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Before the
invention of movable type printing, people used various methods to copy texts,
such as handwriting and woodblock printing. Woodblock printing was widely used
in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.), which greatly improved copying efficiency
over handwriting. However, its production cost was high, flexibility was poor,
and each new book required the carving of an entire wooden or stone block. Once
errors or modifications were needed, the cost would be enormous.
During
the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty (1040-1048 A.D.), a common
artisan named Bi Sheng created the revolutionary movable type printing. Bi
Sheng used clay to make individual character types, with each representing a
Chinese character. After firing and hardening the types, they could be flexibly
assembled into any text as needed, saving time and materials and lowering
printing costs. It also made book revisions and supplements much easier.
Wang
Zhen, during the Yuan Dynasty, further developed movable type printing by
inventing wooden movable type and the revolving type holder in 1298, which
greatly improved typesetting efficiency. In the mid-Ming Dynasty, copper
movable type appeared, which was more durable and produced better printing
quality.
Through
the Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road, movable type printing was transmitted
to East Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, and even Europe. In the mid-15th
century, a German named Johannes Gutenberg borrowed the principles of movable
type printing from the East to invent the lead alloy movable type printing
press, which triggered the printing revolution in Europe and greatly promoted
major historical events such as the Renaissance and the Reformation.
The
invention and transmission of movable type printing greatly reduced the cost of
book production, accelerated the speed and range of knowledge transmission, and
provided more people with the opportunity to access and learn knowledge, having
a profound impact on education, research, religion, politics, etc. It promoted
the informationization process of society, promoted the exchange and
integration of different cultures, and laid a solid foundation for the progress
of human civilization. Even in modern society, the spirit of movable type
printing - modular, standardized, and reusable design ideas - is still being
carried forward and developed in digital printing, electronic publishing, and
other fields.
在活字印刷术发明之前，人们使用各种方法来复制文本，例如手写和雕版印刷。雕版印刷在唐代（公元618-907年）被广泛使用，与手写相比，大大提高了印刷效率。然而，它的生产成本高，灵活性差，每本新书都需要雕刻一整块木块或石块。一旦有错误或需要修改，代价巨大。
到了北宋仁宗庆历年间（约公元1040年—1048年），一位名叫毕昇的普通工匠，创造性地发明了活字印刷术。
毕昇以胶泥为材料，制作出一个个独立字模，每个字模代表一个汉字。这些字模经过烧制硬化后，可以根据需要灵活组合成任何文本，不仅节省了大量时间和材料，降低了印刷成本，还使得书籍的修订、增补变得更加容易。
元代的王祯在此基础上进一步创新，于1298年成功创制木活字，并发明了转轮排字架，大大提高了排字效率。明代中叶，出现了铜活字，其耐用性和印刷效果更佳。
通过丝绸之路和海上丝绸之路，活字印刷术先后传入东亚、中亚、西亚，乃至欧洲。15世纪中叶，德国人约翰内斯·古腾堡借鉴东方的活字印刷原理，发明了铅合金活字印刷机，引发了欧洲的印刷革命，极大地推动了文艺复兴和宗教改革等重大历史事件的发生。
活字印刷术的发明与传播，极大地降低了书籍制作成本，加快了知识传播的速度与范围，使得更多人有机会接触和学习知识，对教育、科研、宗教、政治等领域产生了深远影响。它推动了社会的信息化进程，促进了不同文化间的交流与融合，为人类文明的进步奠定了坚实基础。即使在现代社会，活字印刷的精神内核——模块化、标准化、可重复使用的设计思想，仍在数字印刷、电子出版等领域得到延续和发扬。
说明：文中部分图片来源于网络，如有侵权，请联系删除。
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