The following excerpt is from Chapter 18 of the Mengxi Bitan (夢溪筆談 mèng xī bǐ tán; Brush Talks from Dream Brook), a collection of essays and notes by the Chinese polymath and statesman Shen Kuo (沈括 shěn kuò; 1031 – 1095). The Mengxi Bitan is an encyclopedic work, covering a wide range of topics in the humanities, archeology, linguistics, music theory, mathematics, medicine, engineering, science, and technology. The following anecdote gives the earliest account of Bi Sheng (畢昇 bì shēnɡ; 972 – 1051) and his invention of movable type printing in 1044, roughly 400 years before Johannes Gutenburg (c. 1400 – 1468) invented his printing press. The account explains the method and materials Bi Sheng used to create his movable type printing technology. I decided to translate the paragraph on Bi Sheng’s method into the present tense so that it sounds more like a recipe or procedure.
Original Chinese Text
| 《夢溪筆談·卷十八技藝·第十篇》 板印書籍，唐人尚未盛為之。 自馮瀛王[1] 始印五經[2]，已後典籍，皆為板本。 慶歷[3]中，有布衣[4]畢昇，又為活板。 其法：用膠泥刻字，薄如錢脣[5]，每字為一印，火燒令堅。 先設一鐵板，其上以松脂臘[6]和紙灰之類冒[7]之。 欲印，則以一鐵範[8]置鐵板上，乃密布字印。 滿鐵範為一板，持就火煬[9]之，藥稍鎔，則以一平板按其面，則字平如砥[10]。 若止印三、二本，未為簡易；若印數十、百、千本，則極為神速。 常作二鐵板，一板印刷，一板已自布字，此印者纔[11]畢，則第二板已具。 更互用之，瞬息可就。 每一字皆有數印，如「之」、「也」等字，每字有二十餘印，以備一板內有重復者。 不用則以紙貼之，每韻[12]為一貼，木格貯[13]之。 有奇字素無備者，旋刻之，以草火燒，瞬息可成。 不以木為之者，木理有疏密， 沾水則高下不平，兼與藥相粘，不可取。 不若燔土[14]，用訖[15]再火令藥熔，以手拂之，其印自落，殊不沾污[16]。 昇死，其印為予群從[17]所得，至今寶藏。 |
English Translation by Tao Steven Zheng 鄭濤
| Mengxi Bitan (Chapter 18 Jiyi: Section 10) Woodblock printing was not widely used during the Tang dynasty. Ever since Feng Yingwang began printing the Five Classics with woodblock printing in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, all the classics were printed in such a way. During the Qingli period of Emperor Renzong’s reign, a commoner named Bi Sheng invented movable type printing. His method: Use sticky clay to carve the characters as thin as the edge of copper coins, with each character being a type, and then bake it to harden. Prepare in advance an iron plate coated with a mixture made of rosin wax and paper ashes. When one wishes to print, take an iron frame and place it on top of the iron plate. Then fill the frame with hardened types close together. Once the frame is full, heat the board on the fire. When the mixture begins to melt, take another board to press over the surface, so that the the types are made as level as a whetstone. If only two or three copies were printed, this method is not advantageous. But if tens, hundreds, or thousands of copies are printed in this way, then its astonishing speed will be fully realized. Two iron boards are often prepared. When one is in use, the types are being set in the other. When the first board just finishes its printing task, the second one will be ready to use. By alternating between the two boards, the printing of a book will be finished in no time. Every character had several types. For example, the most commonly used characters, such as 之 [meaning “of”] and 和 [meaning “and”] have more than twenty types for repetitive use. When these types are not in use, each of them will be labeled, one label for each rhyme, and stored in the wooden compartments. If any special characters that have not been made are needed, they will be carved right on the spot, and baked in a fire made by burning straw. These types will be done in no time. Wood was not used to make types because the grain of wood is sometimes coarse and sometimes fine. It will warp and become uneven after being in contact in water. Furthermore, the mixture cannot be removed if it is glued onto wood. As far as the mixture glued onto the types made of burnt clay are concerned, it can easily melt in the fire, and with a gentle whisk, the types will drop off by itself, leaving no residue. After Bi Sheng died, some of the types he made were collected by my nephews, which are still kept are a prized possession to this day. |
Annotations
[1] 馮瀛王 féng yíng wáng：馮道（882 年 – 954 年），五代時期著名宰相。Feng Dao (882 – 954) was a famous prime minister in the Five Dynasties.
[2] 五經 wǔ jīng：儒家典籍《詩經》《尚書》《禮記》《周易》《春秋》。The five canonical Confucian classics: Shi Jing (詩經 shī jīng; Book of Odes), Shang Shu (尚書 shàng shū; Book of Documents), Li Ji (禮記 lǐ jì; Book of Rites), Zhou Yi (周易 zhōu yì; Book of Changes), and Chun Qiu (春秋 chūn qiū; Spring and Autumn Annals).
[3] 慶歷 qìng lì：宋仁宗 1041 年 – 1048 年的年號。The era name of emperor Song Renzong from 1041 – 1048.
[4] 布衣 bù yī：這裡指沒有做官的讀書人的平民。Here refers to scholarly civilians who are not officials.
[5] 錢脣 qián chún：銅錢的邊緣。The edge of a copper coin.
[6] 松脂臘 sōng zhī là：松脂、蜂蠟、米糠和石蠟等組成的蠟狀物。A waxy substance made of rosin, beeswax, rice bran and paraffin.
[7] 冒 mào：覆蓋。To cover.
[8] 鐵範 tiě fàn：鐵框架。Metal frame.
[9] 煬 yàng：烘烤；烘乾。To bake or roast dry.
[10] 砥 dǐ：磨刀石。A whetstone or grindstone.
[11] 纔 cái：通“才”，指剛剛的意思。Just now or immediately after.
[12] 韻 yùn：指韻書的韻部。Here referring to the rhyme tables in rhyme books.
[13] 貯 zhù：積藏、儲蓄。To store or to save.
[14] 燔土 fán tǔ：被燒過的土或黏土。Burnt earth or burnt clay.
[15] 訖 qì：完畢。Completed.
[16] 沾污 zhān wū：指沾上藥料的殘餘物。The residue stained with the mixture.
[17] 群從 qún cóng：指堂兄弟及诸子侄。Collective term for cousins and nephews.
References
[宋] 沈括撰，胡道靜校註《新校正夢溪筆談》， 中華書局（香港） 1975 年 1 月港版，1978 年 2 月重印
[宋] 沈括、胡道静、金良年、胡小静著 《大中华文库：梦溪笔谈（汉英对照）》，四川人民出版社，2008 年 1 月
STZheng 