Heavenly Creations is the first comprehensive work on agriculture and handicraft production in the world. It is a comprehensive scientific and technological work in ancient China. Others call it an encyclopedic work. The writer is Song, a scientist in Ming Dynasty. Foreign scholars call it "China17th century craft encyclopedia".
In the book, the author emphasizes that human beings should live in harmony with nature and human resources should cooperate with natural forces. It is the most abundant historical data of science and technology in China. It focuses more on handicrafts and reflects the productive forces of capitalism in China in the late Ming Dynasty.
The book "Heavenly Creations" describes in detail the types of raw materials, places of origin, production technology and equipment of various crops and handicrafts, as well as some production organization experiences. The first volume records the planting and processing methods of grain, beans and hemp, the spinning and dyeing techniques of silk cotton and ramie, and the production process of salt and sugar. The contents of the book include the production of bricks and ceramics, the construction of vehicles and boats, the casting and forging of metals, the mining and firing of coal, lime, sulfur and alum, and the methods of oil extraction and paper making. The second volume describes the mining and smelting of metal minerals, the manufacture of weapons, the production of pigments and koji, and the collection and processing of jade beads. ?
How is the Wu Kai in Tiangong printed?
So how was this book printed? Many people will think of the world-leading technology "block printing" in ancient China. Yes, the book "Heavenly Creations" was officially published by block printing.
The process of block printing is roughly as follows: after the sample manuscript is written, stick the side with words on the board, so that the lettering can be done. Carvers use different types of carving knives to carve the reflexive ink on the woodcut into convex orthography, and at the same time remove the remaining blank parts on the woodcut to make it concave. The inscription on the board is probably 1 ~ 2mm publishing surface. Rinse the carved board with hot water, wash off sawdust, etc. The shaping process is completed. When printing, use a cylindrical flat-bottomed brush to dip ink evenly on the board surface, then carefully cover the paper on the board surface, and with a brush, you can print a positive image of words or pictures on the paper. Lift the paper from the printing board and dry it in the shade, and the printing process is completed. ?
What is the official explanation?
The book "Heavenly Creations" is the same as other books at that time. In this way, there are four steps: write a sample? 、? Carving? 、? Print? What about the last step? Binding? . After that, it formed a real book and was watched by ancient people.