The hit TV series "Qingpingle" some time ago has gained a good reputation because of its excellent production. The service and scenes of this drama are very sophisticated, and the etiquette, customs, and culture of the Song Dynasty are highly restored, and many of them have appeared. A historical celebrity, there is a master surnamed Bi who burns characters, who is the inventor of movable type printing, Bi Sheng.

There have been news reports about the printing of movable type in South Korea's application for heritage, which has caused considerable controversy. In fact, it is only a Buddhist scripture in South Korea that is considered to be an older metal movable type printing. Printing is undoubtedly an invention of China. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Shen Kuo recorded the use of movable type by Bi Sheng in "Mengxi Bi Tan", "In the Qing calendar, there is Bi Sheng in the commoner, and it is also a type. The method is as thin as Qian lip, each word is a seal, and the fire makes it strong." The earliest record of wood type is described in detail in the "Making Type Printing Method" attached to the "Nongshu" by Wang Zhen of the Yuan Dynasty.

Movable type printing has a history of nearly a thousand years from mud type, wood type to copper type. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, foreign printing was introduced to China and gradually replaced China's traditional printing. Nowadays, we can hardly see movable type in our daily life. At present, China's printing and publishing industry hardly uses movable type for printing. Only some areas can see movable type printing because of the traditional custom of repairing family trees. Dongyuan of Zhejiang Ruian and Ninghua of Fujian are the only two wood type printing sites that have been discovered so far.

In 2001, a reporter accidentally discovered in Dongyuan Village that a genealogist used wood type printing techniques to repair music. After media reports, it attracted the attention of the local government and the public. In 2008, wood type printing was listed as a national intangible culture. Heritage, was included in the United Nations "Intangible Cultural Heritage List in Urgent Need of Protection" in 2010.

The wood type printing skills of Dongyuan Village are mainly inherited in the Wang family. In the early Yuan Dynasty, Wang Famao began to use wood type printing to compile his notation. Up to now, this traditional technique has been passed down in the Wang family. With a strong concept of clan, every clan must renew the genealogy every 20 to 30 years.

Wang Chaohui, the 23rd generation heir of the Wang family, was born in 1955 and has been in the business for 46 years since he was 19 years old. When he first entered the industry, it was very difficult for Wang Chaohui, who had only junior high school education, to recognize traditional characters. He could only learn the characters with his master while memorizing the "Huashan Dictionary". When he first started to learn lettering, his hands were wounded, but he was very hard-working. And he was very smart, and he was out of school soon.

For more than 40 years, Wang Chaohui has carved more than 10,000 wood type every year. The wood type printing process he used is basically the same as that described by Wang Zhen in "The Printing Method of Movable Type". It retains materials, molds, writing, and lettering. More than a dozen processes such as word checking, typesetting and proofreading. Among them, the lettering has a knife method, the word picking has a formula, and the typesetting has a format

The technique of engraving is not difficult, but the focus is on speed. Among the peers, Wang Chaohui’s speed is very fast. He writes the reverse character with a brush and then engraves it. It takes ten minutes for a character to be achieved after more than 40 years of continuous practice. speed. The engraving and printing are in Old Times New Roman, with ancient and clumsy characters, and the hand-engraved characters look better than those made by machines. The word picking formula is a unique idea of ​​Dongyuan Village. The formula includes most of the radicals of Chinese characters. As long as you are familiar with it, you can quickly complete the word picking. There are two types of formatting: preface and epilogue according to the ancient book layout, the front page is divided into two formats, single-opening 3 cuts and 4 open, vertical.

The genealogy of wood type printing can be preserved for thousands of years. In Dongyuan and nearby areas, wood type printing is not only a skill, but also a necessity of life. Therefore, even today, because of the need for family tree repair, wood type can still be passed on. . What Wang Chaohui inherited was not only this craft, but also an ancient professional spectrumist. He believes that repairing genealogy is an ancient thing, and only ancient printing methods such as Old Times New Roman and Wooden Type can match it.

In Ninghua, Fujian, there is also the custom of clan-editing genealogy. Ninghua is the ancestral land of Hakka. Since the Ming Dynasty, wood type has been used to print genealogy. Wenlintang is the only traditional wood type workshop in Ninghua. Qiu Hengyong, the fourth generation descendant of Wenlintang, is the local The only remaining spectrographers who use wood type printing.

