A page from one of Hua Sui's books printed in 1490 using metal movable type.

Hua Sui (Traditional Chinese: 華燧; Simplified Chinese:华燧; Hanyu Pinyin: Huá Suì) (1439-1513 AD) was a Chinese scholar and printer of Wuxi, Jiangsu province during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). He belonged to the wealthy Hua family that was renowned throughout the region. Hua Sui is best known for creating China's first metal movable type printing in 1490 AD. Metal movable type printing had been invented in Korea during the earlier 13th century,^a[›] but there is no concrete evidence that suggests Hua Sui's metal type print was influenced by Korean printing.^[1]

Metal movable type printing[link]

Earlier wooden and ceramic types[link]

The Chinese Diamond Sutra, the oldest known printed book in world history (868 AD), using woodblock printing.

Movable type was invented and improved in China centuries before Hua Sui. As written by the polymath Chinese scientist Shen Kuo (1031–1095) of the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), the commoner and artisan Bi Sheng (990-1051) was the first to invent movable type, with his ceramic type invented in the Qing-li reign period (1041–1048).^[2] During the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368 AD), the governmental magistrate and scholar Wang Zhen (fl. 1290-1333) was an early innovator of wooden movable type, as his process improved the speed of typesetting as well.^[3] Much like Bi Sheng experimenting with wooden movable type in the 11th century but finding it unsatisfactory, Wang Zhen also experimented with metal type printing using tin.^[4] Wang Zhen wrote in the book of the Nong Shu (1313 AD):

In more recent times [late 13th century], type has also been made of tin by casting. It is strung on an iron wire, and thus made fast in the columns of the form, in order to print books with it. But none of this type took ink readily, and it made untidy printing in most cases. For that reason they were not used long.^[4]

Thus, Chinese metal type of the 13th century using tin was unsuccessful because it was incompatible with the inking process. Although unsuccessful in Wang Zhen's time, the bronze metal type of Hua Sui in the late 15th century would be used for centuries in China, up until the late 19th century.^[5] Furthermore, a font of tin movable type was successfully employed by a Mr. Tong of Guangdong in the 19th century, who figured out how to make it more compatible with the inking process.^[4]

Metal type of the Ming period[link]

Jiaozi (currency), 11th century paper-printed money from the Song Dynasty.

Hua Sui, who did not become a scholar until about the age of fifty, became interested in printing books.^[6] He had accumulated a sizable fortune, and desired to use that fortune in order to establish the reputation as a printer in the region.^[6] Hua Sui became the first of his familial clan to use his resources in establishing bronze-type printing in 1490. The first book printed in bronze-type in China was the Zhu Chen Zou Yi of that year (housed now in the National Central Library of Taipei, Taiwan), a simple collection of memorials printed in two editions.^[6] The books printed by Hua Sui contain the signature Hui Tong Guan (Studio of Mastery and Comprehension), meaning he had mastered the process of metal movable type printing.^[6] Including the Zhu Chen Zou Yi, published 15 titles using metal type, in a span of about 20 years.^[6]

Family relatives of Hua Sui caught on and engaged in metal type printing as well. Hua Cheng (1438-1514 AD), a distant relative of Sui, an antiquarian, and book-collector, began his own printing studio known as Shang Gu Zhai (Studio for Esteeming Antiquities).^[7] He printed the Bai Chuan Xue Hai of 1501 using metal type, and printed many rare books he obtained in a rapid process thanks to the speed of metal typesetting.^[8] Hua Qian (fl. 1513-1516), a nephew of Hua Sui, was yet another bronze-type printer of the Hua family. His studio signature was Lan Xue Tang (Hall of Orchid and Snow), and his largest printing project was reprinting the old Tang Dynasty encyclopedia of the Yi Wen Lei Ju (1515).^[8] In addition, various members of the Hua family contributed to metal movable type printing, as about 24 book titles using metal type were published between 1490 and 1516.^[8]

There was another prestigious family of Wuxi, Jiangsu province, who engaged in metal type printing. This was the An family, most notably that of An Guo (1481–1534).^[8] However, the An family's printed works came shortly after the Hua family, the latter of whom were supposedly inspired by Shen Kuo's description of Bi Sheng's movable type in the Meng Xi Bi Tan (Dream Pool Essays) of 1088 AD. Yet the process of earthenware movable type and metal movable type are different, as metal movable type required many more complex technical processes of engraving, casting, type-setting, inking, and printing.^[8]

