Editing Movable type (section)

== Precursors to movable type ==
[[File:King of Na gold seal.jpg|thumb|The [[King of Na gold seal]], bestowed by [[Emperor Guangwu of Han]] to Wana (Yayoi Japan) in 57&nbsp;AD]]
[[File:Jingangjing.jpg|thumb|The intricate frontispiece of the ''[[Diamond Sutra]]'' from [[Tang dynasty]] China, the oldest extant woodblock-printed book, 868&nbsp;AD ([[British Museum]])]]

=== Letter punch and coins ===
The technique of imprinting multiple copies of [[symbol]]s or [[glyph]]s with a master ''type'' punch made of hard metal first developed around 3000 BC in [[Sumer|ancient Sumer]]. These metal punch types can be seen as precursors of the letter punches adapted in later millennia to printing with movable metal type. [[Cylinder seal]]s were used in [[Mesopotamia]] to create an impression on a surface by rolling the seal on wet clay.<ref name="Clair">{{cite book|last1=Clair|first1=Kate|last2=Busic-Snyder|first2=Cynthia |title=A Typographic Workbook: A Primer to History, Techniques, and Artistry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lf0iDYCr6w0C|year=2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-39988-0|page=4}}</ref>

=== Seals and stamps ===
{{Main|Mudbrick stamp|Cylinder seal|Phaistos Disc}}

Seals and stamps may have been precursors to movable type. The uneven spacing of the impressions on brick stamps found in the [[Mesopotamia]]n cities of [[Uruk]] and [[Larsa]], dating from the [[2nd millennium BC]], has been conjectured by some archaeologists as evidence that the stamps were made using movable type.<ref name="brickstamps">{{cite book|last1=Sass|first1=Benjamin|last2=Marzahn|first2=Joachim |title=Aramaic and Figural Stamp Impressions on Bricks of the Sixth Century B.C. from Babylon|year=2010|publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-06184-1|pages=11, 20, 160|quote="the latter has cuneiform signs that look as if made with a movable type, and impressions from Assur display the same phenomenon}}</ref> The enigmatic [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] [[Phaistos Disc]] of {{Circa|1800}}–1600 BC has been considered by one scholar as an early example of a body of text being reproduced with reusable characters: it may have been produced by pressing pre-formed hieroglyphic "seals" into the soft clay. A few authors even view the disc as technically meeting all definitional criteria to represent an early incidence of movable-type printing.<ref name="Herbert E. Brekle">Herbert E. Brekle, "Das typographische Prinzip", ''Gutenberg-Jahrbuch'', Vol. 72 (1997), pp.&nbsp;58–63 (60f.)</ref> In the West the practice of sealing documents with an impressed personal or official insignia, typically from a worn signet ring,<ref>{{Cite web|title=The History Behind … Signet Rings|url=https://www.nationaljeweler.com/fashion/antique-estate-jewelry/4637-the-history-behind-signet-rings-2|access-date=2020-08-21|website=National Jeweler|language=en-gb}}</ref> became established under the Roman Empire, and continued through the Byzantine and Holy Roman empires,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Seibt |first1=Werner |title=The Use of Monograms on Byzantine Seals in the Early Middle-Ages (6th to 9th Centuries) |journal=Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature |url=https://www.academia.edu/26555985 |date=19 June 2016 |volume=6 |doi=10.26262/par.v6i0.5082 |access-date=20 March 2021 |pages=1–14}}</ref> into the 19th century, when a wet signature became customary.

Seals in China have been used since at least the [[Shang dynasty]] (2nd millennium BCE). In the [[Western Zhou]], sets of seal stamps were encased in blocks of type and used on clay moulds for casting bronzes. By the end of the 3rd century BCE,  seals were also used for printing on pottery. In the Northern dynasties textual sources contain references to wooden seals with up to 120 characters.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2012|p=909}} The seals had a religious element to them. [[Daoists]] used seals as healing devices by impressing therapeutic characters onto the flesh of sick people. They were also used to stamp food, creating a talismanic character to ward off disease. The first evidence of these practices appeared under a Buddhist context in the mid 5th century CE. Centuries later, seals were used to create hundreds of Buddha images.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2012|p=909}} According to Tsien Tsuen-hsuin, Chinese seals had greater potential to turn into movable type due to their square, rectangular, and flat shape suited to a printing surface, whereas seals in the west were cylindrical or scabaroid, round or oval, and mostly used for pictures rather than writing.{{sfn|Tsien|1985|p=6}}

===Woodblock printing===
{{Main|Woodblock printing}}

Bones, shells, bamboo slips, metal tablets, stone tablets, silk, as well as other materials were previously used for writing. However, following the invention of [[paper]] during the Chinese [[Han dynasty]], writing materials became more portable and economical. Yet, copying books by hand was still labour-consuming. Not until the Xiping Era (172–178 AD), towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, did sealing print and [[monotype]] appear. These were used to print designs on fabrics and to print texts.

By about the 8th century during the [[Tang dynasty]], [[woodblock printing]] was invented and worked as follows. First, the neat hand-copied script was stuck on a relatively thick and smooth board, with the front of the paper sticking to the board, the paper being so thin it was transparent, the characters showing in reverse distinctly so that every stroke could be easily recognized. Then, carvers cut away the parts of the board that were not part of the character, so that the characters were cut in relief, completely differently from those cut intaglio. When printing, the bulging characters would have some ink spread on them and be covered by paper. With workers' hands moving on the back of paper gently, characters would be printed on the paper. By the [[Song dynasty]], woodblock printing came to its heyday. Although woodblock printing played an influential role in spreading culture, there were some significant drawbacks. Carving the printing plate required considerable time, labour, and materials. It also was not convenient to store these plates and was difficult to correct mistakes.