ipl-logo

Ancient Printing: A Case Study

879 Words4 Pages

1. Development of Ancient Printing (Kwok Hok Yin 201414045H)

1.1 Carved Inscription

Before the development of printing in Ancient China, the way of delivering cultural knowledge was limited. It was difficult for people to read as words are marked on shells, animal bones, and metal utensils at that time. Then, people started to use bamboos to record words, which is more convenient than before. However, it is still hard to deliver knowledge due to the inconvenience and low mobility of carriers.

1.2 Seal Carving

Seal carving was the earliest idea of printing and it was firstly used by government officers in Shang Dynasty in China and they were commonly used for business transaction in Qin and Han Dynasties. It is the earliest idea of printing. The method of printing words on paper or other surface are divided into two fields, Yang carved (陽刻) and Yin carved (陰刻). Yang carved refers to raised word carved on seal and its effect is red-color words …show more content…

The method of stone rubbing and woodblock printing is similar but not the same. For stone rubbing, the words on the stone is concave and it copied words by spreading ink on paper while the words on woodblock is raised and ink was spread on the woodblock for woodblock printing. With the great improvement on economical, cultural and technical aspects in Sui and Tang dynasties, woodblock printing was invented. The critical elements for invention of woodblock printing are the techniques of text engraving, papermaking and ink production. There are few processes of woodblock printing: Firstly, to ask someone good at calligraphy and write down the content on a paper. Then place it on the surface of wood in an opposite side and press it hardly in order to print the content on the wood. After that, graphs and words are carved on the wood and then spread ink on it. Cover it with another paper and use brush to slap the paper, lastly the contents are printed on

Show More
Related

  • What Are The Intricacies In The Currency Reform Act Of 1864

    1617 Words  | 7 Pages

    To even be able to print the bonds with all of the intricacies and various designs, someone had to engrave a printing plate with various tools that were used to remove very small pieces of the plate at a time. Typically it would take a very good engraver a very long time usually a few months to do so. Once the plates were engraved they would be fitted to the printing press. This is where one of the major differences from today and then occurs, the printing presses that they were using the rotary printing press still which ran relatively slow compared to the blinding speed of modern day automated presses. The next step in the process would be to ink the plates, begin printing onto the paper, and finally trim the newly printed bonds or bills.

    Read More

  • Columbian Exchange Changes

    1053 Words  | 5 Pages

    Each world benefited from trades of technology, ideas and culture, to help improve their skills. Some of theses technologies were a written alphabet, new farming techniques, new firearm and weapons, and architecture. In schools today we are still taught the alphabet. I was taught in kindergarten and first grade. It is a way that helps us improve upon our writing skills and communication skills.

    Read More

  • How Did The Tang And Song Dynasties Impact The World

    270 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Tang and Song dynasties' innovations during the Golden Ages had an impact on other regions and later periods in history. The innovations were not only used in their lives but are still being used to this day. The Tang and Song dynasties' interests in different cultures allowed them to attain innovative ideas which made advancements in art, music, literature, and technology. From advancements in agriculture and manufacturing to breakthroughs in poetry and printing presses, the Tang and Song dynasties were a time of progress. An innovation during the Tang and Song dynasties which impacted the world was the use of gunpowder.

    Read More

  • Continuities And Changes In China From 600 To 1750

    595 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some examples are the use of paper which was used as currency and parchment, the printing press which was no longer wooden blocks but movable type, gunpowder now used for making weapons,and the use of coal and iron for the military, Both these religious and technological advancement marked society during the Sui,Tang and Song dynasties. For instance, the closing of monasteries during the Tang dynasties re-distributed land and thus power, making military generals more independent ending in losing land to foreign empires. Trade networks built by canals during the Sui dynasty allowed for a bigger extent of Song trading. These new trade routes allowed for the connection of merchants for around Asia such as those from Korea, Vietnam, and

    Read More

  • Who Were The Sumerians

    859 Words  | 4 Pages

    It lasted for over 3000 years from 3150 BCE to 30 BCE. ➢ Writing ○ They wrote in hieroglyphics.