The Bencao on traditional Chinese medicine; printed with woodblock in 1249, Song Dynasty

Bronze type publications were soon after made in the cities of Changzhou, Suzhou, and Nanjing during the 16th century.^[8] Yet the sponsors of printing weren't all described as the works of simply the area's wealthiest local family, as the bronze-type books in Fujian province were developed by truly commercial enterprises.^[8] Chinese writing fonts of different sizes and scope could be jointly owned and invested in by more than one printer in the region.^[8]

In addition to bronze, there were also other metal types used for movable type printing. Lu Shen (1477-1544 AD) once reported in the early 16th century that printers of Changzhou used bronze and lead movable type printing, which could have been separate materials or an alloy mixture of the two.^[4]

The Qing period[link]

During the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), the imperial court had made wooden movable type the official printing method, overseen by the official Jin Jian (d. 1794) who had 253,000 wooden movable type font characters made in 1733.^[9] However, the Qing government also sponsored bronze-type printing, as they crafted 250,000 bronze characters earlier in 1725 to print the Gujin Tushu Jicheng (古今圖書集成, Complete Collection of Illustrations and Writings from the Earliest to Current Times).^[1] The encyclopedia encompassed 5020 volumes in length, as sixty six copies of the encyclopedia were made.^[10] Although the bronze characters were kept safe and deposited in the Wuying Palace, they were all melted down in 1744 in order to forge coin currency.^[10]

Beyond the imperial court, there were many small private industries and individual sponsors of printing during the Qing period.^[5] Chui-Li-Ge of Changshu was known to have printed a large literary collection of his in 1686 AD.^[10] The Manchu military officer Wu-Long-A printed a collection of imperial edicts while stationed in Taiwan in the year 1807.^[10] The Chinese character font of some 400,000 bronze characters made by Lin Chun Qi took twenty one years to make, from 1825 until 1846.^[4] The total cost for the endeavor was 200,000 silver teals.^[4] These characters were used to print a variety of different books, including treatises on phonology, medicine, and military strategy, and it is possible his same character font was used by the later Wu Chongjun of Hangzhou when he printed two other works in 1852.^[4]

Process and methods[link]

A revolving table typecase with individual movable type characters arranged primarily by rhyming scheme, from Wang Zhen's book of agriculture, published 1313 CE.

For creating movable type font characters, the Chinese employed both methods of either casting moulds or individually engraving characters.^[11] Casting was favored over the long and laborious process of cutting individual characters of bronze, which may have been a simple task with the material of wood, but not as economically feasible with metal that could be simply cast instead.^[12] However, for traditional Chinese metal movable type printing, some records of the 18th century indicate that individual engraving and cutting was used as well.^[13] While creating new books using movable type, ink was applied to a plate and rubbed with paper as seen in woodblock printing.^[13] Then there was the process of assembling and setting the type, and ultimately distributing it, which necessitated at least a small level of division of labor.^[13] In fact, there are books printed in the Ming and Qing periods that designated the lists of workers who contributed to the printing, publication, and distribution of the books themselves.^[13] The bronze-type edition of the Song Dynasty encyclopedia Tai Ping Yu Lan printed in 1547 AD, in the city of Jianyang, described how two persons were responsible for typesetting while two others were in charge of the actual printing.^[13] For books that do not indicate in the initial pages whether they were printed using movable type instead of woodblock printing, there are definite signs that can be examined to deduce which method was used. Misprints, misalignment of characters, and uneven spacing are the distinct mark of many movable type editions from the time of Hua Sui.^[14] However, as time progressed and the works of printers such as Hua Jian, An Guo, and others were made, steps were made to perfect the process and thus making it harder to differentiate between woodblock printing editions and movable type editions (unless noted in the text).^[14]

See also[link]

• History of western typography
• Johannes Gutenberg
• List of Chinese inventions
• Technology of the Song Dynasty

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Part 1. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd.

