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Book printing

Religious texts

The oldest documents produced by woodblock printing come from East Asia. They date back to the seventh century and contain Buddhist writings. In Buddhism, the copying of texts and motifs is regarded as a good deed through which the faithful can earn religious merit. It was only later that woodblock printing was also used to produce worldly texts. By this method, the contents of an entire page are first cut mirror-reversed into a wooden printing block from which the page is then reproduced.