The Five Dynasties refers to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. During this period, the printing industry developed greatly compared with the Tang Dynasty. The printing area was wider, the scale of printing was further expanded, and the quantity also increased significantly. With the development of the book engraving industry, book illustration technology has gradually matured.
The expansion of woodblock printing during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was reflected in the increase in the number of places where books were carved. At that time, Kaifeng, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Jinling, Dunhuang and Fuzhou were the most famous. Kaifeng was the capital of the Liang, Jin, Han, and Zhou dynasties of the Five Dynasties. There was an Imperial College in the capital, and the famous "Nine Classics of the Five Dynasties Prison Edition" was completed here.
In 932, Feng Dao, the Prime Minister of the late Tang Dynasty, first advocated the engraving of Confucian classics. It is said that he saw books printed in the Wu and Shu areas at that time. Although there were many types of books, most of them were calendars used by ordinary people, some popular reading materials and Buddhist scriptures, but there were no Confucian classics. So he wrote to the emperor and asked him to engrave the printing plate of "Nine Classics of the Five Dynasties Prison Edition" based on the text of the Stone Scripture. After getting the emperor's approval, Feng Daorang asked Tian Min, a great scholar at the time, and others to summon the doctorate and Confucian scholars from the Imperial College. According to the scriptures of the "Tang Shi Jing", the best official model at the time, and the annotations of the classic annotations that had been popular since the Six Dynasties, they compiled the classics together. The scriptures, with both notes and annotations, were carefully read and revised by more than six or seven experts and scholars, and then calligraphy masters were asked to write them in regular regular script, and then craftsmen were organized to engrave and print the scriptures.
In this way, from 932 to 953, after 22 years, the "Nine Classics of the Five Dynasties Jianben" were completely completed. At the same time, two auxiliary works, "The Writings of the Five Classics" and "The Writings of the Nine Classics", totaling 130 volumes, were also engraved. This was the beginning of large-scale book engraving by the government.
Two years after the "Nine Classics of the Five Dynasties" was engraved, that is, in 955, the Confucian master Tian Min was ordered to engrave a book on the interpretation of the pronunciation and meaning of the classics, "Classic Interpretation". The "Nine Classics of the Five Dynasties Jianben" engraved in the late Tang Dynasty was later called the "Nine Classics of the Five Dynasties Jianben" because it was printed by the Imperial College. From then on, the term "Jianben" appeared in editions. The publication of the "Nine Classics of the Five Dynasties Jianben" gave ancient scriptures a unified standard version. At that time, it was also allowed to be sold publicly, making the "Nine Classics of the Five Dynasties Jianben" widely circulated, thus playing a certain positive role in the popularization of culture. . At the same time, from then on, book engraving was no longer a matter for private bookshops or monks and Taoist priests, but became a publishing business for the imperial courts of all dynasties, which played a great role in promoting the development of the printing industry in later generations. Due to the imperial court's promotion of the printing industry, more and more private engravings of books by scholar-bureaucrats began. Privately-engraved books are known as "family-engraved editions".
Chengdu, the capital of the Shu Kingdom, was an advanced area for the book engraving industry in the Tang Dynasty, and it was even more prosperous at this time. Because from the late Tang Dynasty to the early Song Dynasty, there had been no major wars here for more than 70 years. Therefore, the economy was developed and the culture was prosperous. People's demand for books was increasing. In addition, hemp paper was abundant and the printing technology was well-established. This provides favorable conditions for the development of the printing industry in the region.
Wu Zhaoyi, the prime minister of Hou Shu at that time, was a pioneer in privately printing a large number of books. He ordered people to engrave the collection of poems and essays "Selected Works" and the related book "Ji Xue Ji", as well as the related book "Bai Shi Liu Tie" compiled by Bai Juyi. Wu Zhaoyi also spent his own money to build a school, engrave the "Nine Classics of the Five Dynasties Prison Edition" and the "Stone Classic of Hou Shu", but they were not all completed. Under his advocacy, the literary style of Later Shu flourished. Wu Zhaoyi indeed made a great contribution to the development of culture and education in Shu.
By the Song Dynasty, the books engraved by the Wu family had been sold throughout the country. Because of this, when Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty destroyed Hou Shu, he spared no effort to the Wu family and ordered all the engravings to be returned to the Wu family. His descendants continued to engage in book engraving and became famous publishers in Chengdu from generation to generation.
In addition, Ren Zhixuan of the former Shu Dynasty saw the advantages of printing, and from 909 to 913, he paid his own money and hired workers in Chengdu to engrave the "Tao De Zhen Jing Guang Sheng Yi" written by the famous Taoist priest and Taoist scholar Du Guangting. "30 volumes, carved into more than 460 plates in five years, and printed to make it widely circulated.
Officially engraved in Chengdu is Tan Yu, a monk from the Shu Kingdom. He collected 1,000 poems by his master, Master Zenyue Guanxiu, and published them in 923 under the title "Collection of Zenyue". These all reflect the development of Chengdu's printing industry during the Five Dynasties, thus laying the technical foundation for the prestigious "Shu Edition" in the Song Dynasty.
