History

Print Culture and the Modern World

Question:

Trace the history of print in China.
Or
How did China remain a major producer of printed materials for a long time ?
Or
The imperial state in China, was the major producer of printed material.' Support this statement. [CBSE 2014]

Answer:

(i) Hand Printing : The earliest kind of print technology was developed in China, Japan and Korea. This was a system of hand printing. From AD 594 onwards, books in China were printed by rubbing paper – also invented there- against the inked surface of woodblocks. As both sides of the thin, porous sheet could not be printed, the traditional Chinese ‘accordion book' was folded and stitched at the side. Superbly skilled craftsmen could duplicate, with remarkable accuracy, the beauty of calligraphy.
(ii) Major producer : The imperial state in China was, for a very long time, the major producer of printed material. China possessed a huge bureaucratic system which recruited its personnel through civil service examinations. Textbooks for this examination were printed in vast numbers under the sponsorship of the imperial state. From the sixteenth century, the number of examination candidates went up and that increased the volume of print.
(iii) Printing in the 17th century : By the seventeenth century, as urban culture bloomed in China, the uses of print diversified. Print was no longer used just by scholar officials. Merchants used print in their everyday life, as they collected trade information. Reading increasingly became a leisure activity. The new readership preferred fictional narratives, poetry, autobiographies, anthologies of literary masterpieces, and romantic plays. 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.
(iv) Printing in the 19th century : This new reading culture was accompanied by a new technology. Western printing techniques and mechanical presses were imported in the fate nineteenth century as Western powers established their outposts in China. Shanghai became the hub of the new print culture, catering to the Western-style schools. From hand printing there was now a gradual shift to mechanical printing.

previuos
next

Print Culture and the Modern World

Q 1.

What is calligraphy?

Q 2.

How was sale of books promoted in small towns?

Q 3.

Which material was used to print pictures in Japan?

Q 4.

What was print revolution ?

Q 5.

What is manuscript ?

Q 6.

Name any two women novelist of the 19th century.

Q 7.

Who printed the first Tamil book ?

Q 8.

Name the first Weekly that appeared in India. Who bought it out ? (CBSE 2014)

Q 9.

Name the printing presses which published numerous religious texts in vernaculars from the 1880s.

Q 10.

Write about the different innovations in the printing technology during the 19th century ? [CBSE Sept. 2010]

Q 11.

Explain the main features of the first printed Bible. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
Describe any three main features of the first printed Bible. [CBSE 2014]

Q 12.

Describe the issue of caste as taken by the novelists in India. [CBSE 2013]

Q 13.

Who started publishing Sambad Kaumudi from 1821?

Q 14.

Study the given paragraph and answer the following questions that follow :
Liberty of speech…. liberty of the press freedom of association. The government of India is now seeking to crush the three powerful vehicles of expressing and cultivating public opinion. The fight for Swaraj, for Khilafat …. means a fight for this threatened freedom before all else ….'
(i) Who said these words ?

(ii) Name the freedoms he is talking about.

Q 15.

How did printing press create a new- reading public ? Explain. [CBSF. Sept. 2013]
Or
"There was a virtual reading mania in European countries in the 18th century". Explain the factors responsible for this virtual reading mania.

Q 16.

Explain any three features of handwritten manuscripts before the age of print in India. [CBSE Sept. 2010. 2011. 2012. 2013]

Q 17.

Write a brief note on Martin Luther.

Q 18.

Trace the history of print in China.
Or
How did China remain a major producer of printed materials for a long time ?
Or
The imperial state in China, was the major producer of printed material.' Support this statement. [CBSE 2014]

Q 19.

Who developed the first printing press ?

Q 20.

What were Chap books ? (CBSE 2014)

Q 21.

Name two scholars whose writings inspired French people.

Q 22.

Who wrote Istri Dharam Vichar ?

Q 23.

Explain how the print culture assisted the growth of nationalism in India. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]

Q 24.

How had the earliest printing technology developed in the world ? Explain. [CBSE 2012]

Q 25.

Who was Marco Polo ? What was his contribution to print culture ? [CBSE 2013]

Q 26.

Print popularised the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers.' Explain. [CBSE 2014]
Or
How did ideas about science, reason and rationality find their way into popular literature in the 18th century Europe ?  [CBSE Sept. 2010]

Q 27.

Who brought out the first Indian newspaper published in English?

Q 28.

Explain the impact of print culture on Indian women. [CBSE 2009 (O), Sept. 2012]
Or
Explain any three impact of printed books on women in India in the nineteenth century.
[CBSE Sept. 2010]

Q 29.

What was the role of cartoons and caricatures in the French Revolution ?

Q 30.

What were Biliotheque Blue ?

Q 31.

Who was the author of Amar Jiban ?

Q 32.

Who wrote Gulamgiri ? (CBSE 2014)

Q 33.

What was Vernacular Press Act ? (CBSE 2014)

Q 34.

What were the effects of the spread of print culture for poor people in nineteenth century India?

Q 35.

Explain how print culture assisted the growth of nationalism in India.

Q 36.

The shift from handprinting to mechanical printing led to the print revolution.’ Explain.

Q 37.

Give a brief description of the first form of print technology.

Q 38.

Give a brief description of the first form of print technology.

Q 39.

How did the print revolution influence the reading habit of the people of Europe?

Q 40.

Not everyone welcomed the printed books, and those who did also had fears about it.' Explain by giving examples.

Q 41.

How were ideas and information written before the age of print in India ? How did the printing technique begin in India ? Explain. [CBSE 2008, Sept. 2010]
Or
Explain the role of missionaries in the growth of press in India. [CBSE Sept. 2010]

Q 42.

Who were scribes ?

Q 43.

Name the first book published by Johann Guttenbcrg.

Q 44.

Who was Martin Luther ?

Q 45.

Name the first weekly that appeared in India. Who brought it out ? (CBSE 2014)

Q 46.

In north India, the ulama were deeply anxious about the collapse of Muslim dynasties. They feared that colonial rulers would encourage conversion, change the Muslim personal laws. Mention any two steps taken by them to counter this.

Q 47.

’Liberty of speech … liberty of the press … freedom of association. The government of India is now seeking to crush the three powerful vehicles of expressing and cultivating public opinion, the fight for swaraj, for Khilafat … means a fight for this threatened freedom before all else….’
Who said these words ?

Q 48.

Give reasons for the following :
(a) Martin Luther was in favour of print, and spoke out in praise of it.
(b) The Roman Catholic Church began keeping an Index of Prohibited books from the mid-sixteenth century.
(c) Gandhi said the fight for Swaraj is a fight for the liberty of speech, liberty of the press and freedom of association.

Q 49.

Analyse the impact of print revolution on religion. [CJBS £ 2012]

Q 50.

Give reasons for the following:
a) Woodblock print only came to Europe after 1295.
b) Martin Luther was in favour of print and spoke out in praise of it.
c) The Roman Catholic Church began keeping an Index of Prohibited books from the mid-sixteenth century.
d) Gandhi said the fight for Swaraj is a fight for liberty of speech, liberty of the press, and freedom of association.