Revision Notes
Class 10 History
Chapter 5 - Print Culture and The Modern World
More than 5,500 years ago, people started writing. However, it took time and
effort to write manually or inscribe on materials like stone, leather, etc. So for a
long time, ideas and knowledge were spread orally among the masses.
It was only after the invention of printing that ideas started to travel faster.
Books, newspapers, historical documents, autobiographies, scientific
documents, etc., contributed tremendously to the world's progress.
Your NCERT Class 10 Social Science History Chapter 5 talks about how
printing technology came into being and how the print culture shaped society,
ideas, and knowledge.
Printing In China:
● Although the Sumerian civilizations used some primary forms of printing,
China is considered the birthplace of printing. Woodblock printing first
originated in this country.
● In China, woodblock printing started from 594 AD onwards. And when the
Tang Dynasty came to power in 618 AD, the emperors immensely helped in the
progress of woodblock printing.
Printing In Japan:
● In Japan, the Chinese missionaries propagated the art of printing to spread
Buddhism. This is how hand printing technology came to Japan from 768 AD
onwards.
● Diamond Sutra is regarded as the earliest known printed Japanese book. This
book is regarded as the world’s oldest printed book. It was dated May 11, 868
AD.
, Printing In Europe:
● As you have read previously, China supplied Silk materials to Europe. The
route through which the traders of China met buyers of the West and vice versa
is known as the Silk Route.
● It is through this same route the Chinese paper traveled to Europe. Before
this, in Europe, Vellum or animal skin was used to write on. But it was
expensive and catered only to the aristocrats.
● In 1925, painting was brought back to Italy by Marco Polo's knowledge but
the cost of painting decreased as woodblock printing spread in Italy.
Gutenberg:
● The invention of woodblock could only help printing in a limited way. As the
demand increased, the woodblock printing proved incapable of handling too
much load. This is where Johannes Gutenberg came into the scene in the 15th
century.
Gutenberg, who grew up in an agricultural estate, saw how the grapes and
olives were pressed to extract the liquids. He became a goldsmith and used to
create lead moulds to produce trinkets of his desired shape.
Gutenberg drew inspiration from the above two works and made the world’s
first printing press. He -
● Used moulds to make metals resembling the alphabet.
● Used a press similar to olive press to press the paper against the inked metal
types.
There are reasons why Gutenberg’s printing press is known as a revolutionary
invention:
● The woodblocks were not moveable, and hence printing with them was
inefficient.
● It took too much time to make the wooden block itself. Thirdly, the wooden
blocks were not so durable. Gutenberg used metal as opposed to wooden blocks.
These metal-made alphabets were moveable, so one can use the same set of
alphabets to print various sentences.
Class 10 History
Chapter 5 - Print Culture and The Modern World
More than 5,500 years ago, people started writing. However, it took time and
effort to write manually or inscribe on materials like stone, leather, etc. So for a
long time, ideas and knowledge were spread orally among the masses.
It was only after the invention of printing that ideas started to travel faster.
Books, newspapers, historical documents, autobiographies, scientific
documents, etc., contributed tremendously to the world's progress.
Your NCERT Class 10 Social Science History Chapter 5 talks about how
printing technology came into being and how the print culture shaped society,
ideas, and knowledge.
Printing In China:
● Although the Sumerian civilizations used some primary forms of printing,
China is considered the birthplace of printing. Woodblock printing first
originated in this country.
● In China, woodblock printing started from 594 AD onwards. And when the
Tang Dynasty came to power in 618 AD, the emperors immensely helped in the
progress of woodblock printing.
Printing In Japan:
● In Japan, the Chinese missionaries propagated the art of printing to spread
Buddhism. This is how hand printing technology came to Japan from 768 AD
onwards.
● Diamond Sutra is regarded as the earliest known printed Japanese book. This
book is regarded as the world’s oldest printed book. It was dated May 11, 868
AD.
, Printing In Europe:
● As you have read previously, China supplied Silk materials to Europe. The
route through which the traders of China met buyers of the West and vice versa
is known as the Silk Route.
● It is through this same route the Chinese paper traveled to Europe. Before
this, in Europe, Vellum or animal skin was used to write on. But it was
expensive and catered only to the aristocrats.
● In 1925, painting was brought back to Italy by Marco Polo's knowledge but
the cost of painting decreased as woodblock printing spread in Italy.
Gutenberg:
● The invention of woodblock could only help printing in a limited way. As the
demand increased, the woodblock printing proved incapable of handling too
much load. This is where Johannes Gutenberg came into the scene in the 15th
century.
Gutenberg, who grew up in an agricultural estate, saw how the grapes and
olives were pressed to extract the liquids. He became a goldsmith and used to
create lead moulds to produce trinkets of his desired shape.
Gutenberg drew inspiration from the above two works and made the world’s
first printing press. He -
● Used moulds to make metals resembling the alphabet.
● Used a press similar to olive press to press the paper against the inked metal
types.
There are reasons why Gutenberg’s printing press is known as a revolutionary
invention:
● The woodblocks were not moveable, and hence printing with them was
inefficient.
● It took too much time to make the wooden block itself. Thirdly, the wooden
blocks were not so durable. Gutenberg used metal as opposed to wooden blocks.
These metal-made alphabets were moveable, so one can use the same set of
alphabets to print various sentences.
