Chapter 13 Chapter 4 The Contribution of Chinese Printing to World Civilization

North Korea was the first country to accept Chinese printing. Cultural exchanges between China and North Korea have a long history, and cultural exchanges between the two countries began as early as BC.During the Southern Dynasties, there were music and dances from Goryeo and Baekje in the Chinese court, and Chinese scholars, craftsmen, and painters in North Korea gave lectures and skills there. In the 7th century, there were many overseas students from Silla in Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty. They studied Chinese culture extensively. When they returned home, they often took a large number of books with them, and spread and promoted the cultural knowledge and craftsmanship they had learned in China.For example, Cui Zhiyuan, a famous scholar in Silla later, came to China at the age of 12 and became a scholar in the middle of the Tang Dynasty at the age of 18. After returning to China, his calligraphy, poetry and prose had a great influence in Silla.

The introduction of Chinese engraving and printing to North Korea began with the dissemination of Buddhist scriptures.Both the Silla and Goryeo dynasties believed in Buddhism and took Buddhism as the state religion.During the Tang Dynasty, the monks of Silla brought back the manuscript "Tripitaka" from China, which was welcomed by the whole country.The world-famous printed copy of the world's earliest extant "Wugou Jingguang Dadharani Sutra" was also brought back from China.After the Song Dynasty "Kaibaozang" was printed, the Song government donated three books to the Goryeo Dynasty. After the Khitan Collection was printed in the first half of the 11th century, Liao gave them four more copies, and monk Huizhao bought back three more.From 1011 to 1082, they took this as a blueprint and used the good paper and ink produced in their own country to print according to Chinese engraving. It took 71 years to engrave the first "Koryo Collection", which is a huge project, with more than 6,000 volumes. Known as the "Great Treasure of Korea".Unfortunately, when Mongolian soldiers invaded Goryeo in 1232 AD, most of the Tripitaka editions were burned.However, it can be seen from this that Chinese woodblock printing was introduced to North Korea around the end of the 10th century, while North Korea's own engraving of books began in the 11th century.

In the 11th century A.D., Wang Xu (Dharma name Yitian), the son of King Wenzong of Goryeo, traveled to many places in China and Korea, collected the works of Buddhist masters in Song, Liao, and Korea, and compiled them into a 4,000-volume "Xu Zang" in 1101. ", after it was published, it was distributed to the Song Dynasty, Liao Dynasty and Japan as a gift, but most of them have been lost today, and few are incomplete. From 1237 to 1251 A.D., with the full assistance of the Koryo nobles Cui's father and son, it took 15 years to re-carve a Chinese "Tripitaka", with a total of 6,791 volumes in the collection and 81,258 engraved plates. Each plate is engraved on both sides. It is the famous 80,000 Tripitaka (Figure 20).Until today, the 80,000 pieces of scriptures are almost intact in the Haeinsa Temple on Gaya (yeye) Mountain in Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea. This may be the largest and oldest complete wood carving preserved in the world. The printing plate is nearly 500 years earlier than the "Qianlong Edition Tripitaka" completed in 1738 in my country and preserved to this day.Therefore, Haiyin Temple is called "Dunhuang in the East of the Sea".

The printing of non-religious books in North Korea also began in the 11th century.At that time, the Goryeo Dynasty bought a large number of books and book editions from the Song Dynasty. For example, Monk Yitian transported back the plates of "Qingliangshu" and 1,000 volumes of printed books and written books; Ship it and reap huge profits from it.On the other hand, many Chinese Confucian classics, history books, and medical books were reprinted in order to meet the increasing demand for books in the imperial examinations and literati.In 1042 AD, "Book of Han", "Book of Later Han" and "Book of Tang" were printed, and then "Book of Rites for Justice", "Mao Poetry for Justice", "Treatise on Febrile Diseases" and "Houfang of the Elbow" were printed.

At the beginning of the 12th century, the Goryeo Dynasty set up a printing office in Guozijian and began to print books on a large scale. The government collection reached tens of thousands of books. In 1392 AD, Li Chenggui, the general of Goryeo, established the Li Dynasty and changed the name of the country to Joseon.After the establishment of the Li Dynasty, due to political stability, economic development, and cultural activity, people's demand for books further increased.Therefore, both the government and the people reprinted a large number of important Chinese classics and history collections, medical works and popular novels, which is the so-called "all schools of thought are well-known and widely distributed in the world"; at the same time, Koreans' own works, such as the three major medical books :,,, there are also history books "History of the Three Kingdoms", "History of Korea", "Brief History of Korean Dynasties" and so on.In ancient Korea, there was no written language, and Chinese characters were always used. It was not until 1446 that the Korean script called "Hangul" (that is, the current Korean script) was created. The earliest Korean Hangeul publication was the Lotus Sutra published in 1463, while the Daoist book "Gyeongshin Recorded Gym and Interpretation" was an early Chinese-Hangul version.At this time, the printing industry in North Korea also entered a new stage of movable type printing with the introduction of Chinese movable type printing.

In the second half of the 11th century, when the monk Yitian lived in Hangzhou, he probably learned about the invention of clay movable type written by his contemporary Shen Kuo in "Mengxi Bi Tan"; in 1102, the ancient Chinese method of casting money was also introduced. This has played a role in promoting the adoption of movable type printing in North Korea. By the early 13th century, Korea began to use movable type printing.A Korean document mentioned that around 1234, there was a "Gujin Detailed Rituals" that was printed in "cast characters" on Ganghwa Island in North Korea.Later, there was a cast version of "Nanming Zhengdao Song".Some scholars believe that most of the cast characters in the later Li Dynasty were copper characters, so these two types of cast characters are counted as copper movable type. If this is true, then North Korea is the first country in the world to cast copper movable type.The Korean invention was about 200 years later than the Bi Shengni movable type, but more than 200 years earlier than the lead type invented by Gutenberg in Germany in the 1540s.

According to the 15th-century Korean scholar Cheng Ni [qian Qiao], the casting method of Korean characters is to first carve boxwood into characters, press them into soft clay to make characters, and then pour the molten metal into the mold to solidify characters, and then Processing into usable metal type is almost the same as the method of casting copper seals in China. The use of wooden movable type to print books in North Korea began in 1376, when the "Tongjian Gangmu" was printed.In the 90s of the 13th century, the Dujian of Meritorious Officials, the biography of Li Chenggui, and the Law of the Ming Dynasty with annotations in Korean dialect were printed. "Gongchen Dujian" is the earliest surviving wooden movable type printed copy in North Korea.But in the 15th century, wooden movable type printing was gradually replaced by copper movable type printing.

In 1403 AD, the Korean government established a foundry and began to cast copper movable type on a large scale. In the following 460 years, nearly 30 pairs of metal movable type were cast, with as many as two to three million characters.Except for one pair of lead movable type and two pairs of iron movable type, all of them are copper movable type.It can be seen that North Korea was also the first country to cast a large number of metal movable type. Since then, printing books with copper movable type has become the mainstream of Korean printing.Among the various sets of copper movable type, the typeface engraved and cast in 1434 is said to have imitated the calligraphy of a famous calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the 4th century.This year is the year of Jiayin, so it is called "Jiayin characters", and Jiayin characters are called "the eternal treasure of Korea".Two years later, the Koreans created movable lead type.In 1436 A.D., "Tongjian Gangmu" (i.e. "The Precepts of the Sizheng Palace") was printed with movable lead type for the first time. This is the earliest printed version of movable lead type in the world. "Bingchen word".The calligraphy of Bingchen is vigorous, large and eye-catching. The main text of "Tongjian Gangmu" is made of lead-cast Bingchen characters, and the small characters are made of copper-cast Jiayin characters. The two are mixed and printed, which is a rare and rare book in the history of printing.The movable lead type invented by the Koreans was about 20 years earlier than Gutenberg's "Forty-two-line Bible" typesetting around 1450.

