Song Dynasty Woodblock Printing

Timeline

1. 700–800Chang'an · Shaanxi ProvinceWoodblock-printed items such as Buddhist scriptures and calendars appeared in the Tang; excavated artifacts like the Diamond Sutra from Dunhuang show that printing technique was already fairly mature, but a large-scale book industry had not yet formed.
2. 960–1127Kaifeng · Henan ProvinceThe Northern Song Directorate of Education, the Bureau of Archives, and various academies carved and printed Confucian classics and encyclopedias, while private printing workshops arose in Hangzhou, Chengdu, Fujian, and elsewhere, with clear division of labor among carving, printing, and binding.
3. 1180–1189Lin'an Prefecture (Hangzhou) · Liangzhe CircuitAfter the Southern Song retreated south, bookshops in Lin'an, Jianyang, and Sichuan published examination texts, medical prescriptions, novels, and Buddhist scriptures; blocks could be printed repeatedly, and woodblock printing became an infrastructure of urban commerce and culture.
4. 1200East Asia · East AsiaSong and Yuan woodblock techniques reached the Korean peninsula and Japan through monks, envoys, and the book trade, where traditions of temple scripture carving and secular publishing took shape, and woodblock craftsmanship continued for a long period.