Printing is one of the four great inventions in ancient China. Before the invention of printing, knowledge could only be spread orally or manually. Word of mouth is easy to make mistakes, while manual copying is time-consuming and laborious, easy to copy mistakes and omissions, and difficult to preserve and spread knowledge, which not only hinders the development of culture, but also causes delays and losses in cultural communication. It was not until the Sui Dynasty that block printing began. When I arrived in Song Renzong, there was a lettering worker named Bi Sheng. He made a long square cylinder out of fine and sticky clay, carved the characters on it, one by one, burned them in a kiln to make movable type, and then arranged the characters in turn according to the content of the article to make a printing plate. This is the invention of movable type printing. Although this printing method is primitive and simple, it is the same as the principle of modern printing. Later, wooden movable type, metal movable type and clay movable type appeared in China, which made printing more and more progress.
With printing, human knowledge, experience, works, history, etc. It can be preserved more widely and accurately, and will not be fallacious or lost because of the dilemma of handwriting. It has played a great role in the inheritance of knowledge, so that human beings can get education and inspiration from the works of predecessors, accumulate the research results of predecessors, and continue to carry forward. Therefore, printing has become a great contribution to human culture and a great leap forward in culture. Moreover, the invention and development of movable-type edition enable human beings to enjoy convenient, fast and low-cost books and printed materials. Through the process of printing and copying in large quantities, knowledge can be widely circulated, and cultural exchanges are more common and frequent through the extensive circulation of these crystallization of human wisdom. Moreover, because knowledge and books are easier to obtain, the general public has the opportunity to receive education. Knowledge books will no longer be just the rights of a few powerful people, accelerate the popularization of knowledge education, and have a significant and far-reaching impact on the evolution of human civilization. Therefore, the invention of printing in China can be said to be the dawn of human culture, creating unprecedented conditions for the wide spread, exchange and inheritance of culture.
The invention of printing is called "great" because its influence is not limited to China, but global, and it has contributed to the cultural development of all mankind. According to historical records, China's woodblock printing technology was introduced to Japan and Korea in the 8th century, and14th century wood movable type technology was introduced to Korea and Japan, and then from Xinjiang to Europe via Persia and Egypt. It made the science in medieval Europe advance by leaps and bounds after a long night, and provided important material conditions for the emergence of the Renaissance. Therefore, the invention of printing has made great contributions to the culture of all mankind.
Francis Bacon once said in the book New Tools: "We should pay attention to the power, efficiency and consequences of various inventions. The most notable examples are printing, gunpowder and compass. These three inventions have changed the face and state of the whole world. The first is academic, the second is military, and the third is navigation, which has produced countless changes. This change is so great that there is no empire, no Sect, and no famous figure can have greater power and influence than these three mechanical inventions in the cause of mankind. " As it says, printing has an extremely important and far-reaching influence on the spread of world knowledge and the evolution of civilization. Without the invention of printing, human culture might still stumble in the long night full of mistakes, the spread of knowledge would be hindered, and the appearance of modern civilization would be delayed for hundreds of years, so the world would not be as prosperous as it is now.
Nowadays, we can enjoy the rich knowledge, prosperous civilization and other achievements brought by the great invention of printing. While being grateful, we should cherish and make full use of these resources, embrace our dreams, inspire ourselves in the wisdom of our predecessors, look forward to Excellence, and continue to promote human civilization.