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• 1 2018-05-02T21:54:10-07:00 Development of Woodblock Printing 5 plain 2018-05-04T01:55:34-07:00 The basic system of woodblock printing was developed in China as early as the seventh century CE, long before the technique reached Europe. The earliest dated woodblock printed book was made in 868 CE, found in the Mogao caves at Danhuang in China, though woodblock printed images and scrolls date much earlier. This woodblock is a printed scroll of the Diamond Sutra, a conversation between the Buddha and a monk about the nature of reality, including an image of the Buddha surrounded by attendants.[1] Woodblock prints soon made their way to the secluded island of Japan in the eighth century CE and were used to print Buddhist scriptures and texts. The earliest dated prints in Japan itself – though likely not the first – were created between 767 and 769 CE. Empress Kōken (also known as Empress Shōtoku) had commissioned one million small wooden pagodas to be built in 764, each containing a scroll printed with Buddhist text (fig. 1). These scrolls were not meant to be read, but instead held spiritual significance, as these pagodas were thought to be talismans that provided their creators with certain advantages.[2] As indicated by these scrolls, mokuhanga was more frequently utilized for printing books before it became adopted for more purely artistic purposes later on.
   

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  [1] April Vollmer. Japanese Woodblock Print Workshop: A Modern Guide to the Ancient Art of Mokuhanga, (New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2015), 27.
   

  [2] Ibid., 28.