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Mutaharrik huroof ki chhapai: mitti ke type se dhaat ke huroof tak

Atemad E-Magazine 20 October 2026 · 7 minute ka mutalia

Akhbar ka har safha hazaron huroof se banta hai. Is mushkil ka hal yeh tha ke har harf alag tukre par banaya jaye, safhe ke liye jora jaye, chhapa jaye, aur phir alag kar ke agle safhe ke liye dobara istemal kiya jaye. Isay mutaharrik huroof (movable type) ki chhapai kehte hain, aur is ki pehli maloom misal gyarahveen sadi ke China se milti hai.

Bi Sheng ka khayal

Muhaqqiq Thomas Francis Carter (Thomas Francis Carter) ne 1925 mein Columbia University Press se shaya hone wali apni kitab "China mein chhapai ki ijad" mein cheeni alim Shen Kuo (Shen Kuo) ka ek bayan tarjuma kiya hai. Carter ke mutabiq Shen Kuo 1030 se 1093 tak zinda rahe, aur un ki kitab "khwabon ke talab ke mazameen" (Dream Pool Essays) mein is ijad ka ham asr aur tafseeli bayan hai. Amriki science tanzeem AAAS ke mutabiq yeh kitab taqriban 1088 mein likhi gayi.

Shen Kuo ke mutabiq Qingli ke daur mein ek aam aadmi, Bi Sheng (Bi Sheng), ne mutaharrik type banaye. Hawalon mein is ka waqt mukhtalif andaz se bayan hua hai: Carter is daur ko 1041 se 1049 likhte hain, jabke AAAS sirf shehenshah Renzong ke daur (1022 ta 1063) ka zikr karta hai.

Mitti ke huroof kaise bane

Shen Kuo ke bayan ke mutabiq Bi Sheng ne chipakne wali geeli mitti li aur is par sikke ke kinare jitne patle huroof kate. Har harf ek alag tukra tha. Phir unhein aag mein paka kar sakht kiya gaya.

Chhapne ke liye lohe ki ek plate par cheer ki raal, mom aur kaghaz ki rakh ka amezah bichhaya jata. Is par lohe ka ek chaukhata rakh kar huroof ek doosre se jor kar jamaye jate. Chaukhata bhar jata to plate ko aag ke qareeb garam kiya jata taake amezah zara pighal jaye, aur ek hamwar takhte se daba kar sab huroof ki satah saan ki tarah barabar kar di jati. Chhapai ke baad plate ko dobara garam kiya jata aur huroof khudba khud alag ho jate.

Shen Kuo likhte hain ke do teen nuskhon ke liye yeh tareeqa na aasan tha na tez, magar saikron ya hazaron nuskhon ke liye hairat angez had tak tez tha. Bi Sheng do platein sath chalate: ek se chhapai hoti to doosri par huroof jamaye jate. Aam istemal ke huroof ke bees bees ya is se zyada tukre rakhe jate, aur huroof ko qafiye ki tarteeb se lakri ke khanon mein sambhala jata.

Bi Sheng ne lakri kyun nahin istemal ki? Shen Kuo ke mutabiq lakri ki banawat kahin moti hoti hai kahin bareek, aur woh nami jazb kar leti hai, is liye safha na-hamwar ho jata. Carter ke mutabiq tamam mahireen is par muttafiq nazar aate hain ke mitti ke type bare paimane par istemal nahin hue.

Wang Zhen ke lakri ke huroof

Taqriban paune teen sau saal baad Wang Zhen (Wang Zhen) nami ek zilai afsar ne lakri ka masla hal kar dikhaya. Carter ne un ka bayan bhi tarjuma kiya hai, jo un ki Zaraat ki kitab ke aakhir mein shamil hai aur jise Carter 1314 ka batate hain.

Wang Zhen ne pehle lakri ke ek takhte par sare huroof kunda kiye, phir bareek aari se har harf alag kata aur chaqu se tarash kar sab ko ek jaisi unchai aur size ka banaya. Kul tees hazar se zyada huroof bane. Unhein rakhne ke liye unhon ne taqriban saat fut qutr ki ghoomne wali do mezein banayin: ek par qafiyon ki sarkari kitab ki tarteeb se huroof the aur doosri par sab se zyada istemal hone wale huroof. Un ke alfaz mein, huroof jamane wale ko unhein dhoondne nahin jana parta, huroof khud us ke paas aa jate hain.

