CBSE Class 10 History Chapter 5 Notes - Print Culture and The Modern World PDF

Revision Notes
Class 10 History
Chapter 5 - Print Culture and The Modern World
More than 5,500 years ago, people started writing. However, it took time and
effort to write manually or inscribe on materials like stone, leather, etc. So for a
long time, ideas and knowledge were spread orally among the masses.
It was only after the invention of printing that ideas started to travel faster.
Books, newspapers, historical documents, autobiographies, scientific
documents, etc., contributed tremendously to the world's progress.
Your NCERT Class 10 Social Science History Chapter 5 talks about how
printing technology came into being and how the print culture shaped society,
ideas, and knowledge.
Printing In China:
● Although the Sumerian civilizations used some primary forms of printing,
China is considered the birthplace of printing. Woodblock printing first
originated in this country.
● In China, woodblock printing started from 594 AD onwards. And when the
Tang Dynasty came to power in 618 AD, the emperors immensely helped in the
progress of woodblock printing.
Printing In Japan:
● In Japan, the Chinese missionaries propagated the art of printing to spread
Buddhism. This is how hand printing technology came to Japan from 768 AD
onwards.
● Diamond Sutra is regarded as the earliest known printed Japanese book. This
book is regarded as the world’s oldest printed book. It was dated May 11, 868
AD.
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Printing In Europe:
● As you have read previously, China supplied Silk materials to Europe. The
route through which the traders of China met buyers of the West and vice versa
is known as the Silk Route.
● It is through this same route the Chinese paper traveled to Europe. Before
this, in Europe, Vellum or animal skin was used to write on. But it was
expensive and catered only to the aristocrats.
● In 1925, painting was brought back to Italy by Marco Polo's knowledge but
the cost of painting decreased as woodblock printing spread in Italy.
Gutenberg:
● The invention of woodblock could only help printing in a limited way. As the
demand increased, the woodblock printing proved incapable of handling too
much load. This is where Johannes Gutenberg came into the scene in the 15th
century.
Gutenberg, who grew up in an agricultural estate, saw how the grapes and
olives were pressed to extract the liquids. He became a goldsmith and used to
create lead moulds to produce trinkets of his desired shape.
Gutenberg drew inspiration from the above two works and made the world’s
first printing press. He -
● Used moulds to make metals resembling the alphabet.
● Used a press similar to olive press to press the paper against the inked metal
types.
There are reasons why Gutenberg’s printing press is known as a revolutionary

invention:
● The woodblocks were not moveable, and hence printing with them was
inefficient.
● It took too much time to make the wooden block itself. Thirdly, the wooden
blocks were not so durable. Gutenberg used metal as opposed to wooden blocks.
These metal-made alphabets were moveable, so one can use the same set of
alphabets to print various sentences.

● Gutenberg’s printing press brought about the print revolution. Later in the
16th century, 200 million copies of printed books were in circulation.
The Print Revolution:
There was no internet, smartphones, or laptops in the 16th century. Books

became the medium for spreading ideas and knowledge.
● More books came into the market when the cost of the books was reduced.
● A new reading public emerged who had to rely on oral methods earlier to get
new ideas and knowledge.
● To make the books popular even to illiterate people, the printers heavily relied
on illustrations that would attract these people. Then these books were read
aloud so that the illiterate people could know what was written in the book.
● The Religious Implications the book talks about how the Church was against
printing any and every idea under the sun. But let us go a little back in time -
● Vejas Liulevicius informs us that Gutenberg was a clever businessman. He

approached the Roman Catholic Church to show how his printing press can
propagate the teachings and instructions of the Church. So, in the beginning, the
printing press and the Church were friends.
● It was only after the death of Gutenberg that the printing press started to be
used by the Protestants like Martin Luther.
● The Roman Catholic Church later concluded that low-cost printed books
would spread anti-Christian ideas and undermine the authority of the Church.
Readership Increased in the 17th and 18th Century:
● As literacy increased in the 17th and 18th century the number of readers
skyrocketed. Many schools were set up. So the demand for children’s books
also increased.
● From this period onwards, we see that many different types of books started
emerging. There were chapbooks - which were highly cheap books meant for
poor people.

● Periodicals too came into existence during this time. Scientific documents
started getting printed, and many other scientifically minded people got access
to these documents. Similar was the case for philosophical and political books.
Revolution and Print:
● The printed books spread progressive ideas across Europe. Thanks to people
like Voltaire and Rousseau, people started questioning. They started wondering
if the emperors were divinely blessed.
● People learned to use reason and logic. They stopped believing what the kings
or the Church said. The spread of revolutionary ideals is through books acted as
a catalyst for the French Revolution and the later nationalistic revolutions.
● Yes, the Church also spread propaganda through printed books, but the people
had already learned to take everything with a grain of salt.
● As time progressed, print technology became more advanced. Richard Hoe

made the rotary printing press efficient. He employed four cylinders - one for
the type and 3 fed the paper in the kind. This made printing 8000 sheets of
paper per hour possible. Balck and white print gave way to colored print.
Print In India:
● Before the print culture came to India, Indians leveraged manuscripts. These
manuscripts were mainly made of palm leaves.
● The printing press was bought by the Portuguese Missionaries to India (Goa).
● The English printing press was late to emerge.
● Indians, too, started printing newspapers like the Bengal Gazette.
● Vernacular newspapers appeared, such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy's Samvad

Kamudi, Persian newspaper Shamsul Akhbar, Gujarati language newspaper
Bombay Samachar.
● Here too, orthodox Hindu and Muslim leaders published propagandist

materials.
● Holy religious texts like Ramcharit Manas came out in the printed form.

