Bi Sheng
Bi Sheng
Bi Sheng (972-1051), born in Qishui County, Qizhou, Huainan Road (now Yingshan County, Huanggang City, Hubei Province), was an inventor of movable type printing in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Bi Shengchu was an engraver in Hangzhou bookshop, specializing in manual printing. In the printing practice, he seriously summed up the previous experience and invented movable type printing in the Qingli period of Renzong in the Northern Song Dynasty (1041-1048). Bi Sheng's deeds can only be found in Shen Kuo's Mengxi Bi tan.
Bi Sheng's creation and invention of typesetting with clay and wood type is a fundamental reform in the development of Chinese printing, a scientific summary of the long-term practical experience of the Chinese working people, and a great contribution to the cultural exchanges between China and other countries.
(general drawing reference)
Life of the characters
Early experience
In 972, Bi Sheng was born in Qishui County, Qizhou, Huainan Road, Northern Song Dynasty (now Yingshan County, Huanggang City, Hubei Province). He was a printer, specializing in manual printing. In the printing practice, he knew the difficulties of block printing, summed up the previous experience and invented movable type printing. Shen Kuo has a clear record about the regulation of movable type printing created by Bi Sheng in Mengxi Bi tan.
According to the records in MengXiBiTan, the typography invented by Bi Sheng is not a groundless invention, but an improvement based on the previous books. The description of letterpress printing process in MengXiBiTan is also an important wealth for future generations.
Invention of live printing
Bi Sheng is a craftsman engaged in engraving printing, familiar with and proficient in engraving technology, and eventually became the inventor of movable type printing. In his long-term engraving work, Bi Sheng found that the biggest disadvantage of engraving is that each printed book needs to be re engraved, which not only takes a long time, but also increases the cost of printing. If you use movable type, you only need to carve a pair of movable type, then you can print any book, and the movable type can be used repeatedly. Although the project of making movable type is larger, it is very convenient to print books in the future. It was under this inspiration that Bi Sheng invented the movable type.
Died in Huangyou
According to the research of Bisheng's tomb and inscriptions in Yingshan County, Huanggang City, Hubei Province, Bisheng died in the third year of Huangyou (1051) and was buried in the fourth year of Huangyou (1052).
Main impact
Master data: movable type printing
Bi Sheng's creation and invention of typesetting with clay and wood type is a fundamental reform in the development of Chinese printing, a scientific summary of the long-term practical experience of the Chinese working people, and a great contribution to the cultural exchanges between China and other countries.
Before Bi Sheng invented movable type printing, there were only copying, rubbing and engraving printing, which were cumbersome, laborious, time-consuming, inconvenient to store, and difficult to correct wrong words. The printing method of movable type invented by Bi Sheng is simple, flexible and convenient. The production process is as follows: first, make a single word of uniform specification with clay, then fire it hard to make it into clay type, and then classify them into wooden grid, and reserve several to dozens of commonly used words for typesetting. In typesetting, an iron plate with a frame is used as the base, and a mixture of rosin, wax and paper ash is applied on it. Then, the required clay type is picked out one by one from the spare wooden grid, and arranged in the frame. When it is full, it becomes a plate, and then baked with fire. Wait for the reagent to melt slightly, flatten the surface with a flat plate, and after the reagent cools and solidifies, it becomes the version. Printing, as long as the type of brush ink, coated paper, plus a certain amount of pressure, on the line. After printing, bake the potion with a torch. With a slight shake, the movable type will come off the iron plate and can be used again next time.
Regulation of movable type printing: first of all, make one blank of the same specification with clay, and engrave the reverse single character on one end. The height of the character's protrusion is the same as the thickness of the edge of the copper coin, and then burn it hard to form a single movable type with clay. In order to meet the needs of typesetting, there are several or even dozens of commonly used words to be used when they are repeated in the same edition. If you don't have any preparation in advance, you can make and use the uncommon words. In order to facilitate the selection of characters, the clay type characters are classified according to their rhymes and placed in a wooden grid, and a note is pasted to indicate. After typesetting, pick out the required clay type and put them in the frame one by one. Fill a frame to form a plate, then bake it with fire, wait for the reagent to melt slightly, flatten the surface with a flat plate, cool and solidify the reagent to form a plate. As long as there is a certain amount of pressure on the printing plate, you can apply it. In order to be able to print continuously, two iron plates are used, one plate is brushed, the other plate is typeset, and the two plates are used alternately. After printing, bake the potion with a torch, shake it gently with your hand, and the movable type can fall off the iron plate, and then put it back into the original wooden grid according to the rhyme, so that it can be used again next time. Bisheng also experimented with wood movable type printing. Because of the uneven wood texture, the difficulty in engraving, the deformation of wood movable type after being stained with water, and the difficulty in separating it from chemicals, Bisheng did not use it.
