A copy of the Diamond Sutra was printed in Tang-dynasty China, making it the world's oldest dated printed book.
Diamond Sutra
The Diamond Sutra is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sutra from the genre of Prajñāpāramitā sutras. Translated into a variety of languages over a broad geographic range, the Diamond Sūtra is one of the most influential Mahayana sutras in East Asia, and it is particularly prominent within the Chan tradition, along with the Heart Sutra.
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty, or the Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilisation, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Tang territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivalled that of the Han dynasty.