This article is an orphan, as few or no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; suggestions may be available. (February 2009)

For the Chinese beach volleyball player with the same name see Li Hua (volleyball)

Li Hua (Simplified Chinese: 李桦; March 6, 1907 – May 5, 1994), a Chinese woodcut artist and communist known for his participation in left-wing activities, was born in Panyu, Guangdong. He graduated from the Municipal Guangzhou Art School in 1926 and remained there as a teacher.^[1] In 1930, Li went to Japan to study fine arts at Kawabata ga gakkō (川端画学校^?, "Kawabata Art School") in Tokyo.^[2]

Li returned to Guangzhou in 1932, after the Mukden Incident broke out, and served once again as a teacher at the art school where he had studied. At that time, he began to learn woodcutting art. He was influenced by Lu Xun who regarded him as one of the most promising woodcut artists of his generation.^[3] In June 1934, Li founded the Modern Woodcut Society at the Guangzhou Art School with an initial membership of 27.^[3][4] He produced many woodcuts to protest against the invasion by the Japanese army and the decaying government that was led by Chiang Kai-shek. One of Li's notable woodcut series was Raging Tide from 1947.^[5] In 1950, he became a professor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and continued his artistic creations. Despite Li not officially joining the Communist Party of China until 1953, his work had been associated with the leftist cause for many years.^[3] Li died in Beijing at the Peking Union Medical Hospital in 1994.

Selected publications[link]

• Li Hua; Chen Yousheng (Editor), Zuo Boyang (Translator) (1995). Chinese Woodcuts. Foreign Languages Press. ISBN 978-7-119-00388-7. 

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Xiaobing Tang (2007). Origins of the Chinese Avant-Garde: The Modern Woodcut Movement. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24909-7. 

External links[link]

• Modern Chinese Woodblock Prints & Revolutionary Art
• Fleeing Refugees (1944), Li Hua
• Struggle (c. 1946), Li Hua print from his Raging Tide series
• Arise (c. 1947), Li Hua print from his Raging Tide series
• Efforts to Accelerate the Four Modernizations 为加速实现四化而努力 (1958)

This article about a Chinese artist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Sun Nan born February 18, 1969) is a famous pop singer from mainland China. He is a native of Dalian.

He is one of the most popular artists from mainland China.

Career[link]

In the 1990s he was considered a frontline singer in the Beijing music scene.^[1] He came to prominence after 2002.

In 2008, Sun was chosen to sing one of the Olympic songs, Forever Friends opposite Coco Lee.

Discography[link]

• 1990: Curved moon (弯弯的月亮)
• 1993: We're all sad people (我们都是伤心人)
• 1995: Life after life (生生世世)
• 1997: Understanding (认识孙楠)
• 1998: Go there and be healed (不见不散)
• 1999: Aurora (南极光)
• 2001: Marvellous nan (楠得精彩)
• 2002: Heaven's destiny (缘份的天空)
• 2003: Dì yī nán zhǔjiǎo (第一楠主角)
• 2004: Burning fire (燃烧)
• 2005: It's forgotten (忘不了你)
• 2009: Happiness (痛快)
• 2011: SUN-NAN2011 (第一楠主角2011)

Famous concerts[link]

• Marvellous nan tour (2001)
  • Concert in Changchun
  • Concert in Dalian
  • Concert in Shanghai
• Nan era music festival (2009)
  • Concert in Beijing
  • Concert in Wuxi
  • Concert in Shenzhen

External links[link]

YouTube videos:

     singing in English with other pop singers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KecXl82ZdHY
     Endless Love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqHz8fUieRQ

References[link]

This article on a Chinese singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

Xie Ai (謝艾) (died 354) was a general for the Chinese state Former Liang who served under Zhang Chonghua.

