Qi Nan had lost a lot of weight, and the cassock that originally fit him looked very loose. His right hand was wrapped in white cloth. I asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
He raised his injured hand and said with some embarrassment, "I hurt it myself."
"Is it a carving knife?" It's impossible to injure your right hand with a chisel. He came closer and asked, "How did you get injured?"
Qi Nan unwrapped his bandaged hand, stretched out his fingers, turned them over for me to see, and said with a smile to himself: "I haven't used a knife for a long time, I'm stupid and rusty." He wrapped the bandage in circles again, seeming a little tired.
Sitting down cross-legged: "The new emperor ascended the throne, and the reign title was changed. In order to help all living beings and broadcast the Dharma, the emperor issued an order to reprint the Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra," the Lotus Sutra was reprinted.
lt;lt;The Infinite Life Sutragt;gt; and other scriptures to show our emperor’s benevolence, virtue and sage.”
"So these tasks naturally fell on the master. The master felt that there was not enough manpower, so he went into battle himself and injured his hand." He approached him and sat cross-legged with him, took his hand and untied the bandage for him, and looked at it.
Looking at the wounds, he said: "These wounds are not too deep and do not need to be bandaged. If the pores of the skin are covered and the pores are not breathable and the wounds are soaked in sweat and become infected, it will be more troublesome. Is it troublesome to reprint the scriptures? Even the national master has to go to battle in person." He did not forget to ridicule.
His words.
"Buddhist scriptures are generally printed using woodblock printing. First, the neatly copied scripture manuscripts are pasted on a smooth wooden board of a certain thickness. Be sure to use thin and almost transparent manuscript paper, and stick the front side to the wooden board, with the words
It is inverted and the strokes are clear and legible. Next, the engraver uses a carving knife to cut off the unwritten part of the page to make a convex font, which is completely different from the yin script of the stele with a concave font."
He moved his less cumbersome right hand, nodded to me with a smile and thanked me, and then said: "When printing, apply ink on the raised characters, then cover the paper with it, gently wipe the back of the paper, and the writing will
It’s just left on paper.”
"But there are also obvious shortcomings. First, engraving is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and material-intensive. Second, it is inconvenient to store large quantities of books. Third, it is difficult to correct typos." As soon as he said it, I took it and said, "This way
A single edition of engraving printing can print hundreds or even thousands of books, but it is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Large books often take several years. Storing the plates takes up a lot of space, and they often suffer from deformation.
, moth-eaten, corroded and damaged. For books that have a small print run and do not need to be reprinted, the plates become waste. In addition, if typos are found during engraving, it is difficult to correct them, and the entire plate often needs to be re-engraved."
Qi Nan nodded approvingly, and said with a bit of helpless pressure and hard work on his raised lips: "I have been busy with this matter a few days ago. Although it is hard, when I think of those scriptures and touch those protruding Buddhist teachings, I immediately feel
I feel more energetic.”
He turned to look at me and found that I wasn't listening to him at all but was holding my chin in my hands and thinking about something.
"Movable type printing! That's right! I was particularly impressed because the history teacher demonstrated it to us that time, really! He took it and I didn't listen carefully and was caught explaining the demonstration!" I stood up with my hands on my hands and grabbed it excitedly.
Zhu DeNan's arms said: "Use clay to make blanks with the same specifications, and carve reverse single characters on one end. The protrusions of the characters are as high as the thickness of the edge of a copper coin. They are then hardened with fire to become a single movable clay type.
Then, when setting the type, use a framed iron plate as the base, apply a layer of medicine mixed with rosin, wax and paper ash on it, pick out the required clay movable type and put them into the frame one by one.
A frame becomes a plate, and then it is baked with fire. After the agent is slightly melted, a flat plate is used to flatten the words. After the agent cools and solidifies, it becomes the pattern."
Because I spoke too fast, Qinan felt a little confused, but he also felt that what I said seemed to make some sense, so he asked me to speak slowly.
It’s true that I hate the book when I use it, but fortunately my memory is pretty good. In addition, Bi Sheng’s movable type printing is still fresh in my memory of the history teacher’s teachings. I once again told him about it, and I don’t want him to become more and more enlightened as he listened.
Ji Zhuomi nodded repeatedly.
"However, the clay type printing method is not easy if you only print two or three copies. But if you print hundreds or thousands of copies, the work efficiency will be extremely impressive. It can not only save a lot of manpower and material resources, but also greatly improve the printing efficiency.
The speed and quality are much superior to engraving printing." He breathed a long sigh of relief and finally finished speaking. His mouth was so dry that he couldn't turn his tongue around in his mouth.
Qi Nan happily patted the ground, and his injured right hand immediately protested with pain. He felt that he had just behaved impolitely and said apologetically: "This method is wonderful. The poor monk immediately went down the mountain to report it to the Emperor Ming, and devoted himself to studying this method. In fact, the poor monk also used it.
I have thought of a method similar to this, but it is far less wonderful than Jingyun’s method.”
"Ah! The master has given me an award. This method was not invented by me, but by a commoner named Bi Sheng." I don't want to be famous. That would be deceiving the world and stealing my reputation.
"Then can you introduce Bi Sheng to the poor monks?"
Although the deed was very sincere, I could only spread my hands and say sadly: "This man has been dead for a long time." There is no record of Bi Sheng's life story in history. He was just an ordinary person.
civilian carver.
"This..." Qi Nan lowered his head and thought deeply. After a long time, he raised his head and said solemnly and sincerely: "Then, please ask Jingyun to help you join the reprinting of the scriptures. Regarding your matter, the poor monk decided to report it to the Holy Master for understanding.
The poor monk believes that if this method is really feasible, it will not only be of great help to the reprinting of the scriptures, but also have a profound impact on all aspects of printing work in the future."
"No!" He immediately refused without thinking, and said with a straight face: "Master, I think we are friends, so I tell you this method and give you advice. The specific operation has been explained very clearly.
Why do you have to drag me along? Jingyun is used to being free, and girls are not suitable for doing that."
Qi Nan was embarrassed for a moment, his face turned blue and red, but he quickly stabilized his breathing, clasped his hands together, bowed slightly and said, "Amitabha, don't be upset. I'm rude, but I'm still very grateful for your advice." After that, he said:
Turning around sadly and going downstairs.
Listening to Qinan's footsteps leaving softly, I felt that I might have spoken too harshly. I rushed downstairs and chased after him, shouting: "Wait! Qinan, wait for me!"
"I quickly ran to him, blocked his way, and said with a slight breath: "Okay! I promise to help you, but you must not tell anyone about my existence. Just say that it was your own idea."
"Monks don't tell lies." Qi Nan's eyelids were half-closed, he looked up at my livid face, and said with a smile: "Even if the emperor wanted to chop off the bald monk's head, the poor monk would never say it was Jingyun.
"
"Ah? Is the emperor always beheading you?" Obviously my brain was a little bit behind, so I tugged on his sleeve and said: "Master only said that it was invented by a commoner named Bi Sheng. That person is already dead. And I will give it to you.
The person in question is a pilgrim who has come to offer incense several times, named Wang Shuhe."