Bi Sheng is a peasant and engineering genius living in the capital city of Bianjing. Desperate to be part of the aristocracy, Bi Sheng lies about his class status in order to secure a job as head of the failing Office of Printing. However, when he comes up with the revolutionary idea of movable type, Bi Sheng enters the dangerous world of Song Dynasty politics, where success means everlasting glory, and failure means an untimely death.