Xie Ai was initially regarded as only capable in civilian matters, and apparently served as a civilian official during the rule of Zhang Chonghua's father Zhang Jun. In 346, in light of Zhang Jun's death and succession by Zhang Chonghua, Later Zhao launched a major attack against Former Liang, with intent to destroy Former Liang. Under the recommendation of the general Zhang Chen (張耽), who knew of Xie's capabilities in military strategy, Zhang Chonghua made Xie a general and had him face the Later Zhao forces commanded by Wang Zhuo (王擢) and Ma Qiu (麻秋). After an initial victory later in 346, Zhang Chonghua created Xie the Count of Fulu. In 347, as Ma sieged the important city Fuhan (枹罕, in modern Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu), Zhang Chonghua sent Xie to try to relieve the city. As Xie arrived at the frontline, he was seen wearing a white cap and riding in a wagon—making him appear to be a civilian—and Ma felt insulted that Xie apparently did not consider his siege an emergency. He sent some elite soldiers to make an attack against Xie, but Xie calmly responded, and Ma's elite soldiers thought they were getting into a trap and stopped their advance. Meanwhile, an army sent by Xie had already gone behind them and started an attack. Xie then advanced as well and dealt Ma a great loss. In the fall, Ma attacked Former Liang again and was again repelled by Xie. (However, Xie's victories appeared to be insufficient for Former Liang to regain the territories lost in the initial Later Zhao attack, south of the Yellow River.)

Several years later, due to defamations by Zhang Chonghua's attendants Zhao Zhang (趙長) and Wei Ji (尉緝), Zhang Chonghua sent Xie out of the capital to be the governor of Jiuquan Commandery (酒泉, roughly modern Jiuquan, Gansu). However, when Zhang Chonghua grew gravely ill in 353, he tried to recall Xie to be regent for his son and heir Zhang Yaoling. The order, however, was intercepted by Zhao and Zhang Chonghua's brother Zhang Zuo and not announced. Zhang Chonghua soon died and was succeeded by Zhang Yaoling, but real power was in Zhang Zuo's hands. In early 354, Zhang Zuo, with the support of Zhang Chonghua's mother Princess Dowager Ma (with whom he had an affair), formally took over as ruler, and he, still bearing grudge against Xie for having earlier warned Zhang Chonghua about his treachery, had Xie put to death.

Jacelyn Tay (Chinese: 郑秀珍; pinyin: Zhèng Xiùzhēn) was born on June 12, 1975 in Singapore. She was a prefect in primary school and later became a rugby player.^{[citation needed]}

In 1995, while in her freshman year at the National University of Singapore Arts Faculty, she entered the 4th bi-annual Star Search Competition organised by MediaCorp (Chinese: 新传媒; pinyin: Xīn Chuánméi). She won the female category of the competitions and the top prize of an acting contract.

She soon discovered that she enjoyed acting and decided to quit her studies. The first few years with MediaCorp were tough for her because despite the fact that she was given lead roles in several drama serials, she was very much snubbed by the audiences.

Tay finally got her big break when she replaced Phyllis Quek for the role of He Xiangu in the TV series Legends of the Eight Immortals in 1998. Her popularity soared and as a result for her acting in this series, she received her first Star Award in the Top 10 Most Popular Female Artiste category.

As one of the leading stars of MediaCorp, Tay's features make her an ideal candidate for both period and contemporary roles. In the Wuxia drama, The Legendary Swordsman, an adaptation of Louis Cha's The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, she played one of her more challenging roles as Dongfang Bubai.

She has acted in various roles ranging from a girl-next-door, to a member of a hotel staff to a psychiatrist. Tay's screen performances in period dramas were so well-received that she won the coveted award of Taiwan's Most Popular MediaCorp Female Artiste in Star Awards 1999.

Another of Tay's many talents is singing. She recorded a few songs for drama serials in which she was starring, including "Love Me, Love Me Not (Singapore TV series)", which was a radio chart-stopper on Singapore's popular 93.3FM. It was also used as an intermediate song in another of her dramas, "Da jiu dian" (English title: The Hotel). Tay also has a compilation album for MediaCorp Music along with the rest of the MediaCorp artists.

When it seemed that her success had no bounds, a twist of fate took away almost all that she had worked for. She was forced to declare bankruptcy after owing $300,000 to stockbroking firm. This event tarnished her image and made many sponsors shy away from her. Instead of letting this get the better of her, she worked hard to put her finances back in order.

She went on to produce a magazine show, write 2 books and hosted a health and beauty show entitled A New You in 2005.

As of 2006, she became the founder & current chief executive of The Health Club, a medical spa that holds the vision of restoring the body’s natural ability to heal itself and bringing health to greater heights.