In 1729, the Koreans printed "Xipo Collection" with movable iron type, which is unique in the world because of its delicate and beautiful font. To sum up, it can be seen that the Korean people are industrious and intelligent people. They are not only good at absorbing the scientific and technological achievements of the Chinese people, but also good at innovating, creating metal movable types such as copper, lead, and iron; its printed books are carefully collated, The printing is clear, and the paper and ink binding are excellent. This is the great contribution of the Korean people to world civilization.The Chinese people have also learned from the valuable experience of the Korean people. North Korean printed books have always been well received by the Chinese people. Korean ink is black and shiny, and the paper is fine and delicate. They are all excellent printed books and are deeply loved by the Chinese people.The people of China and North Korea exchanged and promoted each other in printing technology, and jointly promoted the development of printing industry.

Chinese printing was introduced to Japan, probably a little later than Korea. The cultural exchanges between China and Japan have been close since ancient times. In the 3rd century (some say in the second half of the 4th century), Korean scholars presented Chinese culture to the Japanese court. In the 5th century, Chinese papermaking was introduced to Japan. From the 7th to the 9th century, Japan sent more than 10 batches of "envoys to Tang Dynasty" to China, and they brought back Chinese laws and regulations, cultural technology and Buddhist scriptures to Japan.In 865 AD, the Japanese monk Zong Rui brought back the printed versions of "Tang Yun" and "Jade Pian".The Chinese eminent monk Jianzhen traveled eastward to Japan and brought with him many Buddhist classics and Buddhist-related architecture, sculpture art, and medical knowledge. In 983, Song Taizong presented a complete printed copy of "Kaibaozang" to the Japanese monk Miao Diaoran.These cultural exchanges, especially the introduction of printed books, undoubtedly played a role in promoting the printing industry in Japan.

There are different opinions on when Japan's own book engraving began. The more credible evidence is the Chinese Buddhist classic "Cheng Wei Consciousness Theory" engraved at Kofuku Temple in Nara, Japan in 1088 AD. The earliest engraved prints.Prior to this, there were four kinds of Buddhist scriptures called the "Wugou Jingguang Sutra Root Dharani", which were transliterated from Sanskrit into Chinese characters, because they were placed in one million small wooden pagodas at that time, and these small wooden pagodas It is evenly divided among the top 10 famous temples, so it is also called "Million Pagodas "Dharani Sutra".According to some documents, these Buddhist scriptures were printed between 763 and 770, and 770 was the first year of Emperor Kohito of Japan, hence the name "Treasure Kamemoto".Many scholars believe that Hokimoto was printed by recruiting Chinese workers to Japan. It is the oldest surviving woodblock printing in the world (some people think it was copperplate printing, or that it was printing with movable type).However, Japanese literature does not say that it is a printed matter, and the printed matter itself does not leave the date of publication. Therefore, some scholars are skeptical of this statement. Following the publication of "Cheng Wei Consciousness Theory", more and more Buddhist scriptures were engraved in Japan.Japan takes Buddhism as the state religion. At that time, copying and distributing Buddhist scriptures were considered great merits of Buddhism. It is said that it can eliminate disasters and prolong life, repair the afterlife, save all living beings, and save the dead.So in the 13th century, monks and nuns, faithful men and women, gave up their money one after another, and engraved Buddhist scriptures became a common practice.Among them, the most famous one is the "Wushan Edition" engraved by five great Zen temples. Wushan Temple not only engraved a large number of religious books, but also engraved many Chinese Confucian books, medical books and poetry collections. In total, nearly 80 non-religious Chinese books and essays were engraved. Nearly 200 religious works.The first Confucian book in China that was reprinted in Japan was "The Analects of Confucius" published in 1247. The earliest collection of poetry and prose was "Hanshan Poetry Collection" published in 1325 by Han Shanzi, a poet monk of the Tang Dynasty. The Encyclopedia of Medical Books".Until the end of the 16th century, the printing industry in Japan could be said to be completely monopolized by Buddhist monasteries. In the 17th century, a large-scale engraving and printing project was still completed by the monastery. With the help of the Chinese Zen master Yinyuan, Zen Master Tieyan used 60,000 pieces of cherry wood carvings from 1669 to 1681. The entire "Tripitaka", because this Tibetan scripture was engraved at Wanfu Temple in Huangbo (bo Bo) Mountain, Kyoto, Japan, it is called "Huangbo Edition", and this set of engraving blocks is still preserved in the temple today. In ancient Japan, there was no writing, and Chinese characters were used as a recording tool. Later, Japanese characters "kana" were created by referring to the radicals of Chinese cursive script and regular script, but Chinese characters are still popular.However, until the 17th century, there were not many Japanese books printed, and the most printed books were Chinese books, but the reading method was different. It should be said that the development of Japan's early printing industry was inseparable from the help of Chinese craftsmen.At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, about 40 or 50 Chinese craftsmen escaped from the chaos and went to Japan to participate in the engraving work of the Wushan version. The most famous of them were Chen Mengrong at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and Yu Liangfu at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.The former has exquisite craftsmanship and calls itself "Meng Rong Miao Dao"; the latter has lived in Japan for a long time and has engraved more than 10 kinds of books, which is called "Yu Liangfu Edition".They not only engraved Buddhist scriptures, but also engraved the literacy textbook "Mengqiu", the calligraphy book "Yupian", "Poems of Du Gongbu", "Collection of Mr. Changli's couplets" and other famous works of Tang and Song Dynasties, which enabled many Chinese works to be circulated in Japan.At the same time, they also trained a group of excellent engravers for Japan, which greatly improved the printing quality in Japan.Chinese craftsmen have made great contributions to the development of Japan's printing industry, and the Japanese still cannot forget their achievements to this day. Until the Meiji Restoration, woodblock printing was mainly used for printing books in Japan. The use of movable type printing in Japan began in the early 1690s.First, Italian Jesuit missionary Fan Lian brought a movable type printing machine to Japan from Goa, India, and printed some Japanese and Western books in Roman alphabet. There are still about 30 kinds of books in existence, including missionary Booklets, dictionaries, language learning materials, literature, etc.However, since paganism was strictly prohibited in Japan, the Western movable type brought by this missionary had little influence on Japanese culture.Immediately afterwards, Japan launched a war of aggression against Korea in 1592 and robbed a batch of copper and wooden movable type from Korea to Japan. In the second year, Japan made wooden movable type.The most famous surviving wooden movable type book is "Title Xu Zhuangyuan Supplementary Note Mengqiu" published in 1596, and "Quanxuewen" published in 1597. It is clearly stated in the book that "this method is not inconvenient when it comes to Korea."Since then, movable type printing has been gradually promoted in the Japanese government, private individuals, and temples.From 1637 to 1648, Japan printed all 6,326 volumes of the Tripitaka with wooden movable type.Prior to this, China and North Korea had not printed the Tripitaka with movable type. This is the first "Tripitaka" printed with movable type, because this Tibetan Sutra was printed by Tianhai, a monk from Kanei Temple, so It is called "Kan Yong Temple version" or "Tianhai version".This movable type version of the Tripitaka is more than 30 years earlier than the above-mentioned "Huangbo version" of the Tripitaka.In addition, Chinese historiography, literature, various schools of thought, various medical books, novels, etc. were also printed based on the Chinese and Korean originals.At the same time, he also published a masterpiece of Japanese literature, which was printed and published on colored paper in 1606, using continuous fonts and exquisite illustrations.There are not many books printed with copper movable type in Japan. There are political compilations "Qunshu Zhiyao" printed in 1616 by Wei Zheng and others in the Tang Dynasty that can be used by rulers for reference, and "Huangsong Leiyuan" printed in 1621. These The book has long been lost in China, but there are printed copies in Japan.Many books published in Japan have also been handed down to China, so that books that have not been handed down in China can be preserved for a long time.It can be seen that the introduction of Chinese printing to Japan not only promoted the development of Japanese culture, but also enhanced the cultural exchanges between China and Japan. Chinese printing was also introduced to Vietnam. Vietnam and my country are adjacent, and the two countries have long had cultural exchanges.Around the 3rd century, my country's papermaking technology may have been introduced to northern Vietnam. At that time, Vietnam paid tribute to China for its self-produced paper.During the Tang Dynasty in our country, many Chinese writers went to Vietnam; Jiang Gongfu, a Vietnamese, became a Jinshi in the Tang Dynasty and held important positions. In the 11th century, Chinese books were introduced to Vietnam. At the request of Vietnam, the Northern Song Dynasty government presented them with three "Tripitaka" and one "Dao Zangjing". Beijing to buy books, or exchange local products and spices for books.A large number of Chinese books spread to Vietnam, which undoubtedly played an enlightening role in Vietnam's own engraving and printing. In the 1350s, the Vietnamese government printed "hukou posts" with woodblocks, which is the earliest printed matter seen in Vietnamese historical records.However, the Vietnamese government officially published books in 1435 (one said 1427), when the Confucian classic "Four Books" was engraved for the first time, and then in 1467, it was engraved into the "Five Classics" printing plate.Due to the increasing number of officially engraved books, the government had to build a special warehouse in the Confucian Temple (Confucius Temple) for storage.Vietnam's official engraved books are also modeled after my country's Guozijian version, Jixian Academy version, and cabinet version.At the same time, there were more folk engravings. They also imitated the names of Chinese bookstores and named them Wenhuitang, Jinwentang, Guangshengtang, Juwentang, Leshantang, etc. Hanoi is the concentrated place of bookstores.They printed Buddhist scriptures, scriptures, histories, anthologies, children's books, genealogy, biographies, novels, etc. in Chinese and Vietnamese, especially popular. Vietnam had no writing in ancient times. After Chinese characters and Chinese were introduced to Vietnam, Vietnam used Chinese characters as materials to create the Vietnamese character "Nam". This kind of writing had already appeared in the Li Dynasty (AD 1010-1225), and it was common in the 13th century. Passed.Therefore, the early Vietnamese printed editions included not only the Chinese version, but also the Nom version and the Chinese and Nom version, among which the Chinese version has the most books. At the beginning of the 18th century, Vietnam also had wooden movable type printed copies. The earliest known printed version is "Legendary Manlu" published in 1712.Later, the Vietnamese government bought a pair of wooden movable type from China, and printed political codes such as "imperial order" and "imperial system", poetry anthology and so on.It can be seen that movable type printing in Vietnam was also passed down from China. There are also movable lead type prints in Vietnam. In the 1880s, Vietnam became a French colony. In order to strengthen colonial rule, sever Vietnamese history, and sever ties with Chinese culture, the French imperialists vigorously advocated the "national language", which is the current Latinized Vietnamese language, and translated it into the so-called national language. A large number of Chinese classical novels, such as "Water Margin", "Water Margin", "Sui and Tang Biography", etc., are hundreds of kinds. Most of these books are printed in Saigon. Vietnamese prints are also deeply influenced by China.Their color-printed New Year pictures are similar to Chinese New Year pictures in terms of subject matter and printing method, and some of them can be said to be replicas of Chinese New Year pictures.For example, in "The Picture of Marriage of Mice", the screen depicts a group of mice playing the role of the bridegroom officials who give gifts, carry sedan chairs, blow trumpets and ride horses. The scene is lively, full of wit and humor.There is also a color-printed New Year picture "Guan Gong Riding a Horse", which shows Guan Yu riding a horse, holding the rein in one hand, and holding the Qinglong Yanyue Knife in the other, looking forward and walking slowly with the bridle, just like the Chinese New Year painting.This shows that Vietnamese printing is deeply influenced by China. Around the 16th century, Chinese printing was introduced to the Ryukyu Kingdom (now Okinawa County, Japan) and the Philippines. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Ryukyu had close contacts with China.At the end of the 14th century AD, the King of Ryukyu sent overseas students to study in Nanjing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty; Ming Taizu also ordered 36 families of boat people and craftsmen to move to Ryukyu.Many books from China were brought to Ryukyu by overseas students and businessmen.Around the same time, Ryukyu also had paper and used Chinese characters.In the early 16th century, the King of Ryukyu engraved Chinese books such as "Four Books", "Five Classics", "Primary School" and literature, and some printed copies also engraved images of Confucius and Mencius, engraved with circles, and added the pronunciation of Japanese pseudonyms .Also published some works of domestic scholars.The envoys sent by the Qing Dynasty to Ryukyu also brought Chinese engraving craftsmen, which shows that the printing technique of Ryukyu was also transmitted from China. The people in Fujian and Guangdong have been living in Nanyang (that is, Southeast Asia) since the Tang and Song Dynasties, and even more people went there in the Ming Dynasty.They brought with them advanced production techniques and cultural knowledge, including printing and a large number of books.The Chinese printing workers who went to the Philippines even started the printing business there directly.According to literature records, in 1593, the Spanish governor in the Philippines published translations of Christian classics in Chinese and Filipino Tegro respectively. In the National Library of Madrid, Spain.Both woodblock prints were produced by local Chinese printers, and the two metal movable type prints published in 1604 were also printed by a Chinese printer, who changed his name to Juan de Bella.His skills in engraving type and paper type are very high, and he is considered to be the half-inventor of movable type printing.His brother also printed books.Chinese printing workers have monopolized local printing for 15 years, and only local Filipinos have been engaged in printing since then. It can be seen that the printing industry in the Philippines was also initiated by Chinese workers. In addition, Chinese printing was also introduced to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and other places in Southeast Asia. Most of the printing in these countries and regions were initiated by overseas Chinese who immigrated there.It can be seen that overseas Chinese not only actively participated in the economic construction of the country of residence, but also contributed to the development of Nanyang culture. As for Iran, which is located in West Asia, it accepted Chinese printing earlier than Southeast Asian countries, and the channel of introduction was through my country's Hexi Corridor and Xinjiang.In the 9th century A.D., the ancestors of the Uighurs in my country lived in this area, the Uighur [huhu]. At the beginning of the 20th century, an expedition team composed of Germany, Japan and China found documents written in 17 languages ​​and engravings in six languages ​​in the ruins of ancient temples in Turpan, including Chinese, Uighur, and Sanskrit. for the most. In 1907, wooden movable type in Uyghur, which was created by the Uyghurs around 1300, was discovered in Dunhuang.The analysis of these printing relics shows that in the 13th and 14th centuries, Turpan was a gathering place of various cultures, and the printing industry in this area was once quite developed.Due to the spread of books, the printing technique of our country was also introduced to Iran.Iran is called Parth or Persia in our history books.According to records, Mongolia, which ruled Persia in 1294, issued a banknote in Tabriz, the capital, with Chinese and Arabic characters printed on it, and borrowed the Chinese word "money" to represent money, and then incorporated this word into the Persian vocabulary. , this is obviously the printing method of patriarchal China, so it can be said that this is the first time that Persia has used Chinese woodblock printing to imitate the treasure banknotes of the Yuan Dynasty.Although the reform of the currency system in Persia ended in failure shortly due to the resistance of the people, it caused a sensation in the international community at that time and expanded the influence of Chinese printing. In 1310, the famous Persian statesman and historian Rashid al-Din (Ra-shidal-Din) in his famous book "History of the World", put Chinese engraving and printing, including transcription, proofreading, engraving, printing and distribution Record them in detail.A few years later, Rashid al-Din's record on Chinese printing was introduced into his own work in full by an Arab scholar.These all prove that Chinese printing was not only introduced into Iran, but also influenced Arab countries.At the same time, Persian banknotes and Rashid al-Din's writings have been handed down to Europe, which is helpful for Europeans to understand the meaning, method and function of printing. Persia is also the hub of communication between the East and the West. Tabriz is also an international city, where Chinese, Mongolians, Europeans and people from many countries in Central Asia and West Asia gather. Chinese printing is likely to be introduced through Persia. of Europe and Africa.

---

Notes: