Bi Sheng was born in Song Dynasty. He lived in a small village which lies in Huanggang today. He invented the printing around 600 AD (公元)。He was the world's first inventor of the printing. It is about 400 years earlier than the printing in Germany.
The printing is also called the movable type printing (活字印刷).But how did it work in the past?
First of all, the clay was made into movable types. Then words were engraved (雕刻) carefully onto the types. After that the words were chosen and put in right order in a box according to the text. Next, the workers brushed ink onto the movable types. Finally the types could be used for printing. They could be used again and again for different books.
The movable type printing plays an important role in Chinese culture. With the help of it, Chinese culture spread around the world more quickly. At the same time, the movable type printing was widely used in the world at that time. As a result, more and more culture communication among countries took place.
The movable type printing, the compass (指南针), gun powder and the paper-making are called four great inventions of China. They make China own an important and even top position in the history of human civilization (文明).
