Paper and printing

Our ancestors used a knot to write notes before they had words. It was the Shang Dynasty that was 3,000 years ago. With the earliest books in kind - the literature carved into the bones. A is the tortoise's plastron and carapace; the bone is the scapula of the cow. Inscribed on the oracle bone with hieroglyphics, it records the war, hunting, and rain. In addition to the Oracle book, there are books carved or cast on bronzes - Jin Wen, a book carved on the stone drum - Shi Guwen.

The official book in China is made of bamboo and wood. It also appears in the Shang Dynasty. It is to make trees and bamboo rafts, called wood slips and bamboo slips, and write on them. Each book should be made up of a lot of simple, braided with a rope or a belt. Such a book is very cumbersome. It is said that the instruments that Qin Shihuang reviewed every day weighed about 120 pounds. In the Western Han Dynasty, someone wrote an article to the Emperor Wu of Han, sharing 3000 bamboo slips, and it was necessary for two strong warriors to carry them into the court. In the late spring and autumn, people wrote the words on the silk, called the script, which can be rolled up. A book is a roll of silk.

According to legend, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was invented by a eunuch named Cai Lun. It has been nearly 2000 years since then. Cai Lun invented the paper when he was at the court equipment manufacturing office. He made hemp paper from hemp material, made grain paper from the branches, and made mesh paper from the old fishing net. The specific method is: smashing various materials into a paste, and then spreading them thinly, and after removing the water, it becomes a sheet, which is paper.

The invention of paper also brought about changes in writing instruments. Brushes, fountain pens, pencils, ball pens, etc. were all designed to fit on paper.

By the time of the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, paper had become the most important material. In this process, the level of saving paper text is also increasing. At that time, the paper used to write the text was often dyed first, mainly to prevent insects and decay. For example, the Tang Dynasty scriptures of the Dunhuang Shishi have been preserved for more than 1,000 years, and although they are damaged, the paper is intact and there is no insects.

Another great invention brought about by the advent of paper is printing. In the beginning, if the ruler had to publish a standard book or legal article throughout the country, it would have to use hundreds or even thousands of people to copy it. Nowadays, the Tibetan Buddhist Scriptures can be found in temples with a long history, indicating that the number of scriptures is very small at the beginning, so they are very precious and cannot be lost. The advent of printing has made books available to the public.

The emergence of printing can't be a day or two. It is generally assumed that it comes first from the impression. The appearance of the impression is relatively early. For example, when Qin Shihuang issued the standard measuring instrument, he printed the full text of the script on the pottery. After the paper is used, it can be directly attached to the paper by printing on the other material from the front cover. However, at this time, it is only printing, not printing. Printing must have a "brushing" action, that is, to print the words on the back of the stamp with an object.

What made the printing process a qualitative leap was Bi Sheng. He invented the movable type printing. Because of the whole printing, it is very difficult to make with the wood plate. Once the error occurs, it is very troublesome to change. Bi Sheng invented the lettering with glue, each word engraved a mold, the commonly used words are more than a few moments, and use fire to make it strong. Then arrange them on the iron plate as needed. In this case, the font of the same word can be reused, and it is very convenient to find the error. Before the wording of computers, the method of movable type printing was used, but the materials used were getting better and better.

Now, the emergence of computers has caused another qualitative leap in the way the text is carried.

Fifth grade: Chen Daxia 2001