The Creation and Development of Printing Technology

The Creation and Development of Printing Technology

From a historical perspective, most people agree that the formal use of the term printing began with the invention of woodblock printing.

woodblock printing 

As we all know, printing, papermaking, compass and gunpowder are called the the Four Great Inventions of ancient science and technology in China. The inventions of papermaking and printing are closely related. They have played a significant role in promoting the development of world civilization. In the era of handicrafts, China, as the birthplace of papermaking and printing, represented the highest level in this field at that time. The printing technology of many countries in the world has developed directly or indirectly under the influence of China's printing technology.

Paper is the main prerequisite for the development of printing technology. Without cheap and high-quality mass-produced paper, it is impossible to print and reproduce various texts and images on a large scale, and there is no material and technological foundation for the invention of printing technology. The invention of papermaking in China dates back to the reign of Emperor He of the Eastern Han Dynasty (105 AD in the first year of Yuanxing). At that time, Cai Lun absorbed the long-term exploration experience of his predecessors and successfully invented and manufactured "Cai Hou paper", which brought papermaking to a practical technical level and gradually eliminated the main recording medium - bamboo slips - from the historical stage.

In the Sui and Tang dynasties, there was a great development in the social economy, and there was a large demand for books such as historical records, agricultural books, medical books, and calligraphy. However, at that time, the replication of paper books mainly relied on manual copying. The speed of manual copying is very slow and inefficient, and repeated copying is prone to errors, which is in huge contradiction with the development of social economy, culture, and the increasing demand for books. Previously, seals and rubbings were widely used in society.

Through the invention and popularization of woodblock printing, books gradually transitioned from the era of "printed editions" to the era of "engraved editions", allowing thousands of books to be reproduced in an economical and fast printing method, greatly improving the efficiency of publishing and disseminating cultural information, and having an immeasurable impact on social development and human production and life.

Woodblock printing and later movable type printing were one of the most important technologies mastered and changed human society during the handicraft era.

In the Tang Dynasty, a type of document used by merchants for transactions and taxation appeared in the folk market, known as "printing paper". In the commercial center of Chang'an, merchants also sold almanacs, medical books, and calligraphy printed by merchants. The calendar is a necessity for farmers to engage in farming and has a wide range of needs. Local folk in Sichuan and northern Jiangsu have used "printed calendar days" (calendar books) to sell in the market.

Not long after the invention of woodblock printing, Buddhism first utilized it and engraved a large number of Buddhist scriptures, Buddha statues, and religious paintings. In the late Tang Dynasty, woodblock printing was already quite developed and widely used for printing various poems, contracts, calendars, Buddhist scriptures, Buddha statues, etc. The printing of early Buddhist texts was already very exquisite, with not only text but also various images. Especially various illustrations have reached a high level in design, drawing, and printing, while also laying the foundation for Chinese woodblock prints.

Technically speaking, the printing method of "woodblock printing" involves carving characters and images on wooden boards before printing, hence it is commonly referred to as woodblock printing. The plate material used for it is generally selected from jujube wood and pear wood that are suitable for carving. These woods have relatively high hardness and low moisture content, and are not easily deformed when made into plates. Making and carving plates is a highly technical job. Workers need to first saw the wood into equal sized wooden boards, draw the characters or illustrations to be printed on thin paper, and then stick them back to the wooden boards. Then, based on the strokes of each character, they use a knife to carve them into Yang characters one by one, so that the strokes or illustrations of each character protrude around the board and form a depression.

It is worth mentioning that due to the exquisite carving craftsmanship over time, woodblock engravers gradually retained writing fonts with brush strokes and transformed them into Song style printing fonts with sculptural line and foot strokes when carving fonts. This is also a significant development in the history of Chinese font design. After wood carving is completed, printing can begin. The entire printing process is divided into several steps: first, apply ink, dip the brush in the ink, and evenly brush the ink on the carved wooden board surface. Next is rubbing, using white paper to cover the board, and taking a clean brush to gently brush on the back of the paper to remove it. The printed text and page book are completed in this way. Finally, the printed pages were bound into a book, and a book was born. The invention of woodblock printing fundamentally facilitated the birth and development of the book printing and publishing industries. In the feudal era of China, woodblock printing has been prevalent throughout history. The woodblock printing of the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties reached a considerable level in terms of proofreading, writing, engraving, and printing processes. The most prominent achievement of woodblock printing in later development was color overprinting. Color printing was a complex and highly precise technique at that time. The key is the word 'accurate'. For example, if you want to print red and black colors, first take a block and accurately engrave the words that need to be printed in black in the appropriate place; In addition, take a plate of the same size and accurately engrave the red characters that need to be printed in the appropriate place. Each page is not the entire picture or layout content, only the parts in their respective colors. When printing, first print red on the first color plate with a piece of paper; Place this paper on another plate, ensuring that the frame matches perfectly with each other, and then print black. This completes a set of red and black color printed materials. When printing, the two plates cannot be precisely matched, or when engraving, the positions of the characters or images on the two plates are not accurately calculated and are slightly offset. Therefore, after printing, the two colors of characters will be uneven, making it difficult to read. The graphics will overlap and form a ball. If you want to use multiple colors, you can follow this method, but the more colors you use, the more difficult it is to print. It requires very precise printing every time, which requires extremely skilled techniques.

Woodblock printing and relief printing have opened up a new era in the history of Chinese printing, with great influence.

The Creation and Development of Printing Technology