globe Atlas of Heritage
Civilization Object No. 058
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Wooden Movable-type Printing

活字印刷术

The 11th-century invention that revolutionized printing — reusable character blocks that accelerated knowledge sharing across East Asia.

dna Heritage DNA
history Origin

Song Dynasty, c. 1040 CE, invented by Bi Sheng

category Domain

traditional crafts

verified Level

UNESCO Intangible Heritage

pin_drop Region

East China

pulse Status

active

Wooden movable-type printing, invented by Bi Sheng in the 11th century, was a revolutionary advancement over block printing. Individual characters carved on wooden or clay pieces could be rearranged and reused. Preserved primarily in the Rui'an region of Zhejiang Province, the technique involves carving Chinese characters on small blocks of date wood, composing them into pages, and printing with hand pressure. It dramatically accelerated book production.

build

Skills & Techniques

Wooden Movable-Type Printing expand_more

The craft of carving individual Chinese characters on small wooden blocks, composing them into pages, and printing multiple copies.

Steps

  1. Select dense date wood and cut into small uniform blocks
  2. Write each character in reverse on a block surface
  3. Carve the character in relief
  4. Arrange characters in a composing frame to form a page
  5. Lock the type block in place with wedges
  6. Ink the surface and press paper to print
  7. Disassemble and sort characters back into type cases

Tools

carving knife, composing frame, type case, ink pad, printing brush, wedges

Materials

date wood, ink, xuan paper, bamboo paper

hub Knowledge Graph

Relationship Constellation

This heritage item connects to 8 entities across the atlas — masters, places, festivals, and stories.

pin_drop Zhejiang Province location build Wooden Movable-Type Printing skill person Engraved Block Printing ich person Song Dynasty dynasty person Movable-type Printing media person Jiangnan region person Movable-type Printing media person Movable-type Printing media
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