Carter ke tarjume ke mutabiq Jingde zile mein afsari ke dauran un ke huroof do saal mein tayyar hue. Tajurbe ke taur par unhon ne zile ka sarkari record saath hazar se zyada huroof se chhapa, aur ek mahine se kam mein sau nuskhe tayyar ho gaye jo takhton se chhapi kitabon jaise hi the. Wang Zhen ne yeh bhi likha ke kuch logon ne tin ko dhal kar huroof banaye the, magar un par siyahi theek nahin jamti thi.

Korea ke dhaati huroof

Dhaat ke dhale hue huroof ka agla bara qadam Korea mein uthha. France ke qaumi kutub khane (Bibliotheque nationale de France) ke mutabiq us ke paas "Jikji" (Jikji) nami kitab ki doosri jild mehfooz hai, jo 1377 mein Korea ke shehar Cheongju mein dhale hue dhaati mutaharrik huroof se chhapi gayi. UNESCO ke mutabiq is ki chhapai July 1377 mein hui, aur yeh dhaati mutaharrik huroof se chhapai ka duniya ka sab se purana mojood saboot hai, agarche purani Korean kitabon mein is se pehle ki dhaati chhapai ka zikr bhi milta hai. UNESCO ne 4 September 2001 ko isay apne "Memory of the World" register mein shamil kiya. Kutub khane ke mutabiq yeh kitab Johannes Gutenberg ki Bible se 78 saal pehle ki hai.

Carter ke mutabiq Korea mein 1392 mein ek sarkari mehkama qayam hua jis ki zimmedari huroof dhalna aur kitabein chhapna thi, aur 1403 mein bare paimane par dhalai shuru hui jis mein chand mahinon mein kai lakh huroof tayyar ho gaye.

Is kahani ka sabaq

Carter likhte hain ke Gutenberg ki kamyabi mein teen cheezein ahem thin jo is cheeni tareeqe mein nahin thin: huroof dhalne ka sancha, huroof-e-tahajji wale type, aur chhapne ki machine. Aaj ka digital font bhi isi purane khayal ki nayi shakl hai: har harf ek alag ikai, jise bar bar jora aur istemal kiya ja sake.

Maakhiz

Thomas Francis Carter, The Invention of Printing in China and Its Spread Westward, New York: Columbia University Press, 1925, pp. 159–172, archive.org scan. https://archive.org/details/inventionofprint00cart_0 — Shen Kuo's account of Bi Sheng (Qingli period, 1041–1049): baked clay type, iron plate with pine resin, wax and paper ash, iron frame, two formes, twenty or more type for common characters, rare characters baked with straw, reasons for rejecting wood; Shen Kuo 1030–1093; clay and tin type not extensively used; Wang Zhen's account (1314): more than 30,000 wooden type, revolving tables about seven feet across, district records with about 60,000 type and 100 copies in under a month, type made in two years at Jingde, tin type that took ink poorly; Korean type foundry of 1392 and casting from 1403, eleven decrees 1403–1544; type mould, alphabetic type and press as features lacking in the Chinese method.
Steven A. Edwards, "Shen Kuo, first Renaissance man", AAAS Scientia blog (15 Mar 2012). https://www.aaas.org/shen-kuo-first-renaissance-man — Dream Pool Essays written around 1088; Bi Sheng's movable type described there.
Bibliotheque nationale de France, "Jikji, a treasure of the world of printing". https://www.bnf.fr/en/jikji-treasure-world-printing — printed in 1377 at Cheongju with movable cast metal characters; BnF holds the second volume (Coreen 109); 78 years before the Gutenberg Bible; Memory of the World since 4 September 2001.
UNESCO Memory of the World, "Baegun hwasang chorok buljo jikji simche yojeol (vol. II)". https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/baegun-hwasang-chorok-buljo-jikji-simche-yojeol-volii-second-volume-anthology-great-buddhist-priests — printed July 1377 with movable metal type; world's oldest surviving evidence of movable metal type printing; earlier metal type printing mentioned in old Korean books; inscribed 2001.

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