Answers should be in about 80/100 words.

Question 1.
Describe the woodblock printing. [CBSE 2016-17]
Answer:

1. Woodblock printing was the earliest kind of print technology.

2. It was developed in China, Japan and Korea.
3. This was a system of hand-writing.
4. From AD 594 onwards, under this system, books in China were printed by rubbing
paper against the inked surface of woodblocks.
5. As both sides of the thin, porous sheet could not be printed, the traditional Chinese
‘accordion book’ was folded and stitched at the side.
6. Superbly skilled craftsmen could duplicate with remarkable accuracy the beauty of
calligraphy.

Question 2.
Which Asian country was the major producer of printed material in the 16th century and why
?
[CBSE 2016-17]
Answer:
(1) The imperial state in China was the major producer of printed material for a long time.
(2) It was the major producer of printed material due to the following factors :

1. China had a large bureaucratic system which recruited its personnel through civil
service examinations.
2. Textbooks for this examination were printed in vast numbers under the sponsorship of
the imperial state.
3. From the sixteenth century, the number of examination candidates went up and that
increased the volume of print.

Question 3.
“By the seventeenth century, as urban culture bloomed in China, the uses of print
diversified.” Explain.
Or
Describe the major uses of print culture in the seventeenth century in China. What were its
effect ?
Or
What were the reasons favouring shift from hand printing to mechanical printing in China ?
Answer:
(1) In the seventeenth century, many cities had come up in China. As the urban culture
spread, the uses of print also increased. It was used in different fields as mentioned
below :

1. It was used by scholar officials.

2. Merchants used it to collect trade information.
3. Reading printed material became a leisure activity. So, people started reading fictional
narratives, poetry, autobiographies, anthologies of literary masterpieces, and romantic
plays.
4. Women began publishing their poetry and plays.
 5. Wives of scholar-officials published their works and courtesans wrote about their
lives.

(2) The new reading culture had the following effects :

1. It brought western printing techniques and mechanical presses into China.

2. Shanghai became the hub of the new print culture.
Thus, there was natural change from hand-printing to mechanical printing.

Question 4.
How did the Buddhist missionaries from China introduce printing technology into Japan
around AD 768-770 ? Explain. [CBSE 2016-17]
Or
Who introduced print culture to Japtu ? [CBSE 2016-17]
Or
Describe the development of print in Japan.
Answer:
The development of print in Japan took place as mentioned below :

1. Buddhist missionaries from China introduced hand-printing technology in Japan

around AD 768-770.
2. The oldest Japanese book printed in AD 868 was the Buddhist Diamond Sutra. It
contained six sheets of text and woodcut illustrations.
3. Pictures were printed on textiles, playing cards and paper money,
4. In medieval Japan, the poets and prose writers regularly published their works.
5. Printing of visual material led to interesting publishing practices. For example, in the
late eighteenth century, at Edo (modern Tokyo) illustrated collections of paintings
depicted an elegant urban culture, involving artists, courtesans, and teahouse
gatherings.
6. Libraries and bookstores were full with hand-printed material of various types such as
books on women, cooking, famous places, musical instruments, calculations, tea
ceremony and flower arrangements.

Question 5.
Write a short note on Ukiyo. [CBSE 2016-17]
Answer:

1. Kitagawa Utamaro, born in Edo in 1753, widely known for his contributions to an art
form called Ukiyo (pictures of the floating world) or depiction of ordinary human
experiences, especially urban ones.
2. These prints travelled to contemporary US and Europe and influenced artists like
Manet, Monet and Van Gogh.
3. Publishers like Tsutaya Juzaburo identified subjects and commissioned artists who
drew the theme in outline.
4. Then a skilled woodblock carver pasted the drawing on a woodblock and carved a
printing block to reproduce the painter’s lines.
5. In the process, the original drawing would be destroyed and only prints would
survive.
Question 6.
How was the increase in demand for books met in Europe in the fourteenth century ?
Answer:
The expanded demand for books in Europe was met in the following ways :

1. Booksellers all over Europe began exporting books to many different countries.
2. Book fairs were held at different places.
3. Production of handwritten manuscripts also continued to meet the expanded demand.
Skilled handwriters were employed by booksellers. Sometimes more than 50 scribes
were employed by one bookseller.
4. Woodblock printing was widely used to meet the demand, i But in spite of the above
efforts, there was still a great need for even quicker and cheaper reproduction of texts
which was fulfilled by the development of the printing press by Johann
Gutenberg in the 1430s.

