History › Middle ages › Song dynasty
Movable type in China and Korea
clay type c. 1040 (Bi Sheng); Korean metal type by 1234; Jikji 1377· Invention or discovery· Asia
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
Printing with reusable individual characters, invented in China with clay type around 1040 and advanced in Korea with metal type.
See it on the History map →What happened
A commoner named Bi Sheng carved characters in clay, baked them hard and set them in an iron frame; we know because the scholar Shen Kuo described it in 1088. Wooden type followed. Printers of Korea's Goryeo kingdom cast type in metal by 1234. The Jikji, a Buddhist text printed in 1377, is the oldest surviving book printed with metal type. Because Chinese writing needs thousands of characters, carved woodblocks stayed more common.
Why it matters
It came centuries before Gutenberg's press, showing East Asia led early printing, though it did not spark a mass-print boom on the same scale.
How we know
Shen Kuo's Dream Pool Essays (1088); the Jikji itself, held in the national library in Paris and listed by UNESCO; Goryeo records of the 1234 metal-type printing.
Still debated
Whether Gutenberg knew anything of Asian movable type is unknown; most historians think he developed his method independently.
Connections (3)
▸Song dynasty first developed Movable type in China and KoreaWell documented
The connection
Song China's booming book trade, exam system and printing industry made printing worth improving. Around 1040 a commoner craftsman, Bi Sheng, made reusable clay characters that could be rearranged for each page. Woodblock printing still dominated, but the Song idea set the pattern that Korean printers later refined in metal.
When and how
Song China, about 1041–1048; Bi Sheng's method was recorded by the official and scientist Shen Kuo.
How we know
Shen Kuo's Dream Pool Essays (1088) describes the process in detail; later Chinese writing on wooden type, such as Wang Zhen's in 1313.
Debates and open questions
No clay type from Bi Sheng survives, and little is known about him; how widely his method was used is unclear.
▸Movable type in China and Korea came centuries before Gutenberg's printing pressWell documented
The connection
Bi Sheng in China made clay movable type around 1040, and Korea cast metal type by 1234; Korea's Jikji (1377) is the oldest surviving book printed with metal type. As far as anyone knows, Gutenberg developed his system independently. Thousands of Chinese characters made movable type cumbersome in Asia, while Europe's small alphabet made it far more practical.
When and how
China about 1040 (Bi Sheng, described by Shen Kuo); Goryeo Korea by 1234; Jikji printed at Heungdeok Temple, Cheongju, 1377; Mainz about 1450.
How we know
Shen Kuo's 11th-century description, Korean records and the surviving Jikji, now in France's national library, prove Asian priority; no document shows Gutenberg knew of it.
Debates and open questions
Whether word of Asian printing reached Europe through Mongol-era trade or travelers is an open question; no evidence of a direct link has been found.
▸Movable type in China and Korea was refined in bronze by Joseon dynasty of KoreaMostly agreed
The connection
Metal type was first cast in Korea under the earlier Goryeo kingdom. Joseon kings took it further: King Taejong set up a royal type foundry in 1403, and King Sejong's craftsmen cast improved bronze fonts like gabinja (1434), which printed faster and more cleanly. Joseon used state printing to spread Confucian, legal and medical texts.
When and how
Hanyang (Seoul): the royal foundry from 1403, with repeated recastings of type through the 1400s, especially under Sejong (reigned 1418–1450).
How sure are we?
Surviving books printed with dated Joseon fonts; court annals recording each casting; about 1,600 metal type pieces from the 1400s dug up in central Seoul in 2021.
Debates and open questions
Why metal type did not create a mass-print market in Korea is debated: state control of printing, small print runs and thousands of Chinese characters all played a part.