In ancient China, because when writing, the left hand holds the Jane and the right hand writes, which is usually a single line, in order to facilitate the left hand to hold the Jane, the blank Jane was placed on the left. After writing a short message, I will push it to the right one by one with my left hand and line up.
In this case, the first written note is always on the far right, and then from right to left, the note held by the left hand is upright, while the slender thing held by the average person is perpendicular to the finger; So the lines of Chinese characters become from top to bottom, from right to left.
Bamboo slips and wooden slips are bamboo pieces and wood chips used for writing and recording in ancient times. Bamboo slips were popular from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties, probably in the Yin and Shang Dynasties. At present, the earliest unearthed bamboo slips were unearthed in the tomb of Zeng Houyi in the early Warring States Period in Suizhou, Hubei Province, and can last until the Wei and Jin Dynasties at the latest. Bamboo slips written in Tibetan, Xixia and other minority languages have been found in the tombs of Tang and Song Dynasties in northwest China.
The contents of ancient bamboo slips books are very extensive, including official documents and archives, private letters, copies of books, calendars and volumes dedicated to funerals. It has high historical value and is also a very precious calligraphy ink. Their discovery and research is one of the important achievements of modern academic circles.
These notes are copied from each note, and the number of words written varies according to the length of the note. There is also a kind of Jane, about two centimeters wide, and two lines are copied on each Jane, which is called "two lines" for short. Bamboo slips are generally woven with silk or hemp rope, first woven and then written. The place where the silk rope passes is empty and there is no writing.
Due to the complexity of making bamboo slips and wooden slips, the limited number of words and the inconvenience of carrying them, silk and silk books became important writing materials in Qin and Han Dynasties. Books written in silk are called silk books. Later, with the continuous progress of papermaking, bamboo slips and silk books were gradually abandoned, and paper eventually became the mainstream material for writing.