The process of invention and development of block printing

Color overprinting in the early Northern Song Dynasty in Sichuan popular "Jiaozi", that is, two colors of ink overprinted paper money. In the 14th century, the Notes on the Jing of Jin, printed in red and ink on Zhongxing Road (today's Jiangling City, Hubei Province) in the Yuan Dynasty, is the earliest extentcopy of the double color printing. By the end of the 16th century, the double color printing was widely popular.

Block printing technology

The text, the image is engraved on the board. Then brush the ink on the printing plate, spread the paper, and then give the appropriate pressure on the paper, so that the printing of the text on the plate to the paper, after lifting the paper, a printing is completed, which is the basic principle of block printing. If the process of engraving printing is introduced in detail, that is, using thin paper to write the plate according to certain specifications - correction - the written version is pasted on the board - engraving - brush printing - binding.

At the end of Sui Dynasty and the beginning of Tang Dynasty, the earliest engravings of engravings have long been lost, and we can only infer it according to the records of the literature. These documents mainly include:

Sui Fei Changfang (577-610 years) in the "Three treasures of the Past dynasties" book recorded: "Kai Emperor 13 years (594) on December 8. Sui Emperor Buddha disciples name respect white,... is a Zhou ceremony often, insult the holy trace, tower Yu destroyed, like the fall of the... Do people's parents, think of life. Pay attention to respect, and then worship. The relics of the abandoned images are written and carved according to the orders." Here said "carving" is engraved Buddha Buddha sutras. Of course, there are different views on this.

Lu Shen of Ming Dynasty (1477-1544) said in the book "Hefen Yan Idle Record" : "Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty opened Emperor 13 years on December 8, imperial rescripts, read orders carved. The printing of this book began before King Feng Ying."

Ming Hu Yinglin (1551-1602) in "Shaoshi Shan Fang Bi Cong" also clearly pointed out: "the carving originated in the Sui dynasty, line in the Tang Dynasty, spread to the five dynasties, good at the Song people." The invention and development of block printing are more specific.

In recent years, Feng Pengsheng's "Introduction to Chinese woodblock Watermarking" put forward a printed matter of the Sui Dynasty (607 years), which was confirmed as a carved printed matter of the Sui Dynasty, and the color in the picture was hand-painted (see exhibits).

To sum up, the invention of block printing can be determined as the late Sui and early Tang dynasties. From 590 to 640 AD.

A treasure trove of early prints

Dunhuang sutra Cave

In 1900, the Dunhuang Sutra Cave was discovered, containing a large number of documents of the Tang and five Dynasties, in addition to a large number of manuscripts, there are also a lot of printed matter, so that people can see the style of printed matter at that time.

After the discovery of the cave, the British, the French, the Japanese, and the Russians came here and stole a large number of precious documents, of which almost all printed materials were stolen by foreigners, and the people were all sad.

In 1907, the British Stein led an expedition to Dunhuang and stole a large number of documents, including the famous printed "Vajrayna Prajna Sutra". The original is now in the British Library in London, and it is a very rare piece in the history of printing. It is mounted on a reel and has beautifully engraved illustrations on the front. After the printing age and the name of the printer, the text is skillfully carved and exquisite, and the printing ink is uniform and thick. It is generally regarded as a product of the development of printing to a very high level. From the signature, it can be seen that its engraving age is the ninth year of Tang Xiantong (868 years), and Wang Jie contributed to the printing. It is 5.25 meters in length and consists of 7 sheets of printing paper, each of which is 26.67 cm high and 75 cm wide. Among the printed materials of the Tang Dynasty found in the cave of Tibetan Scriptures, there are almanacs of the fourth year of Ganfu (877) and the second year of Zhonghe (882), as well as the calligraphy book "The Tang Dynasty publishes errors to complement deficiencies and cut rhymes".

Print of the sutra cave. There are about dozens of pieces, reflecting the printing of the middle and late Tang Dynasty, which has developed to a very high level. Not only excellent engraving, but also complete variety.

In recent decades, the printed matter of Tang Dynasty has been unearthed again and again. This makes the Tang Dynasty printed matter has included the early Tang, the middle Tang, the late Tang various periods.

In 1974, in a tomb of the Tang Dynasty in the western suburbs of Xi 'an, a printed matter "Sanskrit Dronyi Sutra Mantra" was unearthed. It was square, printed on hemp paper, 27 cm high and 26 cm wide, with a blank box, incantations were printed around the box for circular reading, and lotus flowers, constellation and other graphics were printed around the box. Archaeologists determined this printed matter to be printed in the early Tang Dynasty (early 7th century).