Question 2 - Past Year Questions - 3 marks - Chapter 5 Class 10 History - Print Culture and the Modern World - History

Explain the reasons favouring shift from hand printing to mechanical printing in China.

Answer : 

Points to remember : 

• China produced books by rubbing paper against the inked surface of woodblocks.
• China made use of printed material for its civil service examinations.
• In 16th century, demand of print increased and it became a leisure activity.
• Rich women began to read and write.
• Technology from west was adopted for printing.
• Shanghai became hub of new printing culture.

Answer to be written in exam :

1. China became the first country to start print, from AD 594 onwards. The books were printed by rubbing paper against the inked surface of woodblocks.
2. The Imperial State in China was the major producer of printed material for a long time. The huge bureaucratic system in China recruited its personnel through civil service examinations and a vast number of printed material was required for these examinations.
3. From the 16 th century, the number of candidates for these examinations increased and Hence, the demand of print increased too.
4. As Urban Culture bloomed, uses of print diversified. The sense of a reading culture emerged. It became a leisure activity. Rich women began to read and publish their poetry and plays. 
5. This reading culture was accompanied by new technology imported from the west. Western printing techniques were adopted and mechanical presses were imported in the late 19 th century. There was a gradual shift from hand printing to mechanical printing.
6. SHANGHAI became the hub of new print culture.

( any 3 points)*