|
The printed word is a part of everyday life. You might read the comics in the newspaper in the morning, skim through a magazine at the bus stop, and then do research using books from the media center for your social studies class. Books, magazines, and newspapers are printed and read in thousands of languages in hundreds of nations across the world. It may be hard to imagine a time when the printed word was not so common. A time when books were highly valued and expensive- a rare treasure that only the rich could afford. It was a Chinese invention that helped to change books from being rare and expensive to being common and available to most people.
Early Printing: Hand Carved Symbols
The written Chinese language is very different from written English. In English we use twenty-six letters that stand for sounds. The Chinese, however, developed a system of symbols called characters that stand for words, ideas, and sounds. Each word or idea, such as “horse” or “love”, has it’s own symbol. There are symbols just for sounds, too. This type of written language resulted in the creation of thousands of symbols.
The first “writers” carved symbols into pieces of animal bone or stone. Later, ink was invented that could be applied to paper, animal skins, stone or wood using brushes. The problem with these methods was that every written letter or document had to be hand written. If twenty copies were needed, all twenty copies had to be written completely by hand. It was very time consuming and meant that not many copies of documents, government papers, books, or poetry were made.
Printing Improvements: Chinese Stamps
The Chinese invented several ways for books and documents to be created more easily and that did not rely on individual hand written symbols. The printing technique they developed was very similar to stamps used today to put a message or picture on a piece of paper. For instance, your teachers may have a “Good Work!” stamp they put on homework.
The first type of stamps created by the Chinese were made out of stone. Carvers would carve symbols into the stone and then brush the image with charcoal. When the stone was pressed onto a sheet of paper, the symbol in the stone would be transferred onto the paper. This method required them to carve things backwards to get whatever they were printing to come out correctly, which was difficult. Later, wooden blocks replaced the stone blocks since they were easier to carve and cheaper to make- although they didn’t last as long as stone blocks. Ink, which was more permanent and wouldn’t smudge off as much when dry, replaced charcoal. The ancient Chinese had to carve out every item that was to be printed which took a long time and only one page could be printed at a time. Still, it was an improvement that led to the first block printed book in China. It was a religious book, Diamond Sutra (a Buddhist chant), printed in the 1000s.
Later Chinese printers improved upon this method even more. They created trays to hold the stamps and could arrange the symbols in the tray like one huge stamp for an entire page of a book. Then multiple copies of the whole page could be printed at once. The tray was reset for page two, and multiple copies could again be printed. Finally, after all the pages were completed, they would be bound together as a book. In this way, many books could be printed at once.
|
|
Printing Techniques Spread West
Because of these techniques for printing, the Chinese were able to publish many books, documents, and papers that were spread widely among the people- both rich and poor. Other civilizations during the 1400s like European nation-states, kingdoms in the Islamic empire, and African kingdoms had written languages as well. The difference was that the Chinese had a technique for quickly and cheaply printing their writings. During the 1300 and 1400s trade contact between China and other civilizations increased. As a result of this increase, many Chinese inventions spread around the world, including printing techniques. Johann Gutenburg is the European given credit for adapting the Chinese printing techniques to the English language. The first book he printed in this new style was a Christian Bible. It was not long however, until many more books, newspapers, and documents were printed and spread across Europe. Within one hundred years, Europeans both rich and poor, were able to purchase books, newspapers, and letters in any major city in Europe such as London, Paris, and Rome.
Today, libraries are full of books can be borrowed for free. Imagine how few newspapers, books, and magazines we would have if each one had to be written by hand or each word carved out individually. When people talk about inventions that greatly changed the world, the invention of printing methods is often mentioned as a major accomplishment toward information sharing, record keeping, and just for entertainment. How different our lives would be without it!
* About These Documents
This collection of documents was developed in collaboration with MCPS and ___. They provide additional information and explanation of the political, economic, and social systems of each dynasty. Students and teachers may find them helpful when completing the Dynasty Project in the sixth grade Unit 3 guide The Impact of Economics in Ancient and Modern China. The additional readings are provided to also supplement student understand of the achievements of ancient China and their influence on other civilizations.
|
