After the invention of papermaking, especially the appearance of plant fiber, people began to use paper as writing material, and the publishing level of books in Song Dynasty reached a new height. Engraving printing prevailed in Song Dynasty, so engraving replaced manuscripts as the main form of book circulation. Song engraving is the best and oldest thread-bound book. Most of his books were written by famous craftsmen, and the books published in the Song Dynasty are also models of later books. The characteristics of the Northern Song edition are: unilateral, white mouth, big characters, lines, strong ink color, sparse and pleasing to the eye. The number of letters in the heart of the edition, with the title in the middle and the name of the publisher below. The font is close to handwriting. Ou Yangxun's calligraphy was used in his early days, and then it became popular in Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan. The paper is symmetrical, bright and tough, yellow and white. Its handwriting is carved by craftsmen, not ancient, and the font is very strange, which is different from Song and Yuan Dynasties. Small print is light ink. Before Jiajing in Ming Dynasty, black mouth prevailed. The font style is inherited from Yuan Dynasty, which is very similar to Yuan Edition. During the Jiajing period, the atmosphere of engraving books changed suddenly. Bai Kouben in the Northern Song Dynasty made a comeback in society. Darkmouth is almost extinct. The layout is similar to that of the Northern Song Dynasty. The font also uses European style and Yan style, but the carving technology is not good, giving people a dull feeling. Paper is fine white cotton paper, white and delicate, with bright ink color. This change is inseparable from the cultural pursuit of the retro movement at that time. In addition, many books in the late Ming Dynasty are engraved with handwriting, and some are engraved with lines and cursive scripts, which are unique.
After Wanli of Ming Dynasty, there were more and more Darkmouth. The font developed into a square font, and the strokes were traditional. Zhu and black overprinter books prevailed in the late Ming Dynasty. Most of these books are white-mouthed, with double columns on the left and right, and there is no boundary in the middle. The font of the text is in Song style, in black and white, with color annotations, which is pleasing to the eye.
Book illustrations are a major feature of the late Ming Dynasty. Mainly involved in novels, operas and other literary and artistic works, beautifully portrayed, vivid lines, with a high aesthetic taste, and developed several major schools, each with its own characteristics. It left a brilliant page in the history of China's books.
Before the Opium War in the Qing Dynasty, the style of the late Ming Dynasty was still used. There are two kinds of lettering in the early Qing Dynasty: soft and hard. The hardware is Fang Bi in the late Ming Dynasty, and the software is handwritten. After Kangxi, the plain and mediocre Pine Nuts was resumed. After the Song Dynasty, book binding was symmetrical in the center of the edition, and then books were glued or stapled. The standard of folding is mainly fish tail, and sometimes a black line is printed on the fish tail as a marking line, which is called elephant trunk. When a book with black lines is bound into a bag back or thread-bound, the book mouth is dark black, so it is called black mouth, in which thick lines are called big black mouth or wide black mouth, and thin lines are called small black mouth or thin black mouth. What is not added is called white mouth.
At the top of the left column of the book ear rack, there is always a small box with the title engraved inside, which is called book ear or ear lattice. Mainly seen in the layout of butterfly clothes in Song Dynasty. Lines and columns printed in red are called Zhu Si columns, and those printed in black are called Wu Si columns. Mainly seen in books written before the Tang Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, workshops specialized in printing stationery of various colors, and ancient books copied on stationery of different colors were usually directly recorded as red squares, Haig squares, blue squares, green squares and so on.
The format style of ancient books has experienced the cycle of continuous innovation, inheritance, re-innovation and regression. A style represents the aesthetic trend of an era, and the culture, spirit and national tradition it conveys are the most precious wealth left to future generations.