Stereographic Printing Originated in Chengdu

As one of the greatest inventions in ancient China, typography has made great contributions to the spread of culture. The stereotyped printing process is the first batch of intangible cultural heritage promulgated by the State Council and has received much attention. According to the existing literature, the oldest stereotyped printed matter both at home and abroad was from Chengdu. These precious editions illustrate that Chengdu was the area where inventions were first used and stereotypes were used.

Recently, the stereotyped printing process, as the first batch of intangible cultural heritage promulgated by the State Council, has once again entered the eyes of people and has received attention and protection. The invention of printing began with stereotypes, which laid the foundation for the spread of cultural science.

As early as the Song Dynasty, stereotyped printing originated in Chengdu. Qingren's "White Incense Words" quoted "Bian Zhou Wen Jian Lu" records: After the monk Lord Meng Qi engraved scriptures on the stele, standing in Chengdu. Later, Meng Hao also thought that this could not be widely circulated, he invented the use of wood engraving, so "Song Shishu said the beginning of the engraved script." The origins of stereotyped printing are also mentioned in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, and the Northern Song Dynasty. In 1966, the Buddhist temple of the eastern part of Korea was found to be “The Infinite Purity of the Great Dharani Scriptures.” Some experts concluded that the printed version of Wu Zhoushi (the reign of Wu Zetian in 690–705 years) in the Tang Dynasty was the earliest physical edition. In the year of Emperor Guangren of Japan, in the year 770, he published the "Infernal Pure Light Daturani Classic." This shows that as early as the Tang Dynasty Daizong (Li Yu, reigned 762 to 779 years), Chinese stereotyped printing was introduced into Japan. Therefore, stereotyped printing should be earlier than the five generations of Mencius and the later Northern Song Dynasty. Undoubtedly, the early Tang Dynasty has been stereotyped.

According to the existing literature, the oldest stereotyped printed books collected at home and abroad were from Chengdu. The collection of "The Curse of Dharani" collected by domestic museums was unearthed in Chengdu's Wangjiang Building in 1944. It was clearly marked by Chengdu's family. The expert appraisal will be no later than Tang Zhide's second year (757). The remains of the "Diamond Sutra" collected by the British Museum are the nine-year (868) imprint of Xiantong ("Sichuan Sichuan"). The fragments of stereotyped prints collected by the British Library also indicate the names and chronology of the imprinters: Zhonghe (2002) “Xiannan Xichuan Chengdu Fan Fanjia”. After the Japanese monk Zong Rui visited Tang, he returned to China in 865. The engraved copies of Tang Yun and Jade articles were printed in the name of Xichuan. "Jade article" is China's first book written in regular script. After Jade Article was introduced into Japan, the Japanese used the word "jade article" as a synonym for the Chinese-Japanese dictionary. The oldest editions of the collections at home and abroad have also shown that Chengdu is the region where inventions were first used and stereotyped printing was used. (Chengdu Daily)