Bi Sheng (also known as Bi Sheng, about 970-1051) was an ancient Chinese inventor and the inventor of movable type printing. Han nationality, a native of Shezhou (now Shexian County, Anhui Province) who was transferred to Jiangnan West Road during the Northern Song Dynasty, is said to be a native of Hangzhou, Zhejiang. He started out as a printing shop worker, specializing in manual printing. Bi Sheng invented clay movable type printing, which is considered the earliest movable type printing technology in the world. "Mengxi Bi Tan" written by Shen Kuo of the Song Dynasty records Bi Sheng's movable type printing technology. Shen Kuo only said that he was a commoner, and did not explain anything about his place of origin or life story. The so-called commoners literally refer to ordinary people who have never been an official. Regarding Bi Sheng's occupation, some people have made various speculations before, but the most reliable theory is that Bi Sheng should be a craftsman engaged in engraving and printing. Because only those who are familiar with or proficient in engraving technology can become the inventors of movable type. During Bi Sheng's long-term engraving work, he discovered that the biggest disadvantage of engraving was that every time a book was printed, it had to be re-engraved, which not only took a long time, but also increased the cost of printing. If you use a movable type plate instead, you only need to carve one set of movable type, and any book can be printed, and the movable type can be used repeatedly. Although the project of making movable type is larger, it will be very convenient for printing books in the future. It was under this inspiration that Bi Sheng invented the movable type plate. From "Mengxi Bi Tan" we can see that Bi Sheng's letterpress printing technology was improved on the basis of predecessors' block printing of books. The description of the process of letterpress printing in "Mengxi Bi Tan" is also an important asset for future generations' research. Shen Kuo did not explain Bi Sheng's birthplace. We only know that after Bi Sheng's death, the clay movable type he made was collected by Shen Kuo's nephew. From this, we speculate that Bi Sheng and the Shen family are either relatives or close neighbors. . Shen Kuo was from Hangzhou, and Bi Sheng was probably also from Hangzhou. Hangzhou was an area where woodblock printing was relatively developed at that time. The invention of movable type plates here is also in line with historical laws. The invention of movable type printing was a great revolution in the history of printing and one of the four great inventions in ancient China. It opened up a broad path for the development of China's cultural economy and made a significant contribution to the development of world civilization. According to legend, a descendant of Bi Sheng was discovered by the court for using movable type clay to forge coins, which implicated nine tribes. The tribesmen who managed to escape changed their surnames to Tian and Wan. Although there is a local place named Bijiapu today, there are many surnames such as Tian and Wan, but none with the surname Bi. Historical records:
The contents of Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Bi Tan·Mobile Printing" are as follows: Block-printed books had not yet flourished in the Tang Dynasty. The Five Classics began to be printed in the Five Dynasties, and all subsequent classics were written in tablet form. In the Qingli calendar, there are commoners who are promoted, and they are also traps. The method is to use clay to carve words, which are as thin as the lips of money. Each word is a seal, and the fire will make it strong. First, set up an iron plate, and put rosin, wax, paper ash, etc. on it. If you want to make a seal, place an iron mold on an iron plate and cover it with densely printed characters. The iron model is made of a flat plate, hold it in the fire, and when the medicine is slightly melted, press a flat plate on its surface, and the characters will be as flat as a hammer. If you only need to print three or two copies, it will not be easy; if you print hundreds of thousands of copies, it will be extremely fast. Two iron plates are often used, one for printing and the other for self-printing. After this seal is completed, the second plate is already in place. It can be used more interchangeably in an instant. Each word has a number of seals, such as "zhi", "ye" and other characters. Each character has more than twenty seals to prepare for duplication in one board. If not in use, stick it with paper, one for each rhyme, and store it in a wooden grid. If there are strange characters that are unprepared, they can be carved with a twist and burned with grass and fire, and they can be completed in an instant. If it is not made of wood, the texture will be sparse and dense. If it is exposed to water, it will be uneven and it will stick to the medicine, so it is not advisable. It is not like burning the soil. After using it, use the fire to melt the medicine, then brush it with your hands, and the seal will fall off without staining. After his death, his seal was obtained by Yu Qun and has been preserved to this day.