Question 7.
How did Gutenberg get the idea of a printing press and perfected it ? Which was his first
printed book ? [CBSE 2016-17]
Or
Name the first book printed by Gutenberg press. [CBSE 2016-17]
Answer:
(1)

1. Gutenberg was the son of a merchant and grew up on a large agricultural estate. From
his childhood, he had seen wine and olive presses.
2. Subsequently, he learnt the art of polishing stones, became a master goldsmith, and
also acquired the expertise to create lead moulds used for making trinkets.
3. Drawing on this knowledge, Gutenberg adapted existing technology to design his
innovation.
4. The olive press provided the model for the printing press.
5. Moulds were used for casting the metal types for the letters of the alphabet.
6. By 1448, Gutenberg perfected the system.

(2) The first book he printed was the Bible. About 180 copies were printed and it took three
years to produce them. By the standards of the time this was the fast production.

Question 8.
What is a manuscript ? Why production of handwritten manuscripts could not satisfy the
ever-increasing demand for books ?
Or
Explain the limitations or short-comings of handwritten manuscripts.
Answer:
(1) Manuscript is a document or book written by hand.
(2) The production of handwritten documents could not satisfy the ever-increasing
demand for books for the reasons as mentioned below :

1. Copying was an expensive, laborious and time consuming business.

2. Manuscripts were fragile, awkward to handle, and could not be carried around or read
easily.
 As a result of the above factors, the circulation of manuscripts remained limited and
by the early 15th century, woodblocks were being widely used in Europe.

Question 9.
“The new technology did not entirely displace the existing art of producing books by hand.”
Explain.
Answer:
It is true that the new technology did not displace the existing art of producing books by
hand. At the same time Gutenberg personalise the printed books suiting to the tastes and
requirement of others as mentioned below :

1. The metal letters imitated the ornamental handwritten styles.

2. Borders were illuminated by hand with foliage and other patterns, and illustrations
were painted.
3. In the books printed for the rich, space for decoration was kept blank on the printed
page.
4. Each purchaser could choose the design and decide on the painting school that would
do the illustrations.
5. No two copies of the first printed Bible were same and every copy could be claimed
as unique, for no one else owned a copy that was exactly the same.

Question 10.
How were the printing presses setup in most of the countries of Europe between 1450 and
1550 ? What were its effects ?
Or
‘The shift from handwriting to mechanical printing led to the print revolution.’ Explain.
Answer:
(1)

1. In the hundred years between 1450 and 1550, printing presses were set up in most
countries of Europe.
2. Printers from Germany traveled to other countries-seeking work and helping start new
presses.

(2) Effects :

1. As the number of printing presses grew, book production boomed.

2. The second half of the fifteenth century saw 20 million copies of printed books
flooding the markets in Europe.
3. The number of books went up in the 7-i-xteenth century to about 200 million copies.
4. The above shift from hand printing to mechanical printing led to the print revolution.
It was a new way of producing books. It transformed the lives of people, changing
their
relationship to information and knowledge and with institutions and authorities. It
influenced ’ popular perceptions and opened up new ways of looking at things.

Question 11.
How did access to books create a new culture of reading ? Examine any three points.
Or
State reasons for increase in reading public by the end of 18th century in Europe.
 Or
How did the print revolution create a new reading public and new culture of reading ?
Answer:
(1) The print revolution created a new reading public as mentioned below :

1. A new reading public emerged because printing reduced the cost of books,
2. Books could be produced at a faster rate and were available in the market in large
numbers.
3. The books flooded the market, reaching out to an over-growing readership.

(2) Print revolution created a new culture of reading as mentioned below :

1. Earlier books were read by the elites. Common people were illiterate and lived in a
world of oral culture. They heard sacred texts read out, ballads recited and folk tales
narrated.
2. Knowledge was transferred orally. People collectively heard a story or saw a
performance.
3. Before the age of print, books were not only expensive but they could not be produced
in sufficient numbers. Now books could reach out to wider sections of people. If
earlier there was a hearing public, now a reading public came into being.

Question 12.
“The transition from a hearing public to reading public was not simple.” Explain. How the
hearing public and reading public became intermingled ?
Answer:
The transition from a hearing public to reading public was not simple due to the
reasons as mentioned below :

1. Books could be read only by the literate people.

2. Rates of literacy in most European countries were very low till the twentieth century.
3. To reach and persuade the common people to welcome the printed books, publishers
had to keep in mind the wider reach of the printed work so that even those who did
not read could certainly enjoy listening to books being read out. So printers published
popular ballads and folk tales and illustrated such books with pictures. These were
then sung and recited at gatherings in villages and in taverns in towns. Oral culture
thus entered print and printed material was orally transmitted. As a result of it, the
hearing public and reading public intermingled.

