Bi Sheng

China had a significantly larger population than Europe, China was the home to one hundred to one hundred thirty million people, whereas Europe had only fifty to fifty-five million people in the fifteenth century (Kennedy 4). China had been severely deterred when the Mongol hordes entered their civilization and in the aftermath of Kublai Khan invading their country. However, the Ming dynasty surfaced in 1368. The Ming were able to bring the empire back together by finally defeating the Mongols, and by restoring old Chinese order and tradition. With the Mongols being defeated, the Chinese made leaps and bounds in the world of technology, creating inventions that were far ahead of their time. From an early time, there were very large libraries in China. In order to create the books that existed those libraries, the Chinese created printing by movable type all the way back in the eleventh century. This segued into the use of paper money, which quickened the flow of commerce, which resulted from the increase of trade due to “… canal building and population pressures…” (Kennedy 6). Perhaps what is most impressive about Ming China was their overseas exploration. The most prominent of

It wasn't until the third century when the secret art of papermaking began to get out of China, first to Vietnam and then Tibet. “Taught by Chinese papermakers, Tibetans began to make their own paper as a replacement for their traditional writing materials” (Georgia Tech). It was introduced in Korea in the forth century and spread to Japan in sixth century. There, during the eighth century, the Empress Shotuka undertook a massive project consisting of printing a million prayers - Dharani - on individual sheets of

The printing press was an interesting and world changing machine that was used for the mass production of written works for distribution. Such a revolutionary process actually worked through an easy process that included only a few steps. First, every letter had to have been carved into a steel object known as a punch. These punches were eventually hammered into a piece of copper otherwise known as a blank. The blank was used as a mold for a mixture of molten alloys created by Gutenberg who was once a stonecutter and a goldsmith; the mixture consisted of lead, antimony and bismuth. This mixture of metals created an alloy that was easily cooled and handled, but strong enough not to wear down over repeated use. In their creation, the base sizes for the letters had to be determined and marked out ahead of time. Wider letters had wider basis, such as the difference between a capital z and a lower case l. The blocks

Before the printing press people had written books, articles, and newspapers meticulously by hand. Generally monks produced the books for the Church in the process of wood engraving.This technique included letters and illustrations cut on blocks of wood.Then required each block to be immersed in ink and pressed into sheets of paper. Wood engraving was a laborious process that people had no patience for, but when Johannes Gutenberg had invented an efficient way of printing in mid 15th century, everything changed. Gutenberg first experimented with typography (letterpress printing). This gave him an idea to cut metal blocks within a machine, to speed up the printing process. The movement of the metal blocks to form words and sentences was known as the movable type machine. Johannes Gutenberg innovation spread drastically throughout the European society when he published his first printed book.

The earliest printing in China was the block printing method in the first Century B.C., where the individual sheets of paper were pressed against wooden blocks that had text and illustrations carved into them. This process could print hundreds and even thousands of copies, this technology played a significant role in promoting the spread of culture. A block carver named Bi Sheng made movable types with clay during the period from1004 to 1048. This method each type was carved with one character and the types could be set independently according to contents of different articles. After printing, the movable types could be reused and this improved technology is called movable-type printing. (LAN, 2008)

Each block was its own letter or character and it was very inefficient. This method of printing is known as movable type. This technique was used in Asia hundreds of years before Gutenberg. Gutenberg used a casting and metal alloy system to make movable type much more efficient.

In the 700s they made block printing and it was carved on a single block

Before the invention of paper it was very costly to produce and purchase books, the man called Hui Shi was a scholar and needed five whole carts to transport his books needed for teaching, not only were these books big but were also very heavy and had to be laid down on the floor or on a desk to turn the pages. The books were made of thick wood and used a lot of effort to make, Cai Lun wanted to create a cheaper and easier solution to making books. After lots of attempts of mixing different things together he finally realised what he could combine to create a lightweight and inexpensive writing surface that would change the world

I met Shiyi Wang and Luheng Ding in 2011. They rented rooms in my house at that time. We would see each other often in a daily basis, since they live at my house.

Johannes Gutenberg, a German inventor, has brought together an exquisite machine that he calls the printing press. The function of the printing press is using blocks with ink as a faster and more efficient way of printing. How does the printing press work? Well, type blocks are set up by a frame to make words. These blocks are set backwards so they have a mirror effect when they are transferred. Once all of the blocks are in place, ink has to be put onto these blocks now. Then the paper, yes, paper, is pressed onto the blocks and the ink that was once on the word blocks is now on the paper (“The Invention of the Printing Press”). Although Gutenberg is credited with the invention of the printing press, another version has been used before the

Paper is perhaps one of the most momentous and enduring innovations that were exchanged along the silk road from the east to the west. The invention of paper can be traced back to a man called Ts'ai Lun who was the Chief eunuch in the Imperial Chinese Court of the Han Dynasty . He combined hemp, bark of bamboo,mulberry trees, and fish nets to produce this unique material and by 4 CE, the use of paper as a writing material spread throughout China.

There are many Chinese inventions that allowed the printing of books. First, paper which was invented by the Han dynasty but was mass produced under the Tang was one of the most important things for printing. Second, in the A.D. 600s the process of cutting wooden blocks was invented and the entire page of characters were cut into the blocks. These blocks could be used to make many copies of something. Moveable type printing helped the Chinese with printing a lot. It was invented by Pi Sheng in the A.D. 1000s and each character used was a separate piece made of clay. Moveable type printing could be moved around to make sentences which was

The printing press had a greater historical impact in Europe than in China because Europe had a different purpose for it than China. Europe intended on having the printing press used for mass production, with a political agenda in mind. China wanted to use the printing press for a less general audience, and to preserve their religion. As can be seen from the Miniature Buddhist sutra from China used the printing press in a much more positive light.

Bi Sheng had tried to make woodblock printing, but it invented until Yuan dynasty a person called Wang Zhen made the woodblock printing, which has a tremendous influence on the Chinese publishing and printing industry.

The folding-fan “Bamboo in a Spring Thunderstorm” illustrates the artist’s characteristic and the enthusiastic poem to describe the meaning of this artwork. The folding fan is a popular subject and powerful of Confucian scholars in ancient China. The poem and the painting is an illustration of the artist’s feeling. Bamboo forest in this painting shows a powerful meaning of the entire painting. Bamboo was honored in feudal China because it shows a powerful standing of a gentleman that is unbendable. Tang Yin also incorporated the Tang and Song landscape style on his artwork. However, the bamboo in this painting illustrate the powerful meaning of the nature. His artwork is related to the Song dynasty Neo-Confucian idea of Shan Shui art