No one knows when the first printing press was invented or who invented it. but the oldest known printed text originated in China during the first millennium (千年) AD. The Diamond Sutra (《金刚经》), a Buddhist book from Dunhuang, China during the Tang Dynasty, is said to be the oldest known printed book. The Diamond Sutra was created with a method known as block printing (雕版印刷), which used boards of hand-carved wood blocks in reverse.
It was said that the moveable type was developed by Bi Sheng. He was from Yingshan, Hubei, China, living from 970 to 1051 AD. His method replaced panels of printing blocks with moveable individual Chinese characters that could be reused. The first moveable Chinese Characters were carved into clay and baked into hard blocks that were then arranged onto an iron frame that was pressed against an iron plate.
The earliest mention of Bi Sheng's printing press is in the book Dream Pool Essays, written in 1086 by Shen Kuo, who noted that his nephews came into possession of Bi Sheng's typefaces (字体) after his death. Shen Kuo explained that Bi Sheng did not use wood because the texture is inconsistent (不一致的) and absorbs wetness too easily.
By the time of the Southern Song Dynasty, which ruled from 1127 to 1279 AD, books had become popular in society and helped create a scholarly class of citizens who had the capabilities to become civil servants. Large printed book collections also became a status symbol for the wealthy class.
