The Art of Book Printing In China

The oldest surviving printed book in the world, named the Diamond Sutra, printed in Chinese, is a Buddhist scripture which was apparently translated from its original Sanskrit to Chinese. This book, which is one of the manuscripts that had been discovered in the Mogao Caves of China, tells us many things about book printing China. The book has the date May 11, 868, on it, and it had been carefully preserved and guarded by Buddhist monks till it was purchased by an archaeologist in the beginning of the 20^th century. The design of the book is excellent, and considering the fact that it was printed by wood block printing, must have been done quite painstakingly.

From the date of the book it is clear that book printing in China had developed long before the western world mastered the technology of printing because the printing of the Gutenberg bible, which was a major landmark in the printing history of the west, occurred only in the 15^th century, nearly seven centuries after the printing of the Diamond Sutra.

This early mastery seen in the case of book printing China is a remarkable achievement, because forming printing blocks for the pictorial Chinese script is far more difficult than making printing blocks for the English alphabet. The design of the book and the pictures on it epitomize Chinese attention to detail in the art of printing, and this thorough attention to typesetting, printing, and every form of delicate work for book covers is still seen in book printing in China.

Yet another factor that we can see from the existence of this book is the fact that the Chinese preserved and guarded the book through all the changes that took place in the country over the centuries. A printed work was apparently seen as an object of art and highly valued for its importance in spreading knowledge. This dedication to printed work still forms a major aspect of book printing in China.