    Read More

  • How Did The Silk Road Help The Development Of The Han Dynasty

    1141 Words  | 5 Pages

    Later in the early 5th century a scholar named Cai Lun invented the first piece of paper this helped sending messages across the world and changed the way people spread their

    Read More

  • How Did Johannes Gutenberg Influence The Printing Press

    1056 Words  | 5 Pages

    The printing press first appeared more than 600 years before he began to work on his innovations to make printing easier and less expensive. The Tang Dynasty was where anything like the modern printing press first appeared. The Chinese adopted a method known as "block printing", which involved wooden blocks being painted with ink before they were pressed onto a sheet of paper. Japan and Korea were also using similar methods by the eighth century before moveable type was even used.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Mesopotamia And Shang Dynasty

    1390 Words  | 6 Pages

    As iron axes and ox-drawn plows replaced stone, wood, and bronze tools, farmers produces more foods. Peasants also began to grow new crops, and feudal lard would sometimes organize large scale irrigation works making farming more productive and a surplus of food. The Chinese also began to use money for the first time. Chinese cooper coins had holes in the center so that they could be strung onto cords.” Zhou dynasties also help the merchants by building new roads and canals.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Tang And Song Dynasties

    1187 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire had just fallen, and it created chaos and disorder for some but for others it was a new chance for a greater life. After the Han Dynasty had fallen, the short but powerful Sui Dynasty reunited China in the late 500s which laid the foundations for the Tang and Song Dynasties. Both dynasties brought great change to the Chinese culture and their ways of life. The Tang and Song Dynastic periods both contributed to the flowering of Chinese society, and both were successful in several different areas. Both Dynasties are considered Golden Ages of China for several reasons.

    Read More

  • Mesopotamia And Hammurabi Similarities

    883 Words  | 4 Pages

    Within each source it reveals how each civilization made a living, their beliefs, laws, etc. The Chinese used oracle bones in their writing. “In the late Shang era, rulers sought guidance from

    Read More

  • Pt1420 Unit 1 Study Guide

    464 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is unclear whether writing was invented by the Sumerians or the Egyptians. However, what is not disputed is the Sumerians created one of the first and most distinguished forms of writing. 2. What are the cognitive, linguistic, and cultural changes that have accompanied the invention of reading and writing?

    Read More

  • Summary Of Is Google Making USupid By Nicholas Carr

    1060 Words  | 5 Pages

    One of earliest known forms of writing system is cuneiform, as stated by Peter Daniels and Williams Bright in their book The World's Writing Systems; examples of this script, which comes from Mesopotamia, can be dated back to around 3200 BCE (Daniels and Bright 1996). Scribes would carve words in stone that would last through the ages, or write on chunks of clay using a reed stylus to create edge-shaped marks that formed their writings. Cuneiform eventually gave way to the Akkadian script, a simplified version of the former (Daniels and Bright 1996). However, transporting stone and clay slabs was impractical, and sending someone else as a runner with your message was

    Read More

  • The Role Of Divination In Aztec Culture

    1088 Words  | 5 Pages

    The famous I Ching, or Book of changes, was originally written as divination manual in the Western Zhou period (1000–750 BC) (Kern

    Read More

  • Papermaking In Ancient China During The Nineteenth-Century

    111 Words  | 1 Pages

    Paper is primarily used for writing. It was first invented in ancient China. The first documented papermaking was in China during the period known as Cai-Lin. During the different centuries it has diffused into different countries. In the 8th century papermaking spread to the Islamic world.

    Read More

  • Invention Of The Printing Press Essay

    765 Words  | 4 Pages

    Printing press developed a different method of producing books. According to woodcut images from 16th century, scribes were writing the books by hand from the dictation of a scholar before the invention of the printing press and after the invention print shops were created for printing books in the mid-1500s (doc 1). Before Gutenberg’s press, monks and scribes were handwriting books with pens in scriptoriums and this took them many months and even years to finish a certain book, no matter is it small or big. The invention of the printing press was an advantage for creating books, because it facilitated the creation of books and took less time for the production. It made possible the creation of thousands of identical copies by pressing one button instead of handwriting them for years.

    Read More

More about Ancient Printing: A Case Study

Open Document