movable type

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July 1, 2026

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Movable type consists of individual pieces, each typically bearing a single letter or character. These pieces can be freely assembled or reassembled to form any desired combination or line for printing.1

The concept of movable type originated in China. Around 1041–1048 CE, Pi Sheng developed movable type made from baked clay and glue. He arranged these types on an iron plate coated with a resin, wax, and ash mixture. Heating the plate solidified the type for printing, and reheating allowed for its reuse.2

Later, in Korea, movable type was extensively developed. By 1403, King Taejong ordered the casting of the first set of 100,000 bronze types, marking a significant advancement in the technology.2

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Shen Kuo
…compass, the first description of movable type, and a fairly accurate explanation of the origin of fossils. The Mengxi bitan also contains Shen’s observations on such varied subjects as mathematics, astronomy, atmospheric phenomena, cartography, optics, and medicine. Shen produced a number of works, including commentaries on the Confucian Classics, atlases,…
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…compass, the first description of movable type, and a fairly accurate explanation of the origin of fossils. The Mengxi bitan also contains Shen’s observations on such varied subjects as mathematics, astronomy, atmospheric phenomena, cartography, optics, and medicine. Shen produced a number of works, including commentaries on the Confucian Classics, atlases,…
Read More

education
The Song (960–1279)
…stimulated by the invention of movable type (first made of earthenware, then of wood and metal). This advance from the older method of block printing led to the multiplication of books; the printing of a complete set of the classics was a boon to literary studies in schools.
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…stimulated by the invention of movable type (first made of earthenware, then of wood and metal). This advance from the older method of block printing led to the multiplication of books; the printing of a complete set of the classics was a boon to literary studies in schools.
Read More

history of technology
Communications
…15th-century invention of printing with movable metal type. The details of this epochal invention are disappointingly obscure, but there is general agreement that the first large-scale printing workshop was that established at Mainz by Johannes Gutenberg, which was producing a sufficient quantity of accurate type to print a Vulgate Bible…
Read More
…15th-century invention of printing with movable metal type. The details of this epochal invention are disappointingly obscure, but there is general agreement that the first large-scale printing workshop was that established at Mainz by Johannes Gutenberg, which was producing a sufficient quantity of accurate type to print a Vulgate Bible…
Read More