Ri Xing Type Foundry keeps the material work of Chinese letterpress visible: tiny metal characters are cast, sorted, repaired, and assembled for printing. A working craft survives here amid the shift from movable type to digital layout.
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Each printed Chinese character begins as a small piece of metal with a precise face and a place in an organized system. Ri Xing Type Foundry, founded in 1969, preserves the labor behind that system: casting type, sorting it by character, and repairing the molds that make new pieces possible.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- Ri Xing was founded in 1969 by Chang Hsi-ling.
- The foundry’s work includes type casting, indexing, and repair.
- The foundry began opening to visitors after gaining wider attention in 2008.
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