Historicaldevelopment
In1403AD,NorthKoreahasbeguntocastalargenumberofcoppermovabletypeprintingbooks.Thepreparationmethodfirstusesboxwoodtoengrave,turnitintoasandmold,andinjectcopperliquidtoformtheword.DuringtheHongzhiZhengdeperiodoftheMingDynastyinChina(1488-1521),coppermovabletypeprintingwaswidelyusedinWuxi,Changzhou,SuzhouandNanjing.InthefourthyearofYongzhengintheQingDynasty(1726),Wuyingdianusedcoppermovabletypetoprint10,000volumesof"AncientandModernBooks".Alsocalled"Bronze"intheprovince.
Bronzemovabletype(5sheets)
Attheendofthe15thcenturyandthebeginningofthe16thcentury,theprintingofmovabletypebronzebecamepopularinsouthernChina.ThemovablemudtypeprintingtechniquepioneeredbyBiShengintheSongDynastyisoneofthefourgreatinventionsofourcountryandiswell-knownintheworld.Later,movabletypeprintingbooksmadeofwoodandtinappeared.IntheMingDynasty,coppermovabletypeprintingwasmorecommonlyused.WuxiFahrenheitandAnshiarethemostfamousincoppermovabletypeprinting.InthethirdyearofHongzhiintheMingDynasty(1490),HuaSui(1439～1513)firstprinted50volumesof"TheCollectedWorksoftheOfficialsoftheSongDynasty"printedbyHuitongguan,andlaterprinted"TheValleyofSplendidFlowers"and"LearningfromBaichuan",etc.Books,manyancientbookshavebeenpreserved.
InthelateKangxiperiodoftheQingDynasty,Neifuhadbronzecharacters,andseveralbooksonastronomyandmathematicswereprinted.InthesixthyearoftheYongzhengperiod(1728),ChenMenglei's"AncientandModernBookCollection"wasprintedin10,000volumes,64volumes,with5020volumeseach.Thisisthelargestandmostwell-preservedbook,andhasalwaysbeenanimportantreferencebookforscholarsathomeandabroad.ThefolkcopperplateshavetheJiangsuChuligeprintedition,whichisearlierthantheNeifucoppercharacters.InthetwelfthyearofJiaqing(1807),Taiwan'sarmysoldierWulongacarvedbronzecharactersandprinted"ShengYuGuangXun".LinChunqiofFuzhouistheonewhomadethemostbronzecharacters.Heturnedmorethan200,000taelsofsilver.In21years,inthetwenty-sixthyearofDaoguang(1846),hehiredworkerstoengravemorethan400,000largeandsmallbronzecharacters.ThescriptsareexquisiteandprintedwithGuYanwu's"YinLun"and"SongBenYin"intheQingDynasty.",called"FutianShuhai".TherearealsocollectionsofpoemsandessaysprintedonthecopperplateofJuzheninHangzhou.ThefontsarealmostthesameasthoseofFutianShuhai.InChangzhou,theeighthyearofXianfeng(1858)"TheGenealogyoftheXuFamilyinPiling",whichistheonlybronzetypebookinthegenealogy.
Influence
Thepopularityofcoppermovabletypeprintingisanothermajorimprovementinprintingtechnologysincetheinventionofmovabletypeprinting,anditisalsoanimportantsymbolofthematuredevelopmentofChineseprinting.