He followed his father to learn this art at the age of 14, and took over Wenlintang from his father at the age of 20. He still uses pure hands from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The production process is to write reversed characters, usually traditional characters, and then engrave. The main use is sorbus wood, which is carved and stored in the warehouse. Qiu Hengyong currently has about 120,000 movable type. When printing is required, he selects characters from the font library and then typesetting , Proofreading, printing. The paper used for printing is locally hand-made paper, which is very flexible and can maintain

In a small shop in Taiwan across the Strait, there is a set of the oldest movable type bronze molds in the world. The Taipei Rixing Casting Shop was founded in 1969 by Zhang Xiling, and was later taken over by Zhang Xiling’s son Zhang Jieguan. New, daily production, day by day making money", adhering to the philosophy of the past, cherishing, and practicing, is now the only surviving calligraphy shop in Taiwan.

Rixing Casting Company specializes in the production of leaded characters without casting molds. Previously, Shanghai Font Mould No. 1 Factory provided them with fonts, but the current Shanghai Font Mould No. 1 Factory has long ceased to produce fonts, and the original factory site is also used for other purposes, but Some masters in the factory spent a lot of money and energy to retain some of the fonts.

There are three fonts in Kaiti, Song Ti, and Hei in Rixing Casting. There are seven types of lead type from the first to the sixth. Each has more than 10,000 characters, which adds up to nearly 300,000 glyphs. The signboard originated from the popular block letters in Shanghai during the Republic of China. A good part of the characters in the Sunstar Casting Line were made in Shanghai in the 1930s, and they were brought to Taiwan in 1948 and kept. It has a history of nearly 100 years.

The process of producing lead type is very difficult. The furnace needs to be burned to more than 300 degrees to melt the lead block into lead water, and then the lead water is poured into the casting machine. The casting must be kept at a high temperature. Air conditioning and electric fans cannot be used. The working environment is very sultry. , The person who casts the word should also be patient and cautious. If you accidentally touch the lead water, you will be burned.

Each of these typefaces in the Rixing typecasting line is dedicated by craftsmen. They are unique and handcrafted. The fonts are elegant and have the structure and beauty of calligraphy. The unique touch of typefaces will make people immerse in the world of words.

Japanese printing originated from Europe and North Korea, both of which were the second dissemination of Chinese printing. Japanese movable type printing is the same as tea and incense. After learning from China, it combines local characteristics to form their unique set.

In Ojika Island, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, there is a four-generation movable type printing factory Jinhongsha Printing Factory. At present, this family workshop has been passed down to the fourth generation Yokoyama Peach.

Ojika Island has records of human habitation in the Paleolithic Age. There are no cinemas or convenience stores on Ojika Island. However, this small island has its own unique history and culture, as well as a hardworking and kind island. people.

Jin Hongshe Movable Type Printing Factory has a history of 100 years. It was originally a general trading company. Because the second generation had a strong idea that “movable type printing is a cultural business”, they kept the printing factory at their disposal and other businesses were separated. Then the printing factory has been in operation until now, printing all the items necessary for the life of the islanders: ferry tickets, flyers, envelopes, greeting cards, business cards, etc.

Jin Hongshe’s fourth-generation successor Yokoyama Momoko, although when she was a child, printing was already part of her life because she ran a printing factory at home, but she didn’t want to take this as a career. Yokoyama Momoko left the island when she was in college. I went to study design and saw a movable type printing machine when visiting a printing factory. It reminded her of what her grandfather once said, "movable type printing is a cultural undertaking", thinking that movable type printing cannot be cut off here, she also loves this On the island where I grew up, I returned to my hometown in 2011 to run a printing factory with my family.

For Yokoyama Momoko who is studying design, movable type printing is like the art of combining words and pictures. She has devoted all her efforts and emotions to type printing and Kojima, so that type printing and Kojima can have a better development. , She founded the OJIKAPPAN brand, hoping that more people will know about this small island and the movable type printing on the island.

At present, it is impossible for movable type printing to be used in mass publishing and printing. To inherit this traditional technique and preserve the culture, it is necessary to combine the flexible and freely combinable characteristics of movable type and unique visual effects for other designs and decorations. Performance and other fields.

In addition, we can actively develop cultural and creative products related to movable type. Dongyuan and Ninghua, the two wood type printing sites, can also combine wood type with tourism to promote the integrated development of cultural and tourism. Finally, cross-border cooperation can be achieved. The movable type experience should be from cultural and cultural institutions. Go out and enter modern shopping malls to let more people understand the fun of making this non-genetic product.