Question 13.
How did print introduce a new world of debate and discussion ? What were its implications in
the sphere of religion ?
Answer:
(1) Print introduced a new world of debate and discussion as mentioned below :

1. Print created the possibility of wide circulation of ideas.

2. Even those who disagreed with established authorities, could now print and circulate
their ideas. .
3. Through the printed message, people could be persuaded to think differently, and
move to action. This had significance in different spheres of life.
(2) Debates and discussions had effects on religion as mentioned below :

1. Martin Luther’s Ninety Five These criticism many practices and rituals of the Roman
Catholic Church led to a division within the Church and to the beginning of the
Protestant Reformation.
2. Several scholars think that print brought about a new intellectual atmosphere and
helped spread the new ideas that led to the reformation.
3. Print revolution led to distinctive interpretations of faith even among little-educated
working people. For example, Manocchio, a miller in Italy, reinterpreted the Bible in
his own way that enraged the Roman Catholic Church which imposed severe controls
over publishers and booksellers and began to maintain an Index of Prohibited Books
from 1558.

Question 14.
Why was there fear of print among some people in Europe ? Explain.
Answer:

1. The printed book was not welcomed by all. Even those who did it also had some fears
about it.
2. On the other hand, many were apprehensive of the effects that the easier access to the
printed word and the wider circulation of books, could have on people’s minds.
3. It was feared that if there was no control over what was printed and read then
rebellious and irreligious thoughts might spread. If that happened the authority of
‘valuable’ literature would be destroyed. This fear or anxiety was the main basis of
criticism of the new printed literature.

Question 15.
What was Reading Mania ? What was its impact on children and women ? [CBSE 2016-17]
Or
Which factors led to reading mania in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Europe ?
Or
Describe the causes for extreme enthusiasm for reading in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries in Europe.
Answer:
Causes were as given below :

1. Rise in literacy rate : Literacy rates increased during the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. Churches all over Europe set up schools in villages, carrying literacy to
peasants and artisans. In the eighteenth century, literacy rates were as high as 60 to 80
per cent, in some parts of Europe. As the literacy rate increased and schools spread,
people wanted books to read and printers increased their production.
2. New forms of popular literature : New forms of popular literature, such as almanacs
or ritual calendars, folktales, chapbooks, Bilio the que Bleue, were printed.
Booksellers employed pedlars for sale of this printed literature. Chapbooks were sold
for a penny and the poor could buy such books easily. Books of various sizes, serving
many different purposes and interests were published.
3. Rise of periodical press : From the early eighteenth century, the periodical press
printed information about current affairs with entertainment. Newspapers and journals
wrote about wars and trade, and developments in other places.
 4. Ideas of scientists and philosophers : The ideas of scientists and philosophers were
published with maps and scientific diagrams. It attracted people. For example, the
discoveries of Isaac Newton influenced large number of people. The writings of
thinkers such as Thomas Paine, Voltaire and Rousseau were widely printed and read.

Question 16.
Why did some people in eighteenth century Europe think that print culture would bring
enlightenment and end despotism ?
Answer:
Some people in eighteenth century Europe thought that print culture would bring
enlightenment and end despotism. Printing pr^ss was the most powerful engine of progress
and public opinion was the force that would destroy the basis of despotism. Such were the
views of Louise-Sebastien Mercier, a novelist in eighteenth century France. In many of
Mercier’s novels, the heroes are transformed by acts of reading. They devour books, are lost
in the world books create, and become enlightened in the process. He was convinced of the
power of print and proclaimed : ‘Tremble, therefore, tyrants of the world! Tremble before the
virtual writer’.

Question 17.
“The print culture created the conditions within which the French Revolution occurred.” Give
three arguments in favour of the statement. [CBSE 2016-17]
Answer:
It is correct to say that the print culture created the conditions within which the French
Revolution occurred.
The following arguments are given in support of this view :

1. Popularisation of ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers : It is stated that print

culture popularised the writings of Rousseau, Voltaire and others. These thinkers were
against the sacred authority of the Church and the despotic power of the state.
Rousseau’s ideal of ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’became the motto of the
revolutionaries. These ideas enlightened the masses.
2. New culture and dialogue and debate : With the coming of print culture, people
became aware of the power of reason. They started questioning the existing ideas and
beliefs and authority of the Church. Within this public culture, new ideas of social
revolution came into being.
3. Criticism of royalty of their morality : New literature criticised royalty for their
lavish life style at a time when people were suffering from hunger. Cartoons and
caricatures showed that the monarchy was absorbed in sensual pleasures. The
ordinary people i.e., peasants, artisans and workers, had a hard time while the nobility
enjoyed life and oppressed the poor. Such writings led to the growth of hostile
sentiments against the monarchy.It played a significant role by influencing the people
to think in different ways and questioning the authority of the monarchs as well as the
Church.However it may be added that print helped the spread of ideas but people read
all types of literature. There was monarchical and Church propaganda. They were not
influenced by one idea. They accepted some and rejected other ideas. So it can be said
that the print did not directly shape their minds but it did open up the possibility of
thinking differently.

Question 18.
What kind of material was printed for children and women during the nineteenth century that
made them an important category of readers ?
Answer:
The following types of printed material was responsible for increase in readership of
children and women in the 19th century :
(1) Children :

1. Primary education became compulsory from the late 19th century.

2. A children’s press set up in France in 1857 devoted to literature for children alone.
3. Old fairy tales and folk tales were published.
4. The Grimm Brothers in Germany compiled traditional folk tales gathered from
peasants. A collection of stories was published in 1812.
5. Anything that was considered unsuitable for children or would appear vulgar to the
elites, was not included in the published version.Rural folk tales thus acquired a new
form. In this way, print recorded old tales but also changed them.

(2) Women:

1. Penny Magazine was published between 1832 and 1835 in England. It was aimed
primarily at the working class and women.
2. There were manuals teaching proper behaviour and house keeping.
3. Novels were written in the nineteenth century by women like Jane Austen, the Bronte
sisters, George Eliot. Their writings became important in defining a new type of
woman, a person with will, strength of personality, determination and the power to
think.

Question 19.
Describe the role played by lending libraries in the growth of readers in the 19th century.
Answer:
Lending libraries became instruments for educating white-collar workers, artisans and lower-
middle class people. In due course of time, when the working day was shortened from the
mid-nineteenth century, workers had sometime for self-improvement and self-expression.
They wrote political tracts and autobiographies in large numbers.

Question 20.
Explain any five innovations in print technology in Europe that took place after the 18th
century.
[CBSE 2016-17]
Or
Mention one major contribution of Richard M. Hoe in developing printing press.
Answer:
The following innovations took place in printing technology in the nineteenth century :

1. Power-driven cylindrical press by Richard M. Hoe of New York : This was

capable of printing 8,000 sheets per hour. It was useful for printing newspapers.
2. Offset Press : This could print up to six colours at a time.
3. Electrically operated presses : These further accelerated printing operations.
4. Other developments :
o Methods of feeding paper improved.
o The quality of plates became better.
 o Automatic paper reels and photo electric controls of the colour register were
introduced.
All the above innovations transformed the appearance of printed texts.

Question 21.
Describe the strategies developed by the printers and publishers in the nineteenth century to
sell their products.
Answer:
The printers and publishers developed the following strategies to sell their products :

1. Periodicals serialised novels : Nineteenth century periodicals serialised important

novels. This became popular among the people.
2. Shilling series : In the 1920s in England, popular works were sold in cheap series,
called the Shilling Series.
3. Dust cover or the book jacket : It was also innovated and used in the 20th century.
4. Paperback editions : During the Great Depression in the 1930s, publishers brought
out cheap paperback editions in order to sustain buying and to avoid a decline in book
purchases.

Question 22.
What is manuscript ? Mention any two limitations of it during 19th century.
Or
Why were manuscripts not widely used in everyday life ? Give three reasons. [CBSE 2016-
17]
Answer:
(1)

1. There were handwritten manuscripts in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and various

vernacular languages.
2. Manuscripts were copied on palm leaves or on handmade paper.
3. There were illustrations on pages.
4. To preserve them, these were either pressed between wooden covers or sewn together
to ensure preservation.

(2)
The manuscripts were not widely used in everyday life due to their drawbacks/
limitations as mentioned below :

1. Manuscripts were, however, highly expensive and fragile.

2. They had to be handled carefully.
3. They also could not be read easily as the script was written in different styles.
In view of the above, manuscripts were not widely used in everyday life. Their use
remained limited. Even in schools, teachers used to dictate portions of texts to
students. Many people, thus, became literate without ever actually reading any kind of
texts.

