(1) Books carved or copied in Yuan Dynasty and before.
(2) Books engraved and copied in the Ming Dynasty (except those whose versions are vague and widely circulated).
(3) Printed copies and manuscripts rarely circulated before the Qianlong period in the Qing Dynasty.
(4) Books published by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the peasant revolutionary regimes of past dynasties.
(5) Before the Revolution of 1911, there were manuscripts with original opinions or school characteristics in academic research, or with systematic opinions, as well as rare printed editions and manuscripts.
(6) Manuscripts, rare editions and manuscripts reflecting a certain period, a certain field or an event before the Revolution of 1911.
(7) Before the Revolution of 1911, famous scholars proofread, engraved or copied the printed matter and manuscripts that had been proofread by predecessors and had reference value.
(8) In printing, it can reflect the development of printing technology in China, representing various movable type books, overprint books or block printing with exquisite prints in a certain period.
(9) Printed plates of Ming Dynasty, ancient printed plates of Qing Dynasty and seal cutting by famous artists (with characteristics or handwriting).
On rare books
One: What is a rare book?
The original concept of rare books refers to books that have been strictly collated and have no textual errors.
Han people have said. There is a saying in the biography of kings in the Han Dynasty: "If you get a' good book' from the people, you must write it well and keep it true."
Qu Yan Old News, compiled by Zhu, said: Mu Bochang of the Song Dynasty learned ancient Chinese, but he had to learn Korean and Liu Shanben. He wanted to collect two books for the world, so he carved his own version and buried it in Suoguo Temple. "
Ye Mengde's Misty Rain in the Stone Forest said: "Before the Tang Dynasty, all books were written, and there was no method of stamping. People value books.
There are not many books, but Tibetans are good at collating, so there are often rare books. "
Song people's views on rare books can be summarized as one sentence:
"All books must be refined, and learning is a good book, otherwise it is a vulgar book and a poor book."
The definition of rare books by scholars in Ming and Qing Dynasties is roughly the same as that in Song Dynasty.
Qing-Zhang Zhidong's three criteria for rare books are reasonable.
Zhang Zhidong's Bibliography-Xuan Yu-Linguistic Questions and Answers;
"Rare book is not a new paper book, that is to say, it is a book carved by the ancients for their predecessors, and it is also correct to fine-tune it. Rare books have three meanings:
On the one hand, it is the full version [no shortage of volumes and no deletion], on the other hand, it is the refined version [fine correction].
Third, the old version [old engraving and old copying]. "
Qiantang Ding Bing also put forward four criteria for what is a rare edition:
One is an old block print; The second is the essence; The third is the old copy; The fourth is the old school.
Four cases are slightly complete, but the special issue is more refined than the three meanings marked by Zhang Suo.
Second, the measurement and evaluation criteria of rare books: "three natures" and "nine articles".
Three natures:
1: historical relics.
The so-called historical relics have two meanings:
First, the ancient books were printed and copied earlier, which has the value of historical relics.
Second, ancient books can be used as documentary physical witness of historical figures and events, which has certain commemorative significance.
2. Academic information.
The so-called academic materials refer to manuscripts, manuscripts, manuscripts and printed copies that have been carefully proofread, excavated and annotated by previous generations of scholars. It should also include those ancient books that have unique academic opinions, or have school characteristics, or have systematic opinions, or reflect a certain period, a certain field, a certain person and an event in a concentrated and perfect way.
3. Artistic expression.
The so-called artistic representativeness mainly refers to people who can reflect the invention, development and maturity level of various printing technologies in ancient China; Or binding can reflect the evolution of various binding forms of ancient books in China; Or ancient books with unique paper and excellent printing can reflect the progress of paper-making technology and printing technology in ancient China.
Nine articles:
1: Books carved and copied before Yuan Dynasty. [Including residual leaves and loose leaves]
2. Books carved and copied in the Ming Dynasty. (including residual copies and loose leaves with special value) But the printed copies are vague and the circulation is too large to be accepted.
3. There were few woodcuts and manuscripts before Qianlong in Qing Dynasty.
4. Books published by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the peasant revolutionary regimes of past dynasties.
5. Before the Revolution of 1911, there were manuscripts with original ideas, school characteristics or systematic ideas in academic research, and there were also versions/manuscripts that were rarely circulated.
