Class 10 History Chapter 5 Question Answers - Print Culture and the Modern World (Deducted from CBSE 2021-22 examination)

Q.1. How was printing culture influenced by the spread of cities and urban culture in China?

Ans. With the rise of towns and a more active urban life, print was used for many more purposes than before. Officials were no longer the only readers of printed material. Merchants used print to collect and share trade information and notices, which helped commerce. As people in towns had more leisure time, a new and larger readership emerged that wanted reading for pleasure. This readership preferred genres such as novels, poetry, autobiographies, romantic plays and anthologies of celebrated works. Women became both readers and writers; many wrote poetry, plays and autobiographical pieces. Wealthy women and courtesans not only read widely but also had their work published, while wives of scholar-officials contributed to the growing printed record of literary and personal writings.

Q.2. Mention some new interesting practices used in Japan.

Ans. From the late eighteenth century, urban culture flourished in cities such as Edo (later Tokyo) and produced distinctive printed forms. Prints and books celebrated the refined, everyday life of the city - showing artists, courtesans and teahouse gatherings. Popular prints (often produced as woodblock prints) depicted subjects such as women, musical instruments, the tea ceremony, flower arrangements, proper social behaviour, cooking and well-known personalities. These images and texts offered an elegant view of urban life. Libraries and bookshops were busy with a wide range of hand‑printed materials that were affordable and in demand among city readers.

Q.3. What did the spread of print culture in the 19th century do to : 

(a) children 

(b) women and

(c) workers in Europe?

Ans.

(a) As primary education became compulsory in the late nineteenth century, children became an important category of readers. Therefore,

1. The production of textbooks grew rapidly because schools needed standardised books for teaching.
2. A specialised children’s press for producing only children’s books was established in France in 1857 to meet growing demand.
3. Children’s publications included fairytales and folktales, often edited to remove material considered unsuitable for young readers. For example, the Grimm brothers collected and edited many village tales before publishing them in 1812.

(b) Women became important as both readers and writers. Special magazines aimed at women were published and these addressed topics such as etiquette and household management. Affordable periodicals like the penny magazines in England taught domestic skills and behaviour. The rise of the novel made women voracious readers, and some of the finest novelists of the period were women - Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters and George Eliot. Their novels often portrayed women who were strong, independent and capable of thoughtful action.

(c) White‑collar workers and the lower middle class became members of lending libraries, which helped them to educate themselves. Shorter working hours in the mid‑nineteenth century gave many workers more time for reading and self‑improvement. They not only read but also began to write, producing political pamphlets, autobiographies and other writings that expressed their views and experiences.

Q.4. Why did the Ulema oppose English culture? What step did they take to counter the impact?

Ans. The collapse of many Muslim dynasties and the expansion of British rule made the Ulema anxious about the influence of English culture. They feared that British rule would alter Muslim personal law and encourage conversions to Christianity. To counter these effects, they turned to print. Cheap lithographic presses enabled them to reproduce religious texts and make them widely available in Persian and Urdu. They also printed religious newspapers, tracts and pamphlets to reach ordinary people. The Deoband Seminary, founded in 1867, became a key institution to preserve Muslim learning and practices; its scholars issued large numbers of fatwas that guided the community to follow traditional Islamic law. Urdu printing in particular helped religious leaders present their arguments in public and to resist English cultural influence.

Q.5. How did Hindu religious texts benefit from printing?

Ans. Printing transformed access to Hindu religious literature in several ways. In 1810 the first printed edition of Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas appeared from Calcutta, and by the mid‑nineteenth century cheap lithographic editions of religious books flooded North Indian markets. Presses such as the Naval Kishore Press of Lucknow and the Shri Venkateshwara Press in Bombay printed numerous vernacular religious books. These printed, portable editions made scriptures easy to carry and read anywhere, increasing readership beyond priests and scholars. Women, in particular, benefited as religious texts reached a much wider circle. The wider circulation of printed religious works also encouraged discussions and debates among different sects and within communities.

Q.6. Give a short sketch of Johann Gutenberg.

Ans. Johann Gutenberg was born in Strassburg in Germany into the family of a merchant. Trained as a goldsmith, he developed skill in working with metals and in making precise moulds. These abilities helped him design and cast individual metal letters, known as movable type. Using these types and a press, he produced books far more quickly than hand copying allowed. His most famous work was the printed Bible, which took several years to produce; he printed about 180 copies of it. Gutenberg’s method of mechanical printing brought about a major change in how books were produced and made possible the wide spread of printed knowledge across Europe.

Johann Gutenberg

Q.7. Discuss the growth of printing presses in Europe from the 15th to the 16th century.

Ans. Between about 1450 and 1550, print culture spread rapidly from Germany to the rest of Europe. Skilled printers travelled in search of work and set up presses in many regions. By 1470, cities such as Rome, France and Holland had active printing houses. The new technology met growing demand from universities, the clergy, merchants and urban readers. In the second half of the fifteenth century roughly 20 million books were produced; by the end of the sixteenth century the number of printed copies had risen dramatically, reaching some 200 million. This expansion made books far more available and affordable, helping to spread literacy, learning and new ideas across Europe.