Feng Dao

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Feng Dao (馮道) (882 in Ying-chou - 954) was the Chinese government minster who, in 932, ordered the Confucian classics printed using movable wood blocks. About a century after the invention of block-printing, Feng Tao significantly improved the printing process, and utilized it as a political tool.^[1] He is generally regarded as the inventor of modern printing in China, as Johannes Gutenberg is in the West. Towards the end of his career he was twice jiedushi (military governor) of T'ung-chou Prefecture, and then of Teng-chou Prefecture.^[2]

"The work of Feng Tao and his associates for printing in China may be compared to the work of Gutenberg in Europe. There had been printing before Gutenberg − block printing certainly and very likely experimentation in typography also − but Gutenberg's Bible heralded a new day in the civilization of Europe. In the same way there had been printing before Feng Tao, but it was an obscure art that had little effect on the culture of the country. Feng Tao's Classics made printing a power that ushered in the renaissance of the Sung era." ^[3]

The first standard edition of the Confucian classics with commentary was published in 130 volumes between 932 and 953 in Si-an-Fu. The improved printing technology quickly spread, and the earliest known Korean book was printed in 950.

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