409:, described how two persons were responsible for typesetting while two others were in charge of the actual printing. For books that do not indicate in the initial pages whether they were printed using movable type instead of woodblock printing, there are definite signs that can be examined to deduce which method was used. Misprints, misalignment of characters, and uneven spacing are the distinct mark of many movable type editions from the time of Hua Sui. However, as time progressed and the works of printers such as Hua Jian, An Guo, and others were made, steps were made to perfect the process and thus making it harder to differentiate between woodblock printing editions and movable type editions (unless noted in the text).
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397:. Then there was the process of assembling and setting the type, and ultimately distributing it, which necessitated at least a small level of division of labor. In fact, there are books printed in the Ming and Qing periods that designated the lists of workers who contributed to the printing, publication, and distribution of the books themselves. The bronze-type edition of the
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but not as economically feasible with metal that could be simply cast instead. However, for traditional
Chinese metal movable type printing, some records of the 18th century indicate that individual engraving and cutting was used as well. While creating new books using movable type, ink was applied to a plate and rubbed with paper as seen in
342:(1644β1911), the imperial court had made wooden movable type the official printing method, overseen by the official Jin Jian (d. 1794) who had 253,000 wooden movable type font characters made in 1733. However, the Qing government also sponsored bronze-type printing, as they crafted 250,000 bronze characters earlier in 1725 to print the
392:
For creating movable type font characters, the
Chinese employed both methods of either casting moulds or individually engraving characters. Casting was favored over the long and laborious process of cutting individual characters of bronze, which may have been a simple task with the material of wood,
359:
was known to have printed a large literary collection of his in 1686 AD. The Manchu military officer Wu-Long-A printed a collection of imperial edicts while stationed in Taiwan in the year 1807. The
Chinese character font of some 400,000 bronze characters made by Lin Chun Qi took twenty one years to
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In more recent times , type has also been made of tin by casting. It is strung on an iron wire, and thus made fast in the columns of the form, in order to print books with it. But none of this type took ink readily, and it made untidy printing in most cases. For that reason they were not used long.
271:
There was another prestigious family of Wuxi, Jiangsu province, who engaged in metal type printing. This was the An family, most notably that of An Guo (1481β1534). However, the An family's printed works came shortly after the Hua family, the latter of whom were supposedly inspired by Shen Kuo's
212:
Hua Sui, who did not become a scholar until about the age of fifty, became interested in printing books. He had accumulated a sizable fortune, and desired to use that fortune in order to establish the reputation as a printer in the region. Hua Sui became the first of his familial clan to use his
180:
process. Although unsuccessful in Wang Zhen's time, the bronze metal type of Hua Sui in the late 15th century would be used for centuries in China, up until the late 19th century. Furthermore, a font of tin movable type was successfully employed by a Mr. Tong of
352:). The encyclopedia encompassed 5020 volumes in length, as sixty six copies of the encyclopedia were made. Although the bronze characters were kept safe and deposited in the Wuying Palace, they were all melted down in 1744 in order to forge coin currency.
252:
of 1501 using metal type, and printed many rare books he obtained in a rapid process thanks to the speed of metal typesetting. Hua Qian (fl. 1513β1516), a nephew of Hua Sui, was yet another bronze-type printer of the Hua family. His studio signature was
159:, as his process improved the speed of typesetting as well. Much like Bi Sheng experimenting with wooden movable type in the 11th century but finding it unsatisfactory, Wang Zhen also experimented with metal type printing using
280:) of 1088 AD. Yet the process of earthenware movable type and metal movable type are different, as metal movable type required many more complex technical processes of engraving, casting, type-setting, inking, and printing.
319:
province were developed by truly commercial enterprises. Chinese writing fonts of different sizes and scope could be jointly owned and invested in by more than one printer in the region.
268:(1515). In addition, various members of the Hua family contributed to metal movable type printing, as about 24 book titles using metal type were published between 1490 and 1516.
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make, from 1825 until 1846. The total cost for the endeavor was 200,000 silver teals. These characters were used to print a variety of different books, including treatises on
326:(1477β1544 AD) once reported in the early 16th century that printers of Changzhou used bronze and lead movable type printing, which could have been separate materials or an
315:
during the 16th century. Yet the sponsors of printing weren't all described as the works of simply the area's wealthiest local family, as the bronze-type books in
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72:(1368β1644 AD). He belonged to the wealthy Hua family that was renowned throughout the region. Hua Sui is best known for creating China's first
94:
during the earlier 13th century, but there is no concrete evidence that suggests Hua Sui's metal type print was influenced by Korean printing.