6. Before the Revolution of 1911, manuscripts reflecting the information of a certain period, a certain field or an event, as well as rarely circulated prints and manuscripts.
7. Before the Revolution of 1911, celebrities and scholars recognized, inscribed or recorded printed copies and manuscripts that were recognized by predecessors and had reference value.
8. In printing, it can reflect the development of ancient printing and represent the technical level of a certain period, such as various movable type paintings, overprint or block printing with fine proofreading prints and illustrations.
9. Generally, it is not acceptable to collect Ming dynasty prints, Qing dynasty ancient prints, famous seal cutting prints and distinctive autographs.
The concept of rare books first appeared in the Song Dynasty, which refers to high-quality printed books. Kindness means good. The original meaning of "rare books" refers to those books with good school publication, good binding, long history, small circulation and academic and historical value. Woodblock books are printed with woodcut characters. Printing was not invented before the Tang Dynasty, and characters were engraved on bamboo slips, silks, paper and sheepskin with a knife and pencil. After the invention of movable type printing in the Tang Dynasty, engraving printing in the Song Dynasty was very developed, and the circulation of books increased greatly. Printing is divided into official engraving and folk engraving. Official engraving is handled by the court, and the quality is good. The quality of folk workshops is uneven, and there are various problems such as binding, missing words, typos, paper and handwriting. Song dynasty is the heyday of seal cutting, so there are versions of good and bad.
Different versions of books have different documents and different collations, so there are whole books and residual books, excellent books and inferior books; Different versions of books appear at different times in the morning and evening, and their rarity is also different, so there are differences between ancient books and modern books, and there are differences between orphans and duplicates. The connotation of rare books has also expanded than before. Later, many scholars summed up the concept of rare books, and finally formed the current universal theory of "three natures" and "nine articles".
The "three characteristics" of rare books mean that books should have high historical relics, academic materials and artistic reproducibility. The "Nine Articles" of rare books mainly include: books engraved and copied before the Yuan Dynasty; Books carved and copied in Ming Dynasty; There were few woodcuts and manuscripts before Qianlong in Qing Dynasty. Books published by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the peasant revolutionary regimes of past dynasties; Before the Revolution of 1911, there were original opinions or manuscripts with school characteristics in academic research, and there were also rare versions and manuscripts. Manuscripts that reflect a certain period, a certain field or an event before the Revolution of 1911, as well as rarely circulated engravings and manuscripts; Before the Revolution of 1911, famous scholars recognized, inscribed or recorded printed copies and transcripts with reference value recognized by predecessors; Printing can reflect the development of ancient printing, all kinds of movable type printed books, overprint printed books or block printed books, with exquisite proofreading prints and illustrations; The printed spectrum of Ming Dynasty, the printed spectrum of ancient collections in Qing Dynasty, famous seal cutting plates and unique calligraphy inscriptions. The lower age limit of rare books is now generally determined in the 60 th year of Qing Qianlong (AD 1795).
China has a civilization history of 6,000 years, which is earlier than that of Egypt and Southwest Asia. As an important symbol of civilization, books keep pace with the development of ancient civilized society in China. From wall stones, Zhong Ding, bamboo slips, letters and slips to paper, they are all spreading civilization and knowledge to the society. However, after years of dynasty changes and natural and man-made disasters, few ancient books can be preserved. Therefore, it is very necessary for collectors of ancient books to understand the definitions of rare books, rare books and rare books. The concept of orphans is relatively clear. Anyone who has only one collection in China but no collection or description is called an orphan in China.
The definition of rare books and rare books has always been a controversial issue among edition appraisers. Teacher Song Xiaoxian once published a paper in 1987, pointing out: "Rare books are rare or precious books, and rare books are books with useful content, excellent proofreading and cultural relics, academic or artistic value."
In Li Zhizhong's view, "rare edition" is a precious, valuable and rare copy of western concepts and vocabulary. In fact, the concept of "rare edition" has replaced the meaning of "rare edition". Books with a long history and handed down from generation to generation are naturally precious. Even if there are obvious words, it is a precious version, and there are examples in ancient and modern China and abroad. Originally, "Jane" is not equal to "goodness", and rare things are not necessarily good, but no one will treat precious things as dirt. This actually combines "Jane" and "goodness".