the direction for block printing. The development of printing in China has gone through two stages: block printing and movable type printing, which has presented a generous gift for the development of mankind. Printing is characterized by convenience and flexibility, saving time and effort. This is a major breakthrough in ancient printing.