Gravure carving technology of paper money in Qing dynasty

At that time, there were two kinds of engraving intaglio technology, one was copper intaglio technology and the other was steel intaglio technology. Compared with the two, the steel intaglio is solid in texture, fine in pattern, distinct in layers and resistant to printing. The printed products have clear lines and thick ink layers, which have a particularly unique effect on the expressive force of human heads and landscape paintings. But also is not easy to forge, and has a good anti-counterfeiting function.

The printing bureau is located in Baizhifang outside Xuanwu Gate, Beijing, covering an area of more than 240,000 square meters. Construction started on June 1908. Designed and drawn by our company in Milla, USA, and built by Japanese Huasheng Company. American Laoqi Changyang Company is responsible for purchasing and installing machinery and equipment at a cost of1120,000 silver. At the same time, we also started to set up an organization. The comprehensive office and the deputy office have two offices, namely, Affairs and Works. The production management department of the Ministry of Works consists of five departments: plate making, color making (ink making), printing, finishing and machinery. In addition to printing banknotes, the Qing government also transferred the printing of stamps from the postal department to the printing bureau for printing.

In order to master the engraving technology of steel intaglio, the Qing government hired five American technicians from the United States, including sculptor Hai Qu, to work in the printing bureau to teach the engraving technology of steel intaglio. The establishment of the Banknote Printing Bureau of Du Zhi Branch and the arrival of American technicians such as Haiqu ushered in a new era in the history of banknote printing technology in China.

In the process of preparation, the branch printing bureau is building a factory building and recruiting personnel for technical training. It is particularly worth mentioning that Bi Chennian, Li Fu, Yan Xilin, Wu Jintang and others, who were recruited from Tianjin Official Newspaper Bureau and had studied copper intaglio carving technology from the Japanese, all mastered the steel intaglio carving technology after a period of study and became the first generation of steel intaglio carving technicians in China, which attracted the attention of the printing industry at that time and laid a solid foundation for the further development of China steel intaglio carving technology.

The plate-making and printing equipment of the banknote printing bureau was configured according to the scale and level of the American banknote printing company, which was at the first level in the world at that time. There are mainly universal engraving machines (see figure 13- 12), steel plate printing machines (figure 17- 12) and manual gravure printing machines (figure 17- 13) purchased from the United States. Its complete equipment and advanced technology are unique in China and first-class in the world. By 19 14, the printing bureau was completely built. (color map 17- 14) is a panoramic view of the printing bureau carved by Wu Jintang. The Qing government spared no expense to set up a printing bureau branch, which was undoubtedly a great contribution to the printing industry in China.