During the Song Dynasty, a civilian named Bi Sheng invented movable type printing. Its method is: use clay to carve words, and the font is as thin as the edge of copper coins. Each word is carved with a font and burned hard. Put an iron plate first, and spread it with turpentine, wax mixed paper ash and the like.
If you want to print, you put an iron frame on the iron plate, so you densely arrange the type in the iron frame. When it is filled with the iron frame, it becomes a printing plate and is baked on the fire. When the medicine on the iron plate melts slightly, press it on the font with a flat plate, and the font will be as flat as a millstone.
If only two or three copies are printed, it will not be easy; If you print dozens or even hundreds of copies, it will be extremely fast. Usually two iron plates are made, one is printing and the other is typesetting. When this printing is finished, the second plate is finished. The alternate use of two plates can be completed in a short time.
Each word has several impressions, such as "Zhi" and "Ye", and each word has more than 20 impressions, which are used to prepare repeated words in the same edition. When not in use, mark it with paper, label each rhyme and store it in a wooden lattice.
When you encounter uncommon words that you don't usually prepare, you can immediately carve them and bake them with grass, which will soon be successful. The reason why wood engraving is not used is because the wood grain is sparse and dense, uneven after soaking in water, and it is not easy to take out the medicine. Unlike burning clay characters, after printing, bake them with fire and melt the medicine. If you touch it with your hands, these words will fall by themselves and never touch it.
After Bi Sheng's death, his fonts were bought by my cousins, and they are still treasured.
From "Trapped Gate" by Shen Kuo in Song Dynasty, the original text is as follows:
Printed books were not popular in the Tang Dynasty. Since Wang Fengying began to print the Five Classics, all the classics have been printed.
In the celebration calendar, Bi Sheng is also a trap. Its method: carved with mud, as thin as the lips of money, every word is printed, and fire makes it strong. First, an iron plate is erected, on which rosin, wax and paper ash are exposed.
If you want to print, put the iron fan on the iron plate with words printed on it. If the latte fan is used as a plate, it will catch fire and the medicine will melt slightly. If you press a flat plate on its surface, the words will be as flat as a stone. It is not easy to stop printing three or two books; If you print hundreds of thousands of copies, it will be very fast.
I often make two iron plates, one printed and the other printed by myself. Only when this printer is finished, the second edition is already available, which is more interoperable and can be used instantly. Each word has several seals, such as the words "Zhi" and "Ye", and each word has more than 20 seals, in case of duplication on one board.
If you don't use it, stick it on paper, one for each rhyme, and store it in a wooden lattice. There are grotesque figures, who are unprepared. If you spin them, the grass will burn them, and it will be done in an instant. Those who don't use wood as a material are dense, uneven and sticky, which is not desirable; Don't burn the soil, then use it to melt the medicine, and brush it with your hand, and its seal will fall off without pollution.
When it rises to death, its seal is the treasure that Yu Qun gets from it.
Appreciate:
This is a very precious historical material. Due to the prejudice of the ruling class, there is no record of an inventor from a civilian background like Bi Sheng in the official history. The author of this article has a unique vision and has preserved this precious historical material for us.
Some epoch-making scientific inventions are often made by little people. This kind of progress and invention has greatly promoted the development of social productive forces and is an accelerator of social development. We should maintain high respect for folk innovators and inventors like Bi Sheng and respect their innovative spirit.
This paper grasps the characteristics, explains the process and procedures, and is clear, giving people a clear, complete and systematic image. Writing movable type printing is closely related to the word "movable type", and the explanation is mainly in accordance with the technological order. By comparing with engraving, the advantages of movable type are reflected. Characters and plate making are explained in the order of word making, plate making, typesetting, plate making and flat type.
Write two boards to the printing factory. "One board prints, the other board prints, and the printer is finished. Then the second board is already available, which is more interoperable and instantly available." There are instructions for writing and disassembling boards, but the advantages of cement fonts are also fully demonstrated in comparison with wood lettering.