Among the first “books” were the ancient scrolls, which were made as early as the 4th millennium BC/BCE. But the earliest printed book in the form that we know now, with pages bound together, is the Diamond Sutra. It’s estimated to have been printed during the Tang Dynasty, around the first century AD/CE, using woodblock printing.

Although there is no exact date known, between 618 and 907 CE —the period of the Tang Dynasty— the first printing of books started in China. [17] [18] The oldest extant printed book is a work of the Diamond Sutra and dates back to 868 CE, during the Tang Dynasty. [17]