355:
Beyond the imperial court, there were many small private industries and individual sponsors of printing during the Qing period. Chui-Li-Ge of
240:
Family relatives of Hua Sui caught on and engaged in metal type printing as well. Hua Cheng (1438β1514 AD), a distant relative of Sui, an
372:, and it is possible his same character font was used by the later Wu Chongjun of Hangzhou when he printed two other works in 1852.
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233:(Studio of Mastery and Comprehension), meaning he had mastered the process of metal movable type printing. Including the
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Movable type was invented and improved in China centuries before Hua Sui. As written by the polymath
Chinese scientist
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resources in establishing bronze-type printing in 1490. The first book printed in bronze-type in China was the
39:
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Thus, Chinese metal type of the 13th century using tin was unsuccessful because it was incompatible with the
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characters arranged primarily by rhyming scheme, from Wang Zhen's book of agriculture, published 1313 CE.
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in the 19th century, who figured out how to make it more compatible with the inking process.
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In addition to bronze, there were also other metal types used for movable type printing.
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132:(990β1051) was the first to invent movable type, with his ceramic type invented in the
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Complete
Collection of Illustrations and Writings from the Earliest to Current Times
257:(Hall of Orchid and Snow), and his largest printing project was reprinting the old
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printed in two editions. The books printed by Hua Sui contain the signature
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A page from one of Hua Sui's books printed in 1490 using metal movable type.
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Bronze type publications were soon after made in the cities of
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56:; 1439β1513 AD) was a Chinese scholar, engineer, inventor, and
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of that year (housed now in the
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248:(Studio for Esteeming Antiquities). He printed the
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90:Metal movable type printing had been invented in
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272:description of Bi Sheng's movable type in the
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384:A revolving table typecase with individual
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128:(960β1279 AD), the commoner and artisan
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163:. Wang Zhen wrote in the book of the
152:1290β1333) was an early innovator of
619:Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 217β219.
561:Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 212β213.
534:Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 216β217.
500:Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 206β208.
405:printed in 1547 AD, in the city of
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628:Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 218β219
450:History of typography in East Asia
424:History of typography in East Asia
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140:(1279β1368 AD), the governmental
98:Earlier wooden and ceramic types
646:Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 219.
610:Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 216.
594:Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 209.
585:Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 213.
552:Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 212.
522:Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 217.
491:Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 201.
482:Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 215.
136:period (1041β1048). During the
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430:Technology of the Song dynasty
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820:15th-century Chinese scholars
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189:Metal type of the Ming period
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86:Metal movable type printing
16:Chinese scholar and printer
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681:. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd.
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419:List of Chinese inventions
225:), a simple collection of
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677:Needham, Joseph (1986).
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299:in 1249, Song dynasty
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124:(1031β1095) of the
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114:woodblock printing
32:simplified Chinese
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815:Chinese inventors
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370:military strategy
278:Dream Pool Essays
250:Bai Chuan Xue Hai
198:Jiaozi (currency)
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386:movable type
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259:Tang dynasty
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157:movable type
144:and scholar
138:Yuan dynasty
126:Song dynasty
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106:The Chinese
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82:in 1490 AD.
77:movable type
70:Ming dynasty
51:
27:
26:
810:1513 deaths
805:1439 births
784:Zhu Guozhen
759:Wang Xiuchu
749:LΓΌ Liuliang
672:Works cited
338:During the
242:antiquarian
167:(1313 AD):
799:Categories
754:Wang Fuzhi
460:References
142:magistrate
779:Zhang Han
774:Ye Chunji
764:Wu Mingji
465:Citations
362:phonology
348:(ε€δ»εζΈιζ,
305:Changzhou
227:memorials
204:from the
183:Guangdong
146:Wang Zhen
769:Yang Hao
729:Gu Yanwu
719:scholars
413:See also
407:Jianyang
366:medicine
357:Changshu
165:Nong Shu
130:Bi Sheng
122:Shen Kuo
80:printing
744:Lu Rong
734:Hua Sui
666:Sources
324:Lu Shen
313:Nanjing
264:of the
66:Jiangsu
58:printer
53:HuÑ Suì
28:Hua Sui
739:Li Zhi
368:, and
317:Fujian
311:, and
309:Suzhou
289:Bencao
223:Taiwan
219:Taipei
178:inking
154:wooden
134:Qingli
50::
48:pinyin
42::
34::
436:Notes
328:alloy
202:money
92:Korea
74:metal
287:The
62:Wuxi
291:on
161:tin
150:fl.
60:of
801::
651:^
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364:,
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221:,
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44:θ―η§
38:;
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702:t
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452:.
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