Jacelyn is also majoring in a course in Nutrition.

Jacelyn is fluent in many languages including Mandarin, English, Hokkien and Cantonese.

Jacelyn married business man and former MediaCorp VP of Sales Brian Wong on 10/10/10 at the Pan Pacific Singapore with some 560 guests witnessing the marriage. A mystery video was aired to all present, bringing tears of joy to some of the guests. More photos can be viewed at http://superadrianme.com/2010/10/10/101010-jacelyn-tay-brian-wong-celebrity-wedding/. The mystery video may also be viewed at http://superadrianme.com/2010/10/12/jacelyn-tay-brian-wong-wedding-video/.

She made her TV comeback in 2012 where she played a lawyer, Alice in Pillow Talk opposite Thomas Ong and Michelle Chia. Tay also announced plans to film one drama series per year.

Filmography[link]

Drama Series[link]

• 1995
  • Tales Of The Third Kind 第三类剧场
• 1996
  • Tofu Street 豆腐街 (Bai Shui Xian)
  • Triad Justice 飞跃珍珠坊
  • My Destiny With You 缘来是你
  • Tales of the city II 都市奇情II
  • Telemovie: Spirit On Wheels 电视电影:鬼德士
  • Life On The Run 魂断四面佛
  • Living By Night 都是夜归人 (Fan Zi Yun)
• 1997
  • The Choice Partner 错爱今生
  • The Guest People 客家之歌
  • Dreams 七个梦
• 1998
  • Legend Of The Eight Immortals 东游记 (He Xian Gu)
• 1999
  • Are You My Brother? 错体双宝
  • Coupe De Scorpion 天蝎行动
• 2000
  • The Legendary Swordsman 笑傲江湖 (Dongfang Bubai)
  • The Voices Within 心灵物语 (Janice)
• 2001
  • Love Me, Love Me Not 真爱无敌
  • The Hotel 大酒店 (Rainbow)
  • Master Swordsman Lu Xiaofeng 陸小鳳之決戰前後
• 2002
  • The Wing Of Desire 天使的诱惑
  • The Money Game 金钱本色
• 2003
  • After School 放学后 (Lin Yi Fang)
  • Romance De Amour 一加一等于三
  • Love Is Beautiful 美丽家庭
• 2004
  • The Ties That Bind 家财万贯
  • You Are The One 二分之一缘分 (Telecast in February 2005)
• 2005
  • Love Concierge 爱的掌门人 (Louise Jiang Ru Yi)
• 2012
  • Pillow Talk 再见单人床

Variety Shows[link]

• 2009
  • CelebriTEA Break II (Guest)

Books[link]

• Makeup For Asian Women (Times Editions - Marshall Cavendish, June 10, 2005) ISBN 981-261-079-0
• Feel Good, Look Good with Jacelyn (Lee Mei Lin, Editor, Times Editions, Singapore, July 1, 2004) ISBN 981-232-816-5

Album[link]

• Love, No Boundaries (2001, Compilation) (<爱,无国界>合辑 : <收获> 单曲)

Awards[link]

Star Awards[link]

• 1996
  • Best Newcomer Award Nomination

• 1997
  • Top 20 Most Popular Female Artistes

• 1998
  • Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes

• 1999
  • Top 20 Most Popular Female Artistes

• 2000
  • Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes

• 2001
  • Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes

• 2002
  • Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes
  • Best Actress Nomination (Wings of Desire)
  • Most Popular Female Artiste (Malaysia) Nomination

• 2003
  • Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes
  • Best Actress Nomination (Romance De Amour)
  • Most Popular Female Artiste (Malaysia) Nomination

• 2004
  • Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes

• 2005
  • Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes
  • Best Actress Nomination (You Are The One)

• 2006
  • Top 14 Most Popular Female Artistes
  • Best Actress Nomination (Love Concierge)

External links[link]

• Jacelyn Tay's website
• MediaCorp's Celeb Bio for Jacelyn Tay
• Ba Xian Guo Hai: the Eight Immortals Cross the Sea
• Eyes on Jace
• Review of Feel Good, Look Good with Jacelyn
• The Health Club