Block printing is the earliest printing form, which was invented by working people in ancient China through long-term practice and research.
In the Sui Dynasty around 600 AD, people were inspired by seals and invented the earliest block printing. But at this time, the engraving printing process is very simple, generally just a small printed matter with a single page.
During the Tang Dynasty, the number of monks surged. In order to copy a large number of scriptures and Buddha statues, the level of block printing technology has been greatly improved, and a large number of printed materials have appeared. In the layout of printed matter, it is also constantly improved with the improvement of printing technology.
In the early days, the layout of single-page printed matter was not fixed, mainly at the top and bottom of the picture, and the layout was rectangular. Although the later printed matter was a whole book or a whole volume of Buddhist scriptures, it was still in the form of scroll binding.
In the late Tang Dynasty, due to the appearance of whirlwind, folding and album binding, the layout form was unified and block printing gradually matured.
The earliest block printing with a clear date record in the world is the full volume of the Diamond Sutra discovered in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, and it is also the earliest illustration block printing in the world.
When papermaking was introduced to Europe by Arabs, paper quickly replaced sheepskin and calf leather, which had been used for a long time in Europe, and promoted the arrival of the Renaissance.
Second, the invention of gunpowder was a great invention of ancient people in China, and China was the first country to invent gunpowder in the world, which promoted the process of world history.
As early as the Qin and Han dynasties, the Shennong Herbal Classic listed saltpeter as the top grade of alchemy with carbon, which had the material basis for inventing gunpowder.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei Boyang recorded the violent reaction when saltpeter was found to be mixed with other ores during alchemy, and later books such as Huainanzi and Water Mirror Note also recorded the use of gunpowder.
However, the method of making gunpowder and the time of its military use were accurately recorded in the Tang Dynasty, which was explained in detail in Zheng Siyuan's Zhen Yuan Miao Dao lue in the middle of the Tang Dynasty.
After the late Tang Dynasty, gunpowder was made into a spherical "Fei Huo" to attack the city, and people gradually moved from the era of cold weapons to the era of firearms, opening the era of hot weapons. Since then, the rapid development of gunpowder and firearms has caused changes in weapon systems and even military science.
Third, the astronomical calendar of the Tang Dynasty was also very advanced, and monks and nuns in the Tantric period of the Tang Dynasty were outstanding astronomers.
His real name is Zhang Sui, and he has read widely since he was a child. He is particularly interested in the calendar, Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, and has made considerable achievements. As an adult, I studied Buddhism, astronomy, geography, yin and yang, five elements, mathematics and so on in Songshan.
Through observation, monks and his party discovered the phenomenon of star position movement in 724 years, which was nearly 1000 years earlier than the viewpoint of star self-movement put forward by British astronomer Harley in 17 18.
In the same year, he organized and led a large-scale astronomical and geodetic survey, measured the length of meridian for the first time in the world, and compiled a new calendar named Dayan Calendar in 727.
This calendar was the most advanced one at that time, because it was systematic and reasonable in structure. Later calendarists almost always wrote calendars according to their structure, and it was not until the end of the Ming Dynasty that they absorbed western calendars that they changed, which shows that their influence is far-reaching.
In addition, the map of Dunhuang in the Tang Dynasty is also one of the earliest existing maps in the world, and its content is quite rich.
There are 1367 stars on the map. The drawing method starts from 65438+February, and the constellations near the equator are drawn into 12 segments according to the position of the sun every month, and explained in words. The main body adopts the materials in Book of Rites, Moon Order and Han Shutian's Wen Zhi.
So graphically, this map is probably an older copy of the map. The map was originally hidden in the Buddhist scriptures cave in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes. It was secretly stolen abroad by British Stan in 1907, and is now in the British Museum in London.