Movable type printing, one of the four great inventions in China, was invented all his life. What is movable type printing? It is to carve characters on a piece of clay, and only one character is engraved on each piece of clay. After being hardened with fire, it becomes movable type, which can be reused and is very convenient.

He was also a Bi Sheng all his life. What Dynasty was such a person who made great contributions to later generations? He lived in the Northern Song Dynasty, and cloth clothes were used to address ordinary people. In the early Song Dynasty, he was a bookshop engraver. By the time of song Qingli, his experience became more and more, and his experience accumulated to a certain extent. So he used his brain and invented "movable type printing" according to his practical experience.

When he died, his invention was not carried forward, nor was it promoted. However, before he died, he told his younger martial brothers without reservation, and they could not help admiring his uncanny craftsmanship.

Bi Sheng invents movable type printing

Bi Sheng was a printer in the Northern Song Dynasty. However, his unique feature was that he invented "movable type printing", one of the "four great inventions", which greatly saved printing time, improved efficiency and made many contributions to later generations. In fact, Bi Sheng's invention of movable type printing is a very interesting story. Bi Sheng invented movable type printing with sudden inspiration Operation.

At that time, the younger students knew that Bi Sheng had invented movable type printing, which greatly improved the printing efficiency. They came to visit and study one after another. Bi Sheng also gave his junior students an unreserved professor. As he explained, he demonstrated how to carry out movable type printing. First, he made small squares of fine clay, and carved convex backhand characters one by one. After being hardened by fire, they were arranged in small wooden lattices according to the order of vowels. Then spread the adhesive made of rosin, wax and paper ash on a piece of iron plate. According to the paragraph of each sentence, the clay engraved on the characters will be discharged in turn, and then iron frames will be set around it. After heating, wait for the adhesive to cool a little bit, slowly flatten it with a flat plate, and then it can be printed after it is completely cooled. After printing, the plate is heated by fire. After the adhesive melts, the movable type can be reused.

While praising Bi Sheng's intelligence, the younger martial brothers asked a long-standing question. How did Bi Sheng come up with this idea?

Bi Sheng replied that once, when he saw his son playing with his family, he made tables, chairs, benches, pots and pans made of mud. After baking and shaping, they could be placed at will, which gave him the idea of movable type printing.

The younger martial brothers suddenly realized that it was a chance inspiration that made his elder martial brother Bi Sheng invent such a great technology, which made later generations proud of it. Bi Sheng, relying on this sudden light, made China the first country to have printing, which was introduced into Europe in the 19th century.