Science, Medicine & Engineering
Landmark
Bi Sheng
c. 1000 β 1051
Inventor of movable type printing
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the China Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
A Song dynasty artisan who invented printing with movable type, made of baked clay, around 1040.
What we know of Bi Sheng comes from Shen Kuo's Dream Pool Essays, which describe how he made individual characters from clay, hardened them by fire and arranged them on an iron plate for printing.
His invention came about four hundred years before Gutenberg's in Europe.
His invention came about four hundred years before Gutenberg's in Europe.
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