Printing in Ancient China:

Movable Type
" 活字印刷 " by Teddy Song is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Earliest record
• According to the Dream Pool
Jottings 夢溪筆談 by Shen
Kuo 沈括 (1031-1095), a
commoner in the name of Bi
Sheng 畢昇 (?-1052)
invented movable type
printing in the Qingli 慶曆
period of the Northern Song
(1041-1048).
Bi Sheng’s
Printing Method
• Movable types are made with clay,
and sorted by rhyme
• Type setting and removal: types
placed on an iron holder with a
mixture of pine wax to fix them
after heated by fire. After printing
the types can be removed from
the holder by heating for resue.
• A broad is used to level the surface
of the types (the thickness of clay
types can hardly be the same after
the process, which is burning, to
fix the form of the clay)
Bi Sheng’s Printing Method

• Shen Kuo recorded the method and claimed that his nephews managed to acquire and retain some of
the clay types.
• There are few records of the method being used:
• Zhou Bida 周必大 (1126-1204) print his own writings in year 1193 宋光宗紹熙四年 . The
attempt was believed to be experimental as just twenty-eight notes were printed. 「近用沈存
中法，以膠泥銅板移換摹印，今日偶成《玉堂雜記》二十八事。」（周必大《文忠集》卷
一百九十八，〈程元誠給事〉）
• Yao Shu 姚樞 , a high official in Yuan, taught his student “Shen’s movable type printing method”
to print a book for distribution. Strangely he did not use movable-type on his many other printing
projects. 「……汲汲以化民成俗為心，自板《小學書》 、《語》、《孟》、《或問》、
《家禮》，俾楊中書板《四書》、田尚書板《詩折衷》、《易程傳》、《書蔡傳》、《春
秋胡傳》。又以《小學書》流布未廣，教弟子楊古為沈氏活板，與《近思錄》、東萊《經
史論說》諸書，散之四方。」 ( 《元朝名臣事略》卷八，〈左丞姚文獻公樞〉 )
Wooden Movable-type Printing in Yuan dynasty

• Wang Zhen 王禎（ 1271-1333 ） used his wooden movable type to print a
local gazetteer in Yuan dynasty. It was recorded in his Treatise on Agriculture,
or Nung Shu 農書 .
• 前任宣州旌德縣縣尹時，方撰《農書》，因字數甚多，難於刊印，故用己
意命匠創活字，二年而工畢。試印本縣志書，約計六萬餘字，不一月而百
部齊成，一如刊板，始知其可用。後二年，予遷任信州永豐縣，挈而之官，
是時《農書》方成，欲以活字嵌印。今知江西，見行命工刊板，故且收貯，
以待別用。然古今此法未見所傳，故編錄於此，以待世之好事者，為印書
省便之法，傳於永久。本為《農書》而作，因附於後。 ( 《農書》卷二十
二〈造活字印書法〉 )
Wooden Movable-type Printing in Yuan
dynasty
• Bi Shen rejected wooden types as they got swollen to different scales
when got wet, and could be very difficult to remove after being fixed
to the holder with the type of chemical mixture (glue) he used.
• Wang Zhen instead found clays not ideal for soaking ink for printing,
and the way of fixing types to an iron holder not time-efficient.
• Wang Zhen opted for wooden types with wooden holder, which were
not as long-standing but cheaper and easier to made.
• And his method of fixing typesetting involves inserting sawdust ( 木
屑 ) between types and the holder.
Wang Zhen’s method
A plan for type sort by rhyme.
Frequently used characters are
repeated.

先照監韻內可用字數，分為上下平、
上、去、入五聲，各分韻頭校勘字
樣，抄寫完備。擇能書人取活字樣
製大小，寫出各門字樣，糊於板上，
命工刊刻，稍留界路，以憑鋸截。
又有如助辭「之」、「乎」、
「者」、「也」字，及數目字，並
尋常可用字樣，各分為一門，多刻
字數，約有三萬餘字。寫畢，一如
前法。今載立號監韻活字板式於後。
其餘五聲韻字，俱要仿此。
一人執韻依
號數喝字，
一人於輪上
元布輪字板
內，取摘字
隻，嵌於所
印書板盔內。
如有字韻內
別無，隨手
令刊匠添補，
疾得完備。
Wooden movable type in
Ming

• Little record of Government

printing with movable type
• Local princes and private printers
use wooden movable type for
printing
• Family Trees started to be printed
with wooden movable type
 • The Hall of Military Eminence 武英
殿 was one main department to
handle court publishing.
• Two sets of bronze types, one large
and one small were casted from
1703, the 42nd year of the reign of
Emperor Kangxi 康熙 .
• Later the bronze types were used to
print the Imperial Encyclopedia
《古今圖書集成》， 10,040 juan
卷 , 5020 ce 冊 , approximately 44
thousand pages, 1.6 billion
characters.
• According to a record of year 1733,
a few years after the Imperial
Encyclopedia were printed, there
were 1,015,433 casted types and
Movable Type Printing in 188,404 unused bronze pieces.

Qing Dynasty
Bronze type

• In a later review the bronze types were not considered worthy. The cost of
printing was similar to woodblocks, but could not be “reused” as woodblocks.
• 允祿建議《御制律曆淵源》木板刷印 ：「今若仍用銅字，所費工價較之
刊刻木板所差無多，究不能垂諸永久。」（《雍正朝漢文殊批奏摺彙
編》）
• Emperor Qianlong ordered the bronze types to be melted to cast buddha
statues in 1744.
Movable Type Printing
in Qing Dynasty
• In 1773, Qianlong allowed a large and small sets
of wooden movable types to be made by the Hall
of Military Eminence for printing the Collection of
Rare Editions.
• 150k types, (8 mace 錢 per 100 types), totaling
1200 tael 兩 , holders and other tools should cost
200 tael.
• Compare to Xilograph: Shiji ( 史記， Records of
the Grand Historian) as an example. 2,675
woodblocks = 267 tael 兩 and 5 mace 錢 (1
mace per block); 1.18m characters = about 1180
tael 兩 (1 mace per 100 characters); 1450 tael in
total.
• The typesetting requires literate people. The
hiring could be difficult and costly. 「至擺字必
須識字之人，但向來從無此項人役，卽一時
外僱，恐不得其人，且滋縻費。」