印刷术

• Pinyin: yìn shuā shù
• Hanzi breakdown: 印 = 卩 + 爪 (kneeling person + pressing hand — to stamp, to print); 刷 = 刀 + 帅 variant (blade + brushing — to brush/apply); 术 = 木 + 行 variant (wood + path — skill, technique)

Meaning

The art and technology of printing; printing technique. Specifically refers to the craft of mechanically reproducing text and images.

Historically significant as China is credited with inventing woodblock printing and movable type. 印刷术 (printing) is one of the Four Great Inventions of China (四大发明) along with papermaking (造纸术), gunpowder (火药), and the compass (指南针). Used in historical and educational contexts; modern printing technology is more often described with 印刷技术 or 打印技术.

Examples

1. 毕昇发明活字印刷术，不仅提高了书籍生产效率，也打破了知识传播对手抄的依赖。 Bi Sheng's invention of movable-type printing not only improved book production efficiency, but also broke knowledge transmission's dependence on hand copying.
2. 印刷术沿丝绸之路和海上贸易传入中亚、西亚，并间接影响了欧洲文艺复兴。 Printing technology spread to Central and West Asia along the Silk Road and sea trade routes, and indirectly influenced the European Renaissance.
3. 数字印刷术兴起后，按需和小批量印刷降低了出版门槛，也改变了版权管理和分发方式。 With the rise of digital printing, on-demand and small-batch printing lowered publishing barriers and also changed copyright management and distribution.

Usage Guide

Context: history, education, culture, technology

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 学者常把十五世纪古腾堡金属活字印刷术的发明，看作欧洲近代知识体系和宗教改革兴起的重要前提。(Scholars often regard Gutenberg's fifteenth-century invention of metal movable type printing as an important precondition for the rise of the modern European knowledge system and the Reformation.)
• 这家老字号把雕版印刷术与数字技术结合，推出限量古典诗集精品印刷品，走出差异化路线。(This long-established shop combines woodblock printing with digital technology to release limited-edition fine printed classical poetry collections and follow a differentiated path.)

Don't Say

• 他学习印刷术打印文件 — 印刷术 refers to the historical art and technique of printing as a civilisational achievement, not to everyday document printing; use 打印 or 印刷 as verbs for contemporary printing tasks; 印刷术 is a cultural-historical noun, not a process descriptor

Origin & History

印 (to print/stamp — 卩 kneeling figure + 爪 hand pressing; to press a seal down) + 刷 (to brush/print — 刀 knife + 帅 variant; to apply ink with a brush or roller) + 术 (technique/art — 木 wood + 行 path; skilled craft); together: 'the art of pressing and brushing to make copies'

Cultural Context

Era: Classical

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal