Science and Civilisation in China, Part 1, Paper and PrintingPart one of the fifth volume of Joseph Needham's great enterprise is written by one of the project's collaborators. Professor Tsien Tsuen-Hsuin, working in regular consultation with Dr Needham, has written the most comprehensive account of every aspect of paper and printing in China to be published in the West. From a close study of the vast mass of source material, Professor Tsien brings order and illumination to an area of technology which has been of profound importance in the spread of civilisation. The main body of the book is a detailed study of the invention, technology and aesthetic development of printing in China. From the growth and ultimate refinements of early woodcut printing to the spread of printing from movable type and the development of book-binding, Professor Tsien carries the story forward to the beginning of the nineteenth century when 'more printed pages existed in Chinese than in all other languages put together'. |
Common terms and phrases
16th century 3rd century Anhui bamboo bark block printing bronze Buddhist calligraphy Chang Hsiu-Min characters Chekiang Chhao Chhi Chhing Chhu Chiangsu Chien Chih Chin China Chinese books Chinese printing Chiu Chou chüan Chung-Kuo classics collection colour Confucian copies Dard Hunter earliest early editions Fang fibres Hangchow History Hsiang Hsien Hsin Hsü Hsüan Hsüeh Huang illustrations imperial inscriptions invention Japan Japanese Khao Korea Kuan Kung Library Liu-Chhiu materials Ming movable type Museum painting paper money paper mulberry papermaking Peking period Phan Chi-Hsing Phing printers Quốc Ngữ records Shanghai sheets Shih Shōsōin silk specimens SPTK Sung dynasty sutra tablets Taoist Thaipei Thang dynasty Thien Thu Shu Tokyo Tripitaka Tshai TSHCC Tshung Tsien Tunhuang Turfan Wade-Giles Wang wood woodblock woodcuts wooden writing WWTK Yin Shua Ying Yüan