Question 23.
Explain briefly the initial efforts made by foreigners to introduce printing press in India.
Answer:
 1. The printing press came to India with Portuguese missionaries in Goa in the mid-
sixteenth century. Jesuit priests learnt Konkani and printed several tracts. By 1674,
about 50 books had been printed in Konkani and Kanara languages.
2. Books in different languages were printed as given below :
1. In 1579 – First Tamil book was printed by Catholic priests at Cochin.
2. In 1713 – Printing of first Malayalam book.
3. By 1710 – Dutch Protestant missionaries had printed 32 Tamil texts, many of
them were translations from older works.
3. English printing :
1. From 1780, James Augustus Hickey began to edit the Bengal Gazette, a
weakly magazine that described itself as ‘a commercial paper open to all but
influenced by none’. It was a private enterprise, proud of its independence
from colonial influence. It was the beginning of English printing in India.
2. By the end of eighteenth century, a number of newspapers and journals were
being printed.
3. Indians too began to publish newspaper. Weekly Bengal Gazette was the first
to be brought out by Gangadhar Bhattacharya.

Question 24.
How did print help connect communities and people in different parts of India ? Explain with
examples.
Or
“Print did not only stimulate the publication of conflicting opinions amongst communities,
but it also connected communities and people in different parts of India.” Support the
statement with examples. [CBSE 2016-17]
Answer:
From the early nineteenth century, there were intense debates around religious issues.
Different interpretations about the beliefs of different religions were given. Print culture
published such ideas which resulted in more participation in public discussions. For example,
there were controversies between social and religious reformers and Hindu orthodoxy over
matters like widow immolation (sati system), monotheism, idolatry. The newspapers
published these controversies in the spoken language of ordinary people.

In North India, The ulama were worried that the colonial rulers would encourage conversion
and change the Muslim personal laws. They, therefore, started cheap lithographic presses.
Islamic doctrines were explained. A number of Muslim sects appeared giving different
interpretation of faith. In all these activities, Urdu print helped them conduct these battles in
public.
Among Hindus, too, print encouraged the reading of religious texts in vernacular languages.
For example, Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas was published from Calcutta in 1810.

Thus, religious texts reached a large number of people and encouraged them to take part in
discussions, debates and controversies. It is, therefore, rightly said that print encouraged the
publication of conflicting opinions among communities. ‘
However, newspapers conveyed news from one place to another, creating pan-Indian
identities. It, therefore, connected communities and people in different parts of India.

Question 25.
Explain the visual culture (picture, calendar and cartoon etc.) in print developed in the 19th
century.
Answer:
By the end of the 19th century, a new visual culture was taking place. It was as
mentioned below :

1. With the setting up an increasing number of printing presses, visual images could be
easily reproduced in multiple copies. Painters like Raja Ravi Varma produced image
for mass circulation. Poor wood engravers who made woodblocks setup shop near the
letter presses and were employed by print shops.
2. Cheap prints and calendars were easily available in the bazaar. These could be bought
even by the poor to decorate the walls of their homes or places of work. These prints
began shaping popular ideas about modernity and tradition, religion and politics and
society and culture.
3. By the 1870s, caricatures and cartoons were published in journals and newspapers,
commenting on social and political issues. Some caricatures ridiculed the educated
Indians’ fascination with the western tastes and clothes, while other expressed the fear
of social change. There were imperial caricatures lampooning nationalists as well as
nationalist cartoons criticising imperial rule.

Question 26.
Describe the attitude of liberal and conservative Indians towards women’s reading.
Answer:
See Textbook Question 3(a).

Question 27.
Write a short note on the folk literature written in Punjab in 20th century.
Answer:

1. In Punjab, folk literature was widely printed from the early 20th century.
2. Ram Chaddha published the best selling Istri Dharm Vichar to teach women how to
be obedient wives.
3. The Khalsa Tract Society published cheap booklets with a similar message as that of
Istri Dharm Vichar.
4. Most of the literature was in the form of dialogue about the qualities of a good
woman.

Question 28.
Write a short note on the Batala publications.
Answer:

1. In Bengal, an entire area in central Calcutta — The Battala — was devoted to the
printing of popular books.
2. Cheap editions of religious tracts and scriptures, as well as literature that was
considered obscene and scandalous was available in Battala.
3. By the late nineteenth century, a lot of these books were being profusely illustrated
with woodcuts and coloured lithographs.
4. Pedlars took the Battala publications to homes, enabling women to read them in their
leisure time.

Question 29.
What was the effect of print on the poor in the 20th century ?
Answer:
With the coming of print, issues of caste discrimination etc. were raised in the late 19th
century by Jyotiba Phule.

1. In the twentieth century, B.R. Ambedkar in Maharashtra and E.V. Ramaswamy

Naicker in Madras, better known as Periyar, wrote on caste and their writings were
read by people all over India.
2. Local protest movements and sects also created a lot of popular journals and tracts
criticising ancient scriptures and envisioning a new and just future.
3. Workers in factories were too overworked and lacked education to write much about
their experiences. But Kashibaba, a Kanpur mill-worken wrote and published Chhote
Aur Bade Ka Sawal, in 1938 to show the link between caste and class exploitation.
4. The poems of another mill-worker wTio wrote under the name of Sudarshan Chakr
were published in a collection Sacchi Kavitayan.
5. By the 1930s, Bangalore cotton millworkers setup libraries to educate themselves,
following the example of Bombay workers. These were sponsored by social reformers
who tried | to restrict excessive drinking among them, to bring literacy and,
sometimes, to propagate the message of nationalism.

Question 30.
How did the Governor-General William Bentinck react to the petition Bled by the editors of
English and Vernacular newspapers ?
Answer:

1. Before 1798, the colonial state under the East India Company was not concerned with
censorship. But its early measures to control printed matter were directed against
English¬men in India who were critical of Company misrule and hated the actions of
particular Company officers.
2. The Company was worried that such criticisms might be used by its critics in England
to attack its trade monopoly in India.
3. By the 1820s, the Calcutta Supreme Court passed certain regulations to control press
freedom and the Company began encouraging publication of newspapers that would
celebrate British rule.
4. In 1835 faced with urgent petitions by editors of English and vernacular newspapers,
Governor-General Bentinck agreed to revise press laws.
5. Thomas Macaulay, a liberal colonial official, formulated new rules that restored the
earlier freedoms.

Question 31.
Critically examine the Vernacular Press Act of 1878.
Or
What steps were taken by the British to curb the freedom of press ?
Answer:
See Textbook Question 2(c).

Question 32.
What was the contribution of print culture in the growth of nationalism in India ? How did
the British attempt to check them ?
Answer:
(1) Nationalist newspapers grew in numbers in all parts of India. They reported on colonial
misrule and encouraged nationalist activities. Government’s attempts to censor nationalist
criticism provoked militant protest. For example, when Punjab revolutionaries were deported
in 1907, Bal Gangadhar Tilak wrote with great sympathy about them in his Kesari. He was
arrested and this provoked widespread nationalist protests. The vernacular press brought
cases of misrule to the notice of the masses.

(2) After the revolt of 1857, the attitude to freedom of the press changed. Enraged
Englishmen demanded a clamp down on the ‘native’ press. As vernacular newspapers
became assertively nationalist, the British government passed the Vernacular Press Act in
1878. It was based on the Irish Press Laws. It provided the government with extensive rights
to censor reports and editorials in the vernacular press.

Question-1
Give a brief description of the first form of print technology.
Solution:
The first form of print technology used wooden blocks which were carved with words or
designs. The carvings were in relief. These wooden blocks were inked. Then paper was
rubbed against it. The markings now made an impression on the paper. The paper was thin
and so printing was done only on one side. The papers were folded and stitched.

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Question-2
How did the urban population use the print media?
Solution:
Merchants used print in their daily life, to update trade information. People stated reading
fiction, poetry, biographies, autobiographies, and romantic plays during their leisure time.
Rich women began to read, and many women began publishing their poetry and plays. Wives
of scholar-officials published their works and courtesans wrote about their lives.
Question-3
When was print technology introduced in Japan?
Solution:
Print technology was introduced in Japan around AD 768-770. Buddhist missionaries from
China introduced hand-printing technology into Japan .The oldest Japanese book, the
Buddhist Diamond Sutra was printed in AD 868. It contained six sheets of text and woodcut
illustrations
Question-4
Who was Marco Polo?
Solution:
Marco Polo was a great explorer. He was in China for many years and he learnt the printing
technology from the Chinese during his years of exploration. He returned to Italy in 1295 and
introduced this new technology.
Question-5
Why did the demand for hand written books diminish?
Solution:
The demand for hand-written books slowly diminished. Copying by hand was expensive,
laborious and time-consuming. These hand written manuscripts were fragile, awkward to