Magazine-Winter-2025 - Flipbook - Page 35
Cultural Convergence in
Movable Type
The physical presence of the movable
types in HKOP further roused Yung’s
curiosity about when and how
Chinese lead types were designed
and made. Due to the nature of the
Chinese language, a set of lead types
viable for printing would require
casting multiples of each of the
3,000-5,000 commonly used
characters, which was no easy
feat. In her research, Yung realized
that the first set of such types was
designed and cast in Hong Kong!
Shortly after the Hong Kong Island
was ceded to the British in 1842, the
London Missionary Society opened the
Anglo-Chinese College to provide the
locals with a faith-based education.
Seeing the need to print the Bible in
Chinese translation, with the help
of local artisans and scholars, the
college successfully cast the first set
of complete and aesthetically unified
Chinese movable types. The endeavor
took more than 20 years.
The pioneering set of types, known
as “Hong Kong Type,” revolutionized
the Chinese publishing and printing
industry in the modern era. The
matrices were sold to different
parts of the world where there was
a need to print Chinese language
newspapers, books and documents.
Yung’s research revealed that the
matrices had been sold to the U.S.,
U.K., the Netherlands, Cuba and
Australia, just to name a few. A
century later, these matrices for
casting the lead types were presumed
lost. During her research trip to the
U.K., Yung ploughed through the
archives of the Oxford University
Press, scrutinizing trade invoices
that might give her clues as to the
whereabouts of these matrices. Her
efforts paid off.
The Old
Testament,
published by
Anglo-Chinese
College, Hong
Kong, 1864–
1865.
Image
courtesy: Hong
Kong Open
Printshop
The original
matrices for
“Hong Kong
Type.”
Image
courtesy: Hong
Kong Open
Printshop
WINTER 2025
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