A surviving printed book is dated to 868.
The Diamond Sutra is the earliest known complete printed book with a date.
A note at the end of the British Library’s Chinese copy of the Diamond Sutra gives its completion date as 11 May 868. Printers used woodblocks to print seven sheets and joined them into a scroll around five metres long.
Earlier examples of printing survive. The date on this complete copy is what makes it such a useful landmark in the history of books.