There is controversy as to whether movable type printing belongs to Koreans. They looted our Dragon Boat Festival, and said they invented movable type operation, paper, and acupuncture. As Chinese, we know that it is impossible. However, no matter what the controversy unfolds, we are still in awe of the inventions of the ancients. Then let me introduce you to one of this invention. It is a movable type print.
Movable type printing is one of the four great inventions in China. It was invented after the practices of the Chinese for a long time. Since paper was invented in the Han dynasty, writing materials were much more convenient than before. Before the Han Dynasty, the writing materials were oracle bones, bamboo for elder, which would waste time and resources. Around 600 AD, people took a hint from stamp carving and invented the first block printing.
The principle was simple. People just needed to attach a handwritten paper to a thick, smooth board. The carving workers cut out the blanks and then the characters appeared. During work, people spread ink over these characters and then draped a paper over them. After that, people slowly brushed the paper with their hands and then the writing was left on the paper. Although bulk printing had a great impact on cultural diffusion, it still had obvious disadvantages. This situation made people transform printing technology. Therefore, Mr. Bi invented movable type printing in the Northern Song Dynasty. Before the invention of this technology, Mr. Bi summarized the experience and experimented repeatedly. Therefore, the technology invented by Mr. Bi would improve the weakness of block printing and it became one of the four great inventions in China.
The use of this print was flexible. Block printing can print hundreds, even thousands of books, but it should prepare a lot of writing characters. What about movable type printing? You can avoid the weakness of the first. People just needed to prepare enough fonts and then they could print. Plus, it was reusable and easy to maintain because it just needed a smaller space. From this point, we know that it was better than block printing. Movable type printing improved printing efficiency. However, this technology did not earn the respect of society or the ruler. Worse still, this technology didn’t catch on after his death, but it skyrocketed. That is the introduction of movable type printing. I wish you understand it more deeply.
