中国首先发明印刷术。公元6世纪下半叶到7世纪上半叶的隋、唐之际，中国就发明了雕版印刷，到9世纪，开始了大规模的雕版印书。北宋庆历年间，平民毕升发明用胶泥焙烧的活字，开始了活字印刷。约在8世纪中叶，印刷术传到国外。

Printing originated in China. In the period between the Sui Dynasty in the second half of the 6th century and the Tang Dynasty in the first half of the early 7th century, lithographic printing was invented and, in the 9th century, a large number of books began to be printed by the lithographic process. In the reign of Emperor Qingli of the Northern Song Dynasty (960 A.D.-1127 A.D.), a common fellow named Bi Sheng invented printing by movable type and started to use baked clay types for printing. The technology was introduced to other countries in about the mid-8th century.