Bi Sheng Invented Movable-Type Printing in Hangzhou

It is widely known that movable-type printing is a great invention that that has contributed a great deal to human civilization. It is well known that Bi Sheng of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) invented this technology in 1041. But it is not so well known that Bi Sheng (990-1051) made this invention in Hangzhou， then the printing powerhouse of the central kingdom and later the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) and now capital city of eastern China’s coastal Zhejiang Province.

Bi Sheng was not born in Hangzhou. His ancestral roots were in Hubei， a province in central China. He came from a family at very low social stratum. While a young boy， he followed his parents on their escape from famine in their home province. They came to Hangzhou and settled down in what is now known as Jinjiang Village outside Wangjiang Gate (one of the ten city gates in the feudal times. Today only geographic names of these gates exist). The village on the Qiantang River outside the walled city proper was where a lot of vegetable farmers lived for centuries.

Bi Sheng soon became an apprentice at a print shop near Qinghefang Street in downtown Hangzhou. He grew up to be a print master knowing everything about block printing.

Hangzhou had been experiencing peace and economic prosperity since the Five Dynasties (907-960) following the fall of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The city witnessed great cultural flourishing in the Northern Song Dynasty. Publishing was a pillar industry of Hangzhou during that time. There were many print shops along what is today known as Imperial Street of the Southern Song Dynasty.

In 994， the emperor decreed to have some important histories reprinted in Hangzhou to be the dynasty’s standard versions. During that time， the country had 50% of its key documents and books printed in Hangzhou.

As a master of block printing， Bi Sheng knew how time-consuming it was to make a book. He tried to seek a new way. Seeing boys playing dice games with pottery dices one evening at the village where he lived， the printer got an idea. He began to experiment and improve and he came up with the movable-type printing.

He took sticky clay and cut in it characters. Each character formed a single type. He baked them in the fire to make them hard. He then placed all the types in an iron frame， all set close together and fastened into place with a mixture of pine resin， wax and paper ashes.

Though Bi Sheng’s invention was fragile and was not practical for large-scale printing， it was a great idea that inspired other inventors to follow the road and improve upon the technology. The government official Wang Zhen (fl. 1290-1333 AD) improved Bi Sheng's fragile clay types by creating movable types out of wood， as his process increased the speed of typesetting as well. In 1230， metal movable type printing was developed in Korea. Later in China the bronze movable type was developed in 1490 by the wealthy printer Hua Sui (1439-1513).

Shen Kuo (1031-1095)， a scholar of the Song Dynasty， recorded commoner Bi Sheng’s printing invention in his timeless “Dream Stream Essays”. A Hangzhou native and contemporary to Bi Sheng， Shen Kuo was the first ancient Chinese scholar who noticed the importance of Bi’s invention and jotted down the technology in his book.

In his time， Bi Sheng was a mere commoner living in the Northern Song Dynasty. That is， he had no chance to be seen as an important figure that deserved a place in any official history or local chronicles. Commoners like Bi Sheng were usually denied a mention in history and regional chronicles.

Though officials decided to ignore him， folk historians saw their chances. It is now believed that Shiban Bridge， a place name near where Bi Sheng used to live， has everything to do with the commemoration of the great inventor of movable-type printing.

These folk historians try to support their plea with a few arguments.

First， some place names in ancient Hangzhou suggest what role these places played in the city’s everyday life: the selling fish bridge， the rice market lane， the salt bridge， the leather market lane. If these names suggest their functions in the life of good old days， then logically， Shiban Bridge has every reason to refer to printing as Shi in Chinese refers to beginning and Ban refers here to printing.

Second， Shiban Bridge is near where Bi Sheng used to live. The propinquity of the bridge speaks loud to folk historians. Some people say that Bi Sheng opened a print shop near Wangjiang Gate after he invented movable-type printing. His new technology brought him a fortune. He had this bridge built and he himself named it Shiban Bridge. Some folk historians say that according to folktales， Bi Sheng in his evening years often hanged out at the bridge， chatting with people， playing chess or reading there. Folk historians say that it is believable that refugees came to Hangzhou and settled down in places such as Jinjiang Village.

It is true that Shiban Bridge as a name has existed for about 1，000 years. Today， the place name is still on the map of the city and there is a residential community in that name in the neighborhood where the bridge used to span a river.

No matter whether the bridge has anything to do with Bi Sheng， it is true that Bi Sheng invented the technology in Hangzhou that eventually changed human civilization. It is understandable that local people want to honor this inventor ignored by official history and regional annals and want to do something about the inventor by creating some folk tales and legends. □