Francesca Tarocco: The Woman Who Discovered Printing

“Written in beautiful prose, this important book is about Wu Zetian (625-705 CE), the only woman to rule as emperor of China. It brings readers to the historical context of seventh century China and the revolution in printing that occurred during Wu's rule. It compellingly describes the many reasons behind Wu's deliberate and sophisticated use of Buddhist materials before and after declaring herself ruler of the Zhou dynasty in 690 and argues that her vision was key to developing a technology that allowed the mechanical reproduction of texts on a massive scale. Because she was a woman, those in authority ignored the technology for a full two centuries after her death. The author of The Woman who Discovered Printing is T. H. Barrett, a wonderfully erudite leading scholar of medieval China. He asks a set of important questions -- "Why is early Chinese printing so little acknowledged, despite anticipating Gutenberg by centuries? Why are the religious elements of all early printing overlooked? And why did printing in China not have the immediate obvious impact it did in Europe?”