Bi Sheng
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bì Shēng (Traditional Chinese: 畢昇; Simplified Chinese: 毕升; Wade-Giles: Pì Shēng; died 1052) was the inventor of the first known movable type printing system. Bi Sheng's type was made of baked clay and was invented between 1041 and 1048 in China.
Bi Sheng was a commoner and his ancestry and details were not recorded. He was recorded only in the Writings Beside the Meng Creek (夢溪筆談 Mengxi Bitan) by Chinese scholar Shen Kuo (沈括) (1031–1095). Writings Beside the Meng Creek, however, gave detailed and sufficient description on the technical details of Bi Sheng's invention of movable type:
- When he wished to print, he took an iron frame and set it on the iron plate. In this he placed the types, set close together. When the frame was full, the whole made one solid block of type. He then placed it near the fire to warm it. When the paste [at the back] was slightly melted, he took a smooth board and pressed it over the surface, so that the block of type became as even as a whetstone.
- For each character there were several types, and for certain common characters there were twenty or more types each, in order to be prepared for the repetition of characters on the same page. When the characters were not in use he had them arranged with paper labels, one label for each rhyme-group, and kept them in wooden cases.[1]
However, Bi Sheng's fragile clay types were not practical for large-scale printing.[2] Wang Zhen improved Bi Sheng's fragile clay types by creating movable types out of wood.
