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Movable Type Printing

Type Object Region China Time c. 1040

Bi Sheng invented clay movable type during the Qingli era (c. 1040–1048); Shen Kuo recorded the process in Dream Pool Essays (c.…

Timeline

  1. c. 1040–1048Huangzhou, Northern Song · HuanggangBi Sheng carved clay characters as thin as a coin's rim, fired them hard, composed them in an iron frame with pine resin, wax, and paper ash as adhesive, printing hundreds to thousands of copies quickly, with two forms alternated for efficiency.
  2. c. 1086–1088Mengxi Garden, Runzhou (where Shen Kuo wrote) · ZhenjiangIn volume 18 of Dream Pool Essays, Shen Kuo detailed Bi Sheng's movable type plate-making, composition, fire-pressing, and storage of characters by rhyme in boxes, the primary documentary source for later research on the origins of movable type printing.
  3. c. 1081–1090Kaifeng, Northern Song · KaifengDuring this period the Directorate of Education and commercial shops still mainly used woodblock printing; movable type did not widely replace it due to high type-making costs and the vastness of the Chinese character repertoire, but the technical information entered scholars' knowledge through Shen Kuo's work.

Sources