The Woman Who Discovered Printing

by T.H. Barrett

This beguiling book asks a set of unusual and fascinating questions—why is early Chinese printing so little acknowledged, despite anticipating Gutenberg by centuries? Why are the religious elements of all early printing overlooked? And why did printing in China not have the immediate obvious impact it did in Europe?

 

T. H. Barrett, a leading scholar of medieval China, brings us the answers through the intriguing story of Empress Wu (AD 625–705) and the revolution in printing that occurred during her rule. Linking Asian and European history with substantial new research into Chinese sources, Barrett identifies methods of transmitting texts before printing and explains the historical context of seventh-century China. He explores the dynastic reasons behind Empress Wu’s specific interest in printing and the motivating role of her private religious beliefs. He also deduces from eighth- and ninth-century Chinese records an explanation for the lesser impact of the introduction of printing in China than in Europe. As Renaissance Europe was later astonished to learn of China’s achievement, so today’s reader will be fascinated by this engaging perspective on the history of printing and the technological superiority of Empress Wu’s China.

 

Genres: Nonfiction, History

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2008

About the author

See also Timothy Hugh Barrett

Reviews

[Ricky]

I wanted to love this book. I was expecting more about Empress Wu but I feel like we didn't get much of her. The writing style for me was hard to push through. I feel like the last chapter was the most put together.

[Mel]

I went to SOAS to do my masters with Tim Barrett, he was the expert on the Tang, and I was very excited to study with him. Unfortunately the year I was there he had a sabbatical, and was off writing this book! As it was I got taught by Antonello Palumbo, who was great, young enthusiastic and really knew his stuff. I must have spent an hour in his office every week talking about early modern China. So I was very excited to learn that Barrett's book had finally been released and ordered myself a copy. It was very interesting, not quiet what I was expecting as Empress Wu didn't turn up till half way through but nonetheless it was very enjoyable. The book began with complaints about why the West is so preoccupied with Gutenberg as the "inventor" of printing, and looks at the 6th-8th centuries of China and how religion, in particular Buddhism, created a need for printed books. The book looked at the development of Buddhism within China, and the use of pages of Buddhist texts as relics, and the importance of these relics. Barrett was able to trace the effects of these, and propose why and how they started with Empress Wu around 700 CE. He tied these in with the "casting the Dragons" ritual that was performed by Empress Wu to secure her immortality through Taoism, but did little to explain the use of both Buddhism and Taoism by Wu. At the end of the day I'm not entirely convinced by his arguments, it seems like it could have happened the way he described, but there is not enough evidence to say so at the moment. He did acknowledge this himself, and stated that he hoped it would promote further research.

[Chris Herdt]

I wanted details on the history of printing in China, instead I got details on the history of Buddhism in China and how Buddhism may or may not have influenced the development of printing.

The author makes a good point though that many previous studies have ignored religion, or even purposefully overlooked details that included religion, and that the topic of the history of printing cannot be studied in isolation.

[J. Carson]

This was actually research rather than reading for pleasure but even so, it was a bit dry for my taste.

[Shomeret]

It's disappointing that Barrett is only speculating about woodblock printing having begun during the reign of the Empress Wu. It's likely that a million copies of her favorite Buddhist book that were sent to Korea weren't handcopied. It's also likely that the woman who started printing on fabric soon after Empress Wu's reign didn't invent the process of woodblock printing. But until there's some definite evidence, we can't make a determination about when woodblock printing began in China. The only thing that we can say for certain is that it began long before Gutenberg. There is a fragment of a printed calendar that dates back to 834 C.E. which is the earliest specimen of woodblock printing that has been discovered in China. Barrett cites this fragment as evidence in his book.

I did learn many things about Chinese history, culture and printing from this book, so I did like it. But if you're expecting to see definite confirmation of Barrett's claim in the title of his book, I have to tell you that it isn't there.

[Jo O'Donnell]

An interesting peek into a sliver of history little-known in the West, this author's hypothesis (and it is a hypothesis with a lot of leaps and inferences) might have been better served in monograph form. Most of the book is spent on 7th-century Buddhism and its relationship to the Chinese state with distressingly little dedicated to Wu, the only woman to have held the title Empress. Good as a possible jumping-off point for further reading.