The printing industry in Hangzhou, the capital of Wuyue Kingdom, was also quite developed. King Qian Hongchu and monk Yanshou alone printed a large number of Buddhist scriptures, statues, pagodas, and mantras. The number of printed volumes is more than 680,000, which is unprecedented.
The printing technology of Wu Yue Kingdom has also reached a very high level. The printing paper is white, the ink color is uniform, the fonts are clear and pleasing to the eye, and the pictures are exquisite; there are also 20,000 Guanyin images printed on plain silk. Unprecedented, this is the earliest print printed on silk fabric in my country, which reflects the high level of printing technology in Hangzhou.
Later, the Leifeng Pagoda of West Lake built by Huang, Princess of Wuyue Kingdom collapsed, and archaeologists discovered that the Dharani Sutra in Treasure Box Seal was hidden in the bricks of the tower, which was engraved by the Wuyue Kingdom. Simpler door painting. In addition, archaeologists also discovered that there are wood carvings hidden inside the pagoda bricks, engraved with stories about people, which are more detailed than the paintings on the scrolls of the "Dharani Sutra".
During the Five Dynasties period, the famous poet Ren Ning served as an official in various dynasties during the Five Dynasties and reached the high position of prime minister. He was fond of learning, quick-thinking, good at short songs and romantic songs, and especially valued reputation. For this reason, he published 100 volumes of his own collection in his hometown of Shandong and distributed it to friends. His works spread to Kaifeng and Luoyang. He Ning was the first writer to publish his own works. From then on, the trend of printing private collections became popular. In the later Jin Dynasty, Shi Jingtang ordered Taoist Zhang Jianming to engrave and seal Laozi's "Tao Te Ching". It was He Ning who wrote the preface and put it on the front of the volume, so that it could be promulgated throughout the world. Jinling, the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty (now Nanjing), also printed the historical theoretical monograph "Shi Tong" written by Liu Zhiji, a famous historical critic of the Tang Dynasty, and also printed the collection of poems "New Odes of Yutai" compiled by Chen Xuling of the Southern Dynasty.
Dunhuang is located in the remote Hexi area. Cao Yuanzhong, the military governor of the Guiyi Army who was stationed in Dunhuang at that time, asked engravers to engrave various pictures on the leaflet and below in the 10th century. Bodhisattva statues, "Statue of the Great Sage Bishamon" and books such as "Diamond Sutra", "Qie Yun" and "Tang Yun".
Among them, the "Statue of the Great Sage Bishamon", produced in 947, has a compact structure, a prominent center, and carved lines that are strong but not rigid, bold but not rough, simple but not vulgar, and fully expressive. It shows the level of woodblock printing technology in this period. Another woodblock engraving made at the same time as "The Statue of the Great Sage Bishamon", "The Statue of the Great Merciful and Great Compassionate Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva", apart from the simple and concise picture and smooth carvings, its biggest feature is that this painting is marked "Craftsman Lei Yan" Beautifully carved. The name "Lei Yanmei" must be the first person to have the engraver's name engraved in the history of ancient print illustrations.
In addition to the name of Cao Yuanzhong, the Statue of the Great Merciful and Great Compassionate Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and the Diamond Sutra are also printed with the name of Lei Yanmei, the engraver at that time. This is the earliest recorded engraver in ancient history. . These kinds of Buddhist statues and Buddhist scriptures are precious printed materials from the Five Dynasties period that have been handed down so far, indicating the author and the year of the engraving.
Fuzhou is located on the southeast coast. Wang Shenzhi, the king of Fujian at that time, attached great importance to culture and education. The "Geometry of Life" written by his minister Xu Yin was once printed and sold by booksellers. He wrote the poem "My humble poems are only heard of being printed and sold", which shows that there were already bookstores in Fuzhou at that time that made a living by engraving and selling books.
With the development of the book engraving industry, collecting books has become easier than before, so private and national book collections have also increased. According to records, Zhao Kuangning, the military governor of the Later Liang Dynasty, was "very knowledgeable and had a collection of thousands of books." The general of the Later Tang Dynasty had a "good bag of books" in his capital, with 3,000 volumes of books in his home. In the later Zhou Dynasty, Zhang Zhao accumulated tens of thousands of volumes and built a library. Sun Guangxian, a scholar from Jingnan Kingdom, was tireless in learning, well versed in classics and history, and had thousands of volumes of books at home. The three kings of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Li Min, Li Jing, and Li Yu, all bought books and set up education, with "thousands of books in the palace." The children and grandchildren of Qian Liu, the king of Wuyue Kingdom, all believed in Confucianism and loved to collect books. "The family gathered more than ten thousand volumes of Fa Tie books, many in different editions." Therefore, it is said in history that "the collection of books in Jiangnan is the most prosperous in the world."
Thousands of volumes of books appeared during this period, which were very rare during the period of war and war. From one aspect, it reflected the development of the book engraving industry during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The woodcut illustrations from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period are also a feature.
The invention of woodblock printing technology in the Tang Dynasty was actually the beginning of the art of woodblock printmaking. At that time, woodblock printing mainly served religious propaganