The printing press is a device that allows the mass production of uniform printed matter, mainly texts in the form of books, brochures and newspapers. In the 15th century, the press was founded in China, where it carried out revolutionary social changes and further developed in Europe. No one knows when the first printing press was invented or who invented it. But the oldest known printed text originated from the Diamond Sutra of China in the year 1000 A.D., a Buddhist book from Dunhuang, China, dating back to about 868 A.D. The Tang Dynasty is said to be the oldest known printed book. Diamond warps are created by a method called block printing, which uses hand-carved wood panels for reverse printing. There are also other texts in Dunhuang, including printed calendars, mathematical charts, vocabulary guidance, etiquette guidance, funeral and wedding guides, children's education materials, dictionaries and almanac around 877 A.D. It was during this period of early printing that volumes began to be replaced by texts in book format. At that time, woodblock printing was also used in Japan and Korea, and metal prints were also developed in this period, mainly for Buddhist and Taoist texts.

Bi Sheng

Movable-type printing was invented by Bi Sheng of Yingshan, Hubei Province, China. He lived between 970 and 1051 A.D. The first movable type is carved in clay and baked into hard blocks, then arranged in an iron frame and pressed onto an iron plate. Bisheng's printing press was first mentioned in this book. Mengchi's prose was written in 1086 by Shen Kuo, a scientist, who pointed out that his nephew had mastered Bisheng's font after his death. Shen Kuo explained that Bisheng did not use wood because of its inconsistent texture, which made it easy to absorb moisture, but also caused the problem of sticking to ink. Baked clay is cleaned better for reuse. By the reign of the Southern Song Dynasty from 1127 to 1279, books had become popular in society and helped create an academic class capable of becoming a civil servant. A large collection of printed books has also become a symbol of the status of the rich.

Wang Chen

In 1297, the Wood type came back to life. At that time, Wang Chen, a local judge in Qingde, published a paper on agriculture and farming practice, named Agricultural Books. Wang Chen designed a process to make wood more durable and accurate, and then created a turntable for typesetters to use in order to organize and provide faster printing speed. Agricultural books, considered the first mass-produced book in the world, were exported to Europe. Coincidentally, they recorded many Chinese inventions, which were traditionally owned by Europeans. Wang Chen's woodcut method continues to be used by printers in China.

Johannes Gutenberg

In Europe, the printing press did not appear until 150 years after Wang Chen's invention. Goldsmith and inventor Johannes Gutenberg were political exiles in Mainz, Germany, when they began experimenting with printing in Strasbourg, France, in 1440. A few years later, he returned to Mainz. By 1450, he had a perfect printing machine that could be put into commercial use.

Gutenberg Press

An indispensable part of Gutenberg's design is to replace wood with metal and print, and each letter with each letter to create a European version of the movable font. In order to make this font widely available at different stages of printing, Gutenberg applied the concept of duplication casting, which can see letters produced in the opposite direction in brass and then duplicate them with these moulds by pouring molten lead. Researchers speculate that Gutenberg actually uses a sand casting system that uses carved sand to make metal molds. These letters are united to create parallel lines and consistent columns on flat media. If he hadn't invented the ink himself, Gutenberg's craft would not be as seamless as it is now. Gutenberg was also able to perfect a way to flatten printing paper to use a wine press, traditionally used to press grapes for wine, and olives for oil, which he improved to his printing press design.

The Spread of Printing in Europe

The spread of printing as a trade benefited from the help of German workers, who helped Gutenberg in his early printing experiments, and later became printers and taught printing to others. After Germany, Italy was the next recipient of Gutenberg's invention, and printing was introduced to Italy in 1465. By 1470, Italian printers began to trade successfully in printed matter. In 1470, the German Printing House was invited to establish a printing house at Sorbonne University in Paris, where librarians chose to print books, mainly textbooks, for students. By 1476, other German printers moved to Paris and established private companies. In 1473, Spain ushered in German printing houses in Valencia and expanded to Barcelona in 1475. In 1495, Portugal invited printers to Lisbon. In 1476, William Caxton, an Englishman who lived in Bruges, Belgium for many years, brought the invention of Gutenberg to Britain. In 1471, Caxton went to Cologne to study printing in order to establish a publishing house in Bruges and publish translations of his own works. Back in England, he founded a publishing house at Westminster Abbey, where he worked as a monarchy printer until his death in 1491.

Printers Change the World

The worldwide popularity of printing presses means wider dissemination of ideas, threatening the power structure of the entire European iron plate. In 1501, Pope Alexander VI promised that anyone who printed manuscripts without church approval would be expelled from the courts. Twenty years later, the books John Calvin and Martin Luther spread, turning Alexander's fears into reality. This threat was exacerbated by Copernicus'statement that the revolution in the heavens was regarded as heresy by the church. By 1605, the first official newspaper was printed and distributed in Strasbourg. Newspapers have appeared all over Europe, regularizing the contribution of printing to literacy, education and widespread access to uniform information for the general public.