【51Talk-用英语介绍非遗文化】人类非物质文化遗产代表作：中国雕版印刷技艺

人类非物质文化遗产代表作：中国雕版印刷技艺

China engraved block printing technique

Woodblock printing is a great invention of the ancient Chinese people after their long-term practice and study. In Sui Dynasty (about 600 A.D.), people got the inspiration from seals and invented the earliest woodblock printing in human history. Woodblock printing has the title of "Living Fossil" in printing history. The origin of woodblock printing in China is Yangzhou, which is the only city in China that keeps a full set of old woodblock printing process.

雕版印刷是中国古代汉族劳动人民经过长期实践和研究的一项伟大发明。大约在公元600年前后的隋朝，人们从刻印章中得到启发，在人类历史上最早发明了雕版印刷术。雕版印刷在印刷史上有“活化石”之称，扬州是中国雕版印刷术的发源地，是中国国内唯一保存全套古老雕版印刷工艺的城市。

China Engraved Block Printing Technique，a traditional handicraft technique,

includes a series of processes, in which cutting tools are applied to the engraving of characters or patterns on wooden blocks, ink and paper are utilized for printing purpose and the printed book pages are bound into books.

中国雕版印刷技术是一种传统的手工艺技术，它包括一系列工序，在木块上雕刻文字或图案时使用切割工具，印刷时使用油墨和纸，印刷好的书页被装订成册。

The traditional China engraved block printing technique requires the collaboration of half a dozen craftspeople possessed of printing expertise, dexterity and team spirit. The blocks themselves, made from the fine-grained wood of pear or jujube trees, are cut to a thickness of two centimetres and polished with sandpaper to prepare them for engraving. Drafts of the desired images are brushed onto extremely thin paper and scrutinized for errors before they are transferred onto blocks. The inked designs provide a guide for the artisan who cuts the picture or design into the wood, producing raised characters that will eventually apply ink

to paper. First, though, the blocks are tested with red and then blue ink and corrections are made to the carving. Finally, when the block is ready to be used, it is covered with ink and pressed by hand onto paper to print the final image.

传统的中国雕版印刷技术需要六位具有印刷专业知识、技巧和团队精神的工匠的合作。木块本身由梨树或枣树的细木块制成，被切割成两厘米厚，并用砂纸打磨以备雕刻。所需图像的草稿被刷到极薄的纸上，并在转移到块上之前仔细检查是否有错误。墨迹图案为将图片或图案切割到木头中的工匠提供了指导，产生凸起的字符，最终将墨水涂在纸上。不过，首先用红色和蓝色墨水测试砖块，然后对雕刻进行修正。最后，当木块准备好后，它被墨水覆盖并用手压在纸上以打印最终的图像。

Block engraving may be used to print books in a variety of traditional styles, to create modern books with conventional binding, or to reproduce ancient Chinese books. A number of printing workshops continue this handicraft today thanks to the knowledge and skills of the expert artisans.

雕版印刷可以用来印刷各种传统风格的书籍，用传统装帧制作现代书籍，或者复制中国古代书籍。由于专家工匠的知识和技能，许多印刷车间今天继续这种手工艺。

As a conventional mood of information transmission, engraved block printing technique has enjoyed at least 1300 years of history in its making and development in China. This technique has helped accelerate the development of social civilization, and therefore contributed greatly to the human progress. Up till now, the traditional engraved block printing and binding techniques are still seen to be in application in such places as Yangzhou and Nanjing of Jiangsu Province and Dege County of Sichuan Province of China.

雕版印刷技术作为一种传统的信息传递方式，在中国已经有至少1300年的历史。这项技术有助于加速社会文明的发展，因此对人类进步做出了巨大贡献。到目前为止，传统的雕版印刷和装帧技术仍在江苏扬州、南京和四川德格等地得到应用。

The Chinese art of woodblock printing finally received just international recognition when the art form was inscribed on the 2009 UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Prior to this prestigious but