#LivingHeritage: Woodblock Printing Delicate strokes, carved onto wood, with ultimate precision. This is woodblock printing, an ancient printing technique that propelled human civilization. As Buddhism prevailed in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), there was a strong need to produce a large amount of Buddhist scriptures, and copying by hand could not meet the rising demand. Ancient Chinese craftsmen thus came up with a novel way to mass produce printed works. Hence came the prototype of w