500 years ago, this machine printed the world on paper

500 years ago, this machine printed the world on paper

The Age of Discovery

At that time, a printing workshop was like today's Internet company; and the printers were as popular as today's IT talents, and the two combined spread wonderful information to the world. In 1500, there were printing workshops in about 250 cities in Europe, producing 30,000 editions of books. Every time the reader gets a book, no matter what the content is, he will read it from the beginning to the end with relish, and then give it to his friends to read together.

Nowadays, everyone is staring at their phones, eating, going to the toilet, going to bed, and seeing their phones smashed in the face. At the end of the day, I can't say a few words to my family.

In fact, 500 years ago, books were also like this, and they were all flooded and everyone was obsessed. Printed books, like today's mobile phones, have changed the way people are entertained. Unconsciously, people have changed a lot of ideas and changed a lot of living methods. As a result, many historians believe that the printing press is the most useful machine in the world, even more remarkable than the steam engine.

The printing press was created by the European Gutenberg, but some people say that movable type printing was invented Chinese, so what is the relationship between the two? Why do Europeans have the potential to print books?

Without books there might be no circumnavigation of the globe

Before the invention of printing, that is, before the 15th century, there would be no idlers who thought of "reading at night". The daily entertainment of the aristocratic family was to tell stories, play riddles, and organize games. Aristocratic women learn how to play from an early age in order to amuse a large family and visiting guests. After another 200 years, the nobility's night life became that of the old lady holding a book and reading it.

Before the invention of printing, 90% of Europeans were illiterate, and there were many illiterates in the aristocracy. Because medieval books were so expensive, a Bible was made from 1,000 lambskins. With the exception of the tome of the Bible, the information copied from the book is very serious, mostly religious content, and there is almost no entertainment or daily practical information.

The printing press, invented by Gutenberg around 1450, can create a book at a cost of only a few tenths to a few hundredths of the past. So the technology spread quickly. Along with it, there was a variety of content, the most of which was the literature of knight adventures and the legend of fairy monsters.

Among them was a young man whose favorite book was also one of the best-selling books of his time, Marco Polo's Travels in Latin. He wrote notes on more than 70 pages of the book; he also enjoyed reading newly published works on geography and fantasizing about going around the earth to explore. This man is Columbus.

Vasco da Gama, Magellan, and many expedition captains, as well as the sailors they led, were also tempted and inspired by the new publications of strange theories, heroic feats, and love legends, and embarked on a journey to Asia. If they didn't have a printing press, they might still be playing games in your lady's living room.

Movable type printing, invented Chinese, did not circulate

Moving type printing is not a particularly difficult idea to think of. 5,000 years ago, the Indus civilization used different concave and convex characters to make seals.

Chinese invented engraving printing, and later invented movable type printing; but the world's common metal movable type printing has nothing to do with China.

In the middle of the 19th century, after the French sinologist Ru Lian translated a section of the Mengxi Pen Talk into French, the world began to recognize that China was the inventor of movable type printing.

A person in the Qing Dynasty tried to copy the clay movable characters recorded in the "Mengxi Pen Talk", and although it was successful, it took many years and the quality of the work was not good.

The most commonly used movable type in China is the wooden movable type. The Xixia Buddhist scriptures, found in a pagoda in Ningxia, are considered by many scholars to be 12th-century wooden movable type prints. The nearly 1,000 Uighur wooden movable characters found in Dunhuang are believed by researchers to have been made at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries. As can be seen from these objects, China took the lead in using movable type printing. In the Ming Dynasty, the use of wooden movable characters was quite a lot.

However, due to the mature technology of Chinese craftsmen in wood engraving, the speed is very fast, and it is basically enough. Therefore, movable type printing has not become popular, only some special purposes, such as the craftsman who repairs the family tree, will pick up the family tree that has been printed, with wooden movable type, and go to the countryside to print it for people.

As for the earliest metal movable type in China, it is generally believed that Wang Zhen of the Yuan Dynasty mentioned in the "Creation of Movable Type Printing Calligraphy" (considered to have been written in 1298) that "in recent times, the cast tin characters have been embedded in the inner boundary of the helmet with iron strips" in the line of printing books" in the inner boundary of the helmet. The earliest surviving metal movable type print in China is Hua Fu's "Huitongguan Yinzheng Song Zhuchen Discussion" printed in 1490, which is also the earliest surviving Chinese movable type print in China, which is later than Gutenberg's invention of the printing press.

The Korean nation is proud that they invented metal movable type. The Library of Paris has a Chinese book, the 1377 printing of the Goryeo Buddhist Temple, "The White Cloud Monk Transcribes the Buddha's Direct Finger to the Heart and Body", which is considered to be printed in metal movable type. The Li Dynasty cast copper movable type in 1403. Scholars believe that North Korea has minted metal movable type 34 times.

In addition, China printed paper money in the Song and Yuan dynasties, also using copper plates.

Why European metal movable type unified the world

The technology that everyone uses today is handed down from Gutenberg, and the technology in Asia is no longer used.

Because of the stable and durable, exquisite printing of metal movable type printing machine, including lead and antimony alloy movable type, mold, screw bar embossing, ink, etc., are indispensable. Gutenberg's contribution was the first to bring together inventions from multiple fields.

Let's start with the lead word. It is particularly suitable to make movable type with lead because it is not too hard, does not damage paper, is not too soft, will not be crushed, and is durable.

At that time, Europeans mined a lot of silver mines, and because silver and lead often coexisted, the ratio often reached 1:1000, so as a by-product, lead was excessive. Lead has a large number of uses, and European metal craftsmen are familiar with it, often making lead objects in batches. Antimony was common at the time and was most appropriate for hardening lead.

Typing, punching, and drilling on small metal movable type also requires high-quality steel chisels and steel needles. Germany, where Gutenberg lived, was the center of metalworking at the time. He was himself a goldsmith. Therefore, mold making, stamping and other technologies have been integrated into the printing press.

In addition, screw stamping is a unique technology in Europe, which was first used to squeeze olive oil and grape juice; in the Middle Ages, it was used for paper dehydration and velvet ironing. Gutenberg introduced the screw bar imprinting technology into the printing press, making the printing press strong and flat, which is more conducive to the automation and high quality of printing.

European inks are also different from Asian inks. It is derived from European oil painting technology. Inks adhere more evenly to metal surfaces than inks.

In short, Gutenberg in 1450 synthesized some european techniques and invented modern printing. Later, when Countries such as China came into contact with this machine, it was difficult to replicate it at once, and it could only be imported from Europe.

In the 16th century, Europeans explored the world at sea while exploring the world in books. In 16th-century England, the male literacy rate increased from 10 per cent to 25 per cent and the female literacy rate increased from less than 1 per cent to 10 per cent. Science, religion, art, archives... The world of information as we know it is due to the printing press.

Source: Science and Technology Daily