Chapter 154 Moveable Type

Wei Renshi wanted to make a trip back to Luoyang, but he was not quite so free at the moment.

Nobles and officials of high rank were required to report to the imperial court before leaving their designated fiefs. Although this was largely a formality, the coursework at the Chongwen Pavilion was entirely genuine. One needed not only to request leave from the scholars of the Chongwen Pavilion, but those who held peerages of their own, like Wei Renshi, also had to seek leave directly from the Crown Prince.

This was because other students were merely students, whereas Wei Renshi held a peerage, giving him the status of a vassal in addition to that of a scholar.

However, the Crown Prince did not show up at the Chongwen Pavilion every other day, and Wei Renshi did not hold an substantive official post in the Eastern Palace, meaning he could not simply request an audience with the Crown Prince on his own initiative.

He could only wait until the Crown Prince happened to visit the Chongwen Pavilion once more before he could submit his request for leave.

For now, he had no choice but to continue enduring his days at the Chongwen Pavilion.

"Tell me, my brothers, which of you is well-connected in the capital and knows a lot of people? Would you mind doing your younger brother a favor?" During a break between classes, several young men gathered together, munching on the snacks Wei Renshi had brought while listening to his request.

The others immediately asked, "What is it about? Just speak your mind."

"I want to find a few artisans who know how to carve characters, preferably those skilled in woodblock carving," Wei Renshi said. "I heard that only the Directorate of Education has such artisans, but I don't have any connections there at all."

"Brother Renshi wants to carve printing blocks?" Fan Zhiyi asked in confusion. "The Directorate of Education isn't the only place with artisans who know how to carve blocks."

"Oh?" Wei Renshi quickly pressed, "Where else can they be found?"

"There are plenty of places," Gu Pengju replied. "The Hongwen Pavilion, the Chongwen Pavilion, and the Jixiantian Academies in both capitals all hold the responsibility of compiling and editing books, so they naturally employ artisans who understand block carving. We have several right here!"

"Our Chongwen Pavilion has them?!" Wei Renshi was instantly overjoyed, exclaiming, "Talk about a fruitless search through iron shoes, only to find it effortlessly without a second thought!"

"A fruitless search through iron shoes, to find it effortlessly without a second thought..." The others murmured in contemplation, and Quan Qiaoqiu remarked, "What a strange poem..."

"Never mind that," Wei Renshi waved a hand dismissively and asked, "Do you know where those block-carving artisans are stationed?"

"Right in the annex courtyard," Quan Qiaoqiu answered. "However, the annex is where books are compiled and collated, so we aren't allowed to enter casually. If you want to go in and find the artisans, I'm afraid you'll have to get permission from the pavilion director first."

Wei Renshi felt a slight hesitation in his heart.

At this time, woodblock printing was still the prevailing method. Printing required carving the blocks beforehand; while printing itself was fast, the carving process was exceedingly slow. Furthermore, even a single stroke of modification would ruin an entire block, forcing them to recarve it from scratch. This severely hindered the efficiency of printing and impeded the publication and dissemination of books.

Carving blocks consumed time, labor, and materials. Moreover, storing large batches of woodblocks was inconvenient, as they were prone to rotting and difficult to preserve for long periods. Additionally, correcting errors was exceptionally difficult, requiring any minor change to result in the destruction and remaking of the block. These three points constituted the greatest flaws of block printing.

Bi Sheng later improved the printing technique, and the advent of movable type printing not only propelled the development of the printing industry and facilitated the spread of books, but also made a monumental contribution to the preservation and transmission of Chinese cultural texts.

After it was eventually introduced to the West, it directly catalyzed the Western Renaissance.

Movable type printing was an invention by Bi Sheng, and it was the pride of the Chinese people.

Empty words alone might not sufficiently illustrate the vast superiority of movable type over block printing. In the Song dynasty of later generations, after Bi Sheng invented movable type printing, someone made a comparison: the *Tripitaka* printed during the Song dynasty comprised over five thousand scrolls. Initially printed using woodblocks, it required a total of 130,000 wooden blocks that could not even fit across several rooms, and it took more than a hundred artisans many years to complete. Later, when switched to movable type printing, a dozen or so people easily finished the entire task in just a few months.

This demonstrated the immense advancement of movable type printing over woodblock printing.

Since the progress was so tremendous, it would undoubtedly constitute a great merit and a great fame.

Wei Renshi was uncertain whether this merit and fame could fall upon him.

Since there were also block-carving artisans within the Jixiantian Academy, Wei Renshi could entirely entrust Scholar Zhang to help and use his connections. Given Scholar Zhang's character and his friendship with Wei, he would never misappropriate Wei's credit and would certainly report the truth to the throne.

This was the safest method.

However, since he was currently in the Chongwen Pavilion, he was considered a vassal of the Eastern Palace.

Although there was no rigid rule dictating that he must first present this method to the pavilion director, who would then report to the Crown Prince, who in turn would submit the credit to the throne, worldly etiquette and human sentiments suggested that this was the proper course of action.

After pondering for a while, Wei Renshi still chose the latter option.

Thus, when noon arrived and everyone else went to dine, Wei Renshi went to the very back by himself, arriving outside the pavilion director's office.

Following the announcement by an attendant, Wei Renshi was quickly granted an audience with the pavilion director.

"Your student pays respects to the pavilion director." Upon entering, Wei Renshi offered a bow, only to realize at that moment that he still did not know the surname of the scholar before him.

"Oh, does Student Wei have business with me?" the director asked.

Wei Renshi replied, "When this student first entered the Chongwen Pavilion, Master Liu instructed me to copy textbooks for use. Now, that textbook is nearly finished, and we students must soon copy the next one. It is not that this student is unwilling to copy, but looking at the bigger picture, I cannot help but reflect on the current state of books in our Great Tang."

"The current state of books in the Great Tang?" Upon hearing this, the director smiled and said, "Do tell, what is this state?"

"Although there are many scholars, they suffer from a lack of books to read. Even if the realm possesses newly compiled books, it is difficult to publish them. Ancient texts are precious and can only be preserved through hand-copying, but human labor is limited, leaving only a pitiful few copies hidden away in deep archives, making it impossible for the scholars of the realm to read them together," Wei Renshi answered. "The current state of books in the Great Tang amounts to no more than these three dilemmas."

The director nodded and said, "What you say is not incorrect. However, so what if you have realized it?"

"Once realized, one must find a way to solve it," Wei Renshi said. "At their root, these three problems stem from inadequate printing techniques. At present, woodblock printing is used, and every single book is distinct, which necessitates countless printing blocks. A single book easily consists of several thousand words, all of which artisans must carve onto woodblocks before it can be published, consuming a vast amount of time and effort. In this process, if even a single character is modified or carved incorrectly, the entire woodblock becomes completely unusable and must be recarved from the beginning. That is why it is so slow."

The director furrowed his brows slightly, looked at Wei Renshi, and asked, "What exactly is Student Wei's intention?"

"This student can solve this problem," Wei Renshi said calmly.

"Oh?" The director looked at Wei Renshi with surprise, smiled, and said, "What problem do you intend to solve? The flaws of all the books in the world?"

Wei Renshi smiled and said, "This student has a way to resolve the drawbacks of woodblock printing. In the future, publication will no longer require woodblocks."

"What?!" The director's face showed astonishment, as if he could hardly believe what he had just heard.

"This student means that since woodblock printing is so inconvenient, why don't we adopt a much more convenient method?" Wei Renshi told him. "For instance, movable type printing!"