● Cartoons and caricatures in newspapers are not a modern phenomenon. From
1870 onwards, newspapers carried satirical cartoons.
● Women, too, were encouraged to read by their liberal fathers or husbands. In

orthodox households, they secretly learned to read. Many books meant for
women readers came up. However, some of these books were about women and
not necessarily for women.
● Inexpensive, printed books catered to poor people.

● People like Jyotiba Phule, B.R Ambedkar published books on social issues.
Muffling the Print:

● During the initial years, the company silenced people like Hickey, who
criticized the company’s way of work. After the Sepoy Mutiny, the British
started censoring the Indian newspapers and radical books.
● In 1878, the draconian Vernacular Press Act was passed that seriously
undermined press freedom. The more the British tried to silence the nationalistic
press, the more nationalistic newspapers and books came out.
● For example, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, during this time, wrote Kesari to voice the
Indian Nationalist Movement.
Important Question and Answers

1. Why did people in Europe welcome the print culture?
Ans: ● The print culture helped in the spread of books that talked about
revolutionary ideals. For example, Rousseau’s Social Contract spoke about the
radical view that the government could govern only after the consent of the
governed.
● These kinds of revolutionary ideas were hitherto unforeseen. They forced
people to think, use logic. They made people realise that there was nothing
divine about the kings and queens of Europe.
● These books talked about liberty and equality for all. So the people of Europe
welcomed the print culture because it aimed to attack dictatorship and
monarchy.

2. Why were some people not happy with the easy availability of printed
books?
Ans: ● The Church thought that the easy availability of cheap books would
result in the proliferation of irreligious ideas that would result in the people not
listening to the clergy's sermons.
● These cheap books were written in colloquial language. So the general people
who did not know Latin could also read these books. This could undermine the
authority of the Church.
● In India, the British were not happy with the printed books that propagated the
idea of nationalism. So when Bal Gangadhar Tilak wrote Kesari in support of
the Punjabi nationalist, he was jailed.
3. Write a brief note on the Gutenberg Press.

Ans: ● As the wooden block printing technique came to Italy (and Europe),
thanks to Marco Polo, many books were published, and people started buying
more and more books. But the block printing technology could not handle so
much demand. Gutenberg took inspiration from wine and olive press and lead
mold.
● He created a movable type with the help of mold and employed the technique
used in the olive press to print by pressing a paper against the metallic and
movable type. Since the alphabets of the kind were movable, he could use the
same type to print various sentences. And the metallic type was durable too.
● Gutenberg’s printing press brought about a print revolution across the world.
Other materials and books could be printed quickly. The printing press helped
spread new ideas among the masses.
4. What was the theme of the earliest dated book, Diamond Sutra?
Ans: ● The Smithsonian Magazine informs us that the Diamond Sutra was a
book containing Buddhist sacred texts. As the Diamond cuts through even the
most complex materials, these Buddhist Sutras are meant to cut the curtain of
illusion.

● The book, as Buddhanet explains, is all about the concept of ‘not dwelling’ or
the attainment of Prajna Paramita.
5. How did the print and the oral culture intermingle?

Ans: ● After Gutenberg came up with the printing press in the 15th century,
printed materials became quite popular. However, there were thousands upon
thousands of illiterates during that time who could not read. So, to make the
printed books appealing to them, the books incorporated many illustrations that
resonated with them.
● Once they got interested in the books, the contents were read loudly to let
them know what was written. Thus, the oral tradition helped propagate the print
culture, and one complemented the other.

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Revision Notes

Class X Social Science www.vedantu.com 1

There are reasons why Gutenberg’s printing press is known as a revolutionary

Class X Social Science www.vedantu.com 2

The Print Revolution:

There was no internet, smartphones, or laptops in the 16th century. Books

● Vejas Liulevicius informs us that Gutenberg was a clever businessman. He

Readership Increased in the 17th and 18th Century:

Class X Social Science www.vedantu.com 3

Revolution and Print:

● As time progressed, print technology became more advanced. Richard Hoe

● The English printing press was late to emerge.

● Indians, too, started printing newspapers like the Bengal Gazette.

● Vernacular newspapers appeared, such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy's Samvad

● Here too, orthodox Hindu and Muslim leaders published propagandist

Class X Social Science www.vedantu.com 4

● Women, too, were encouraged to read by their liberal fathers or husbands. In

● Inexpensive, printed books catered to poor people.

Muffling the Print:

Important Question and Answers

Class X Social Science www.vedantu.com 5

3. Write a brief note on the Gutenberg Press.

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5. How did the print and the oral culture intermingle?

Class X Social Science www.vedantu.com 7

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