Woodblock printing
Woodblock printing: The earliest specimen of woodblock printing is a single-sheet "dharani" sutra in Sanskrit that was printed on hemp paper between 650 and 670 AD; it was unearthed in 1974 from a Tang tomb near Xi'an. A Korean miniature "dharani" Buddhist sutra discovered in 1966, bearing extinct Chinese writing characters used only during the reign of China's only self-ruling empress, Wu Zetian (r. 690–705), is dated no earlier than 704 and preserved in a Silla Korean temple stupa built-in 751. The first printed periodical, the Kaiyuan Za Bao was made available in AD 713. However, the earliest known book printed at regular size is the "Diamond Sutra" made during the Tang Dynasty (618–907), a 5.18 m (17 ft) long scroll which bears the date 868 AD. Joseph Needham and Tsien Tsuen-hsuin write that the cutting and printing techniques used for the delicate calligraphy of the "Diamond Sutra" book are much more advanced and refined than the miniature "Dharani" sutra printed earlier.