A Wooden Block Press

The first printing presses came about during the T'ang dynasty. These were made by engraving wooden blocks with the characters or illustrations to be printed. An entire page could then be quickly reproduced with ease. This started the mass production of books, which became available to many people and resulted in increased literacy. The printing press also led to the production of large sets of books, such as encyclopedias and many-volumed works of literature. The wooden block printing method was particularly efficient in printing paper money, as it only required a single block rather than many blocks for multiple pages. Also, the wooden block method could reproduce drawings very precisely, so it was extensively used for producing accurate maps. Chinese maps were far more accurate than those produced in the West.

A Moveable Type Press

The Chinese craftsman Pi Sheng is credited with the invention of the moveable type printing press about 1043 AD. Although this invention caught on in the West, it was not a significant technological advancement to the Chinese. A Chinese printer was able to carve wooden blocks very quickly, often as fast as a European printer could arrange type on a moveable printing block. Furthermore, the moveable type blocks were made from metal, which was more expensive, and was not able to be corrected, as was the case with wooden blocks. Even though the metal blocks were more durable and lasted longer, the wooden block system was still superior because it was more flexible and able to be made very quickly. The wooden block system was predominant in China until the development of the mechanized metal block printing system.