The first is to make movable type. Movable type is made of a fine mud, that is, clay. Small pieces of clay as thin as copper coins, like stamps, carve a word on each piece and burn it on the fire to make hard movable type.
Every word has to be engraved several times. For the commonly used words "Zhi", "Hu", "Zhe" and "Ye", each word should be engraved for more than 20 times so as to be used when a word appears repeatedly in typesetting. These movable types are the basic tools for movable type printing.
Followed by typesetting. First, prepare an iron plate covered with turpentine, wax and paper dust, and then make a book-sized iron frame out of iron. When printing books, first put the iron plate on the iron plate, and arrange the required movable type in the plate according to the manuscript. When the plate is full, bake the iron plate on the fire to make turpentine and wax melt slightly, and then flatten it with a flat plate to make the text smooth. When the resin and wax are solidified, the movable type is firmly adhered to the plate, and the typesetting procedure is completed.
The last step is to apply ink to the board. If you want to speed up printing, you can replace it with two iron plates, one for printing and one for typesetting. The second edition will be ready when the first edition goes to press. This alternate use can not only save time, but also improve printing efficiency.
After printing, put the iron plate on the fire and bake it until the resin and wax melt, then you can take down the movable type and use it next time.
In this process, the three main steps of printing, movable type, typesetting and printing, have been fully possessed. Therefore, although the invention of Bi A is primitive and simple, its basic principle is the same as that of the current typesetting method, which has had a far-reaching impact on the printing of books later.