FUZHOU, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- An academic symposium on woodblock printing opened in Jianyang District, the city of Nanping, east China's Fujian Province Monday.
About 100 experts and scholars from organizations including the Palace Museum, National Museum of China, Fudan University and the University of California Riverside, attended the three-day symposium on Jianyang woodblock printing.
The study of Jianyang woodblock printing can promote traditional Chinese culture and boost international cultural and academic exchanges, said Sun Baolin, curator of China Printing Museum.
As printing originated in China, the joint research by scholars from home and abroad on Jianyang woodblock printing and printing techniques is a concrete step to take Chinese culture to the global stage and boost mutual learning among different cultures, Sun said.
Throughout history, many people had access to books thanks to Jianyang woodblock printing, said Lucille Chia, a professor with the Department of History, University of California Riverside.
She said the digital revolution nowadays also means a new revolution of printing technologies, therefore the study of ancient Chinese printing techniques can give people a more profound perception of the impact of printing on society.
Jianyang is one of ancient China's most important woodblock printing centers. Books printed in Jianyang were sold nationwide and traveled across the sea to places including Japan and Southeast Asia.
