Wang Zhen's Wooden Movable Type

Timeline

1. c. 1300–1310Dongping Circuit · ShandongWang Zhen carved characters from pear, jujube, and other woods, designed type trays with compartments sorted by rhyme, and used revolving racks for typesetting, improving the efficiency of character selection and typesetting, and completing trial printings of books such as the Nong Shu.
2. 1313Dadu · North ChinaIn the final volume of the Nong Shu, Methods of Making Characters and Printing, Wang Zhen described in detail the processes of carving wooden movable characters, typesetting, inking and printing, and disassembling the type, making it one of the earliest surviving documents to systematically discuss wooden movable-type technology.
3. c. 1368–1800Jiangnan printing centers · JiangnanFrom the Ming dynasty onward, bookshops, clan genealogies, and official compilations widely adopted wooden movable type; the type trays, revolving racks, and other processes recorded by Wang Zhen became common paradigms for later movable-type printing.