Detail of 17th century Chinese woodblock illustration showing the 'Nine Needles' (jiu zhen) (see also L0034712 and L0034714). The Nine Needles was the collective term for the needling instruments used ...

is known as the world's earliest printed book. But it wasn't until the late Ming and early Qing dynasties over 300 years ago that Chinese woodblock prints really began to flourish. Whereas more ...

Pretty, but deadly: an illustration of poppies, from which opium comes, from an 18th-century Chinese woodblock printed book Photo: © President and Fellows of Harvard ...