Set of Chinese Wooden Printing Blocks, c. 1900

Chinese innovations in ink, block printing, and movable type fueled global advancements in printing technology, expanding the range of influence of the written word. These printing innovations can be attributed to Chinese Buddhist devotees, who embraced woodblock printing as an important vehicle to spread sutras and good spirits. Though the printing press is said to have been invented in China, it never offered the same efficiencies to Chinese culture as it did in the West, due to the near endless numbers of Chinese characters and the labor involved in manipulating them. Enclosed in a contemporary wooden frame, each of the miniature wood blocks included in this early 20th-century type set was hand-carved with a Chinese character. Each is a unique and wonderful curiosity, providing an unusual look at a moment in time. Each set contains approximately 70 individual tiles.

Chinese innovations in ink, block printing and movable type fed the technological push toward expanding the written word's range of influence throughout the world. This printing push...

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Although eyes were certainly drawn to the high, fan-shaped headdresses that Qing-dynasty women affixed to back of their heads, it was the finishing touch of a hairpin or two that com...

Although eyes were certainly drawn to the high, fan-shaped headdresses that Qing-dynasty women affixed to back of their heads, it was the finishing touch of a hairpin or two that com...

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