Paper reaches standardized production in Han China
Under Cai Lun's supervision the Han court standardized papermaking from mulberry bark, hemp and rags — cheap, light, writable surfaces.
Humanity
115 events across three thousand years — chosen to be multi-regional and honest about uncertainty. Follow a thread to trace one capability through time, or filter by region and kind.
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The Diamond Sutra: the oldest dated printed book
A woodblock-printed copy of the Diamond Sutra, made in 868 and bearing its own colophon, was preserved in Dunhuang's sealed cave library.
Bi Sheng invents movable type
The commoner Bi Sheng carved individual characters in clay that could be composed, printed and recomposed — recorded by the scholar Shen Kuo.
Goryeo prints with cast metal type
Korea's Goryeo court printed texts from cast bronze type — over two centuries before Gutenberg — and the 1377 Jikji survives as the oldest book printed this way.
Chronology
Paper reaches standardized production in Han China
Under Cai Lun's supervision the Han court standardized papermaking from mulberry bark, hemp and rags — cheap, light, writable surfaces.
The Diamond Sutra: the oldest dated printed book
A woodblock-printed copy of the Diamond Sutra, made in 868 and bearing its own colophon, was preserved in Dunhuang's sealed cave library.
Bi Sheng invents movable type
The commoner Bi Sheng carved individual characters in clay that could be composed, printed and recomposed — recorded by the scholar Shen Kuo.
Goryeo prints with cast metal type
Korea's Goryeo court printed texts from cast bronze type — over two centuries before Gutenberg — and the 1377 Jikji survives as the oldest book printed this way.