Disappearing occupation: Lead-type workers enter history with lead-Type Printing

First, the high temperature cast a grain of lead words, put on the shelf, the Sorter and then a grain of pick to pick the desired lead words to clear the sample, this "lead and fire" printing method has continued until the 1980s S. Today, laser and plastic la s make the printing of lead and lead workers write into history. Most of the small pieces of lead are also the exhibits of many printing enterprises. How was the newspaper printed at that time? Our reporter interviewed Mr. Xu zhirong, executive vice president of the Jinan Printing Industry Association.
Deleting a word may affect the full version.
"I have been in the printing system. before 1985, Ji 'Nan was all printed in the form of a lead ." Mr. Xu recalled, "At that time, there were more than three thousand printing plants in Jinan, large and small. Each school had its own printing factory, even primary school ." At that time, there was little investment in the previous set of equipment, but the printing cycle was very slow. Mr. Xu gave a detailed introduction to the printing process at that time.
"You need to cast the words first, and then put the words on the shelf. You can select the words by the sorter. After the words are selected, the samples are printed first, just like printing a sample copy before a newspaper is delivered to a printing factory." Mr. Xu said, "it takes a lot of time and effort to proofread the sample. If you want to delete a few words during the verification, all the leading words will move forward one by one, it's like hitting a domino card. This is a very troublesome thing."
It takes about 300 days to publish a book.
Mr. Xu introduced that the proofreaders should proofread the text and typeset. Generally, three schools are required. A 4-edition newspaper usually requires four typographical workers. One person is responsible for one layout. At that time, the sorters were very skilled, and almost all the leading words could be picked out with close eyes.
Mr. Xu allocated a printing factory of 1970 troops from East China Normal University in 7213. When he first entered the factory, he proofread the paper. "My eyes are exhausted when I stare at the small pencil block all day ."
Mr Xu said that it was very difficult to publish a book at that time. It took about 300 days to print a book, send it to a publishing house, and transport it to a printing factory. It takes about 8 hours to sort newspapers by text.
6 RMB for one month
"I was just working on proofreaders. I had less exposure to lead, and sorters and typographical workers touched lead all day. Lead is harmful to the body, so they have subsidies for toxins, A month is 6 RMB." Mr Xu said that the lead word workers must wash their hands many times. If they do not wash, lead may lead to lead poisoning. At that time, some female comrades who have been engaged in this industry for a long time may suffer from infertility ." Taking into account the special nature of the job type, the State stipulates that male workers are 50 years old and women workers can retire at 45 years old.
At that time, the living standard was low, and the health condition was rarely paid much attention. I was very happy to pay six yuan a month.
Technological innovation has led young people
Since 1985, Wang Xuan invented the laser printing technology and triggered a revolution in the Chinese Printing Industry. Around 1990, almost all printing plants in Jinan have achieved the transformation from the printing of the lead to the laser.
"The technological revolution has made young people the backbone of the printing industry. Many young people who graduated from high school began to learn and use this technology. Some of the 45-year-olds retired, some of them went to the Logistics Department for communications, and some of them went to the binding workshop where technology was not needed, all traffic is diverted."

Chinese character printing:

Live print is one of the greatest inventions in human history. There are three main steps for the printing of movable words: making movable words, formatting and printing. Now the production of the newspaper is still similar to this process. There are a large number of Chinese characters, and the layout is complex and occupies a large area. It takes a lot of time to pick up Chinese characters. It began to be carved and printed in the Sui Dynasty. It was developed and improved by Bi Sheng in the Song Dynasty. It produced movable printing, which was transferred from the Mongols to Europe, it has created excellent conditions for the dissemination and exchange of knowledge across the world.
Bisheng invention movable word printing, future generations and the invention of the wood, copper active word, lead active word, iron active word. 1440 ~ In 1445, the German guundun made the first lead live printing press, which was made of an alloy Consisting of lead, antimony and tin, and began to use the lead alloy casting printing books around 1450.
With the continuous development of the printing industry, the printing press has been improved, occupying a long time in the printing history. Compared with other countries, Chinese Printing has a lot of difficulty-there are too many Chinese characters, the printing factory must first cast a grain of lead at high temperature, placed on the shelf, then, the sorter can pick up the desired type of lead, which is a printing method of "lead and fire. For this typographical printing method, the old editors know that it is not a problem for them to change a word on the clear sample, but if they delete one or more words, it will be troublesome, and The sorters will be busy for several days.