Bi Sheng's clay movable type first spread to Korea, known as "Tao Huo character". Stereotype printing was very popular in China in the Tang Dynasty, and spread to Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Philippines, Iran and other countries in the 13th century. Movable type printing spread to Europe in the 15th century. In 1456, Goldenberg Bible was printed in movable type in Germany. It was the first movable type print in Europe, 400 years later than that in China. Movable type printing spread rapidly to more than ten other countries through Germany, which promoted the Renaissance. In the 16th century, movable type printing spread to Moscow in Africa, America and Russia. In the 19th century, it spread to Australia.
Historical evaluation
Zhang Xiumin: Bi Sheng's invention of movable type printing is one of the four great inventions in ancient China. It has opened up a broad road for the development of Chinese culture and economy and made great contributions to the development of world civilization.
Huang xuanzheng: the clay type and wood type typesetting invented by Bi Sheng is a fundamental reform in the development of Chinese printing, a scientific summary of the long-term practical experience of the Chinese working people, and a great contribution to the cultural exchanges between China and other countries.
Wang Fang: the movable type printing invented by Bi Sheng is a revolution in the world printing history and has made great contributions to human civilization and social development.
Sun qikang: the movable type printing invented by Bi Sheng has set up an immortal monument in the historical corridor of world science and technology, and is called "the mother of civilization" by western scholars.
Anecdotes and allusions
Bi Sheng introduced his invention to his younger martial brothers. A younger martial brother said: "the book of the Tripitaka has more than 5000 volumes and 130000 pieces of wood. It can't fit in a room. It took years of hard work! If you use elder martial brother's method, you can finish it in a few months. How did elder martial brother come up with such a clever way? " "My two sons taught me that." Bi Sheng said. "Your son? How is that possible? They just "play the house." "You are right! It's all about "playing the family." Bi Sheng said with a smile, "before the Qingming Festival, I took my wife and children home to worship my ancestors. One day, the two sons played with each other. They made pots, bowls, tables, chairs, pigs and people out of mud, and lined them up as they wanted. At that time, I thought, why don't I come to play the family too: if I use clay to carve a single word seal, I can arrange it at will and form an article? Isn't that what my son taught me? " After listening, the brothers burst into laughter. "But every child has played this game, and all the senior brothers have seen it. Why did you invent movable type printing?" The younger martial brother asked. At this time, the teacher Fu said, "among your brothers, Bi Sheng has the most heart. He has long been thinking about new ways to improve work efficiency! Rome wasn't built in a day. " The brothers were all at once enlightened.
interpersonal relationship
Sons: Bi Jia, Bi Wen, Bi Cheng, Bi Rong.
Sun Tzu: Bi Wenxian, Bi Wenbin, Bi Wenzhong.
Character controversy
The mystery of tombstone
In 1990, Huang Shangwen, a petition cadre from Caopan Town, Yingshan County, Hubei Province, found a tombstone of Bisheng's tomb in the field when he passed by wuguidun village, Yingshan County, Hubei Province, which attracted the attention of archaeologists and relevant departments in Yingshan County, Hubei Province. He believed that it was a major discovery of Bisheng's life. Therefore, Bisheng was confirmed to be a native of wuguidun village, Caopandi Town, Yingshan County. When Bisheng tombstone was found, it was seriously weathered and damaged. The handwriting and strokes were incomplete and the age was difficult to determine. They were all repaired and returned to Buzheng. In the center of the tombstone, it was "Gu Xian Kao Bisheng God" and "Gu Xian Li's Miaoxiang". On the left side, there were filial sons Bi Jia, Bi Wen, Bi Cheng and Bi Rong, Sunnan Bi Wenxian, Bi Wenbin and Bi Wenzhong. On the right side is the inscription on the seventh day of February, the fourth year of emperor you's reign.
In October 1993 and December 1995, the relevant departments of Hubei Province organized two provincial appraisal meetings to identify the tombstone of Bisheng tomb. It was found that the tombstone of Bisheng tomb in the fourth year of emperor you's reign should be a national second-class cultural relic. However, Zhang Xiumin, an expert in the history of Chinese printing, and Li Ruiliang, who participated in the 1995 Seminar on Bi Yi's tombstone in Yingshan, published many articles in China Printing Yearbook and Printing Science and technology, arguing that the discovery of the tomb of Bi Sheng, the inventor of movable type in Yingshan, Hubei Province, could not be confirmed. It might be another Ming God Bi Sheng with the same name and surname. However, this problem has not been properly answered. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Yingshan County belonged to Qishui, Qizhou, Huainan road. There is no record of Manichaeism in local history.
The Bisheng Memorial in Yingshan County failed to obtain the information about whether there were bones and funerary objects in Bisheng's tomb. It may be that Bisheng's tomb was a tomb of clothes and crowns. In a word, there are different opinions on the tombstone. According to the expert identification, it is confirmed that the tombstone is indeed Bisheng's tombstone (a national second-class cultural relic), and it is impossible to confirm that Bisheng is from Yingshan and engaged in movable type printing in Yingshan
Chinese PinYin : Bi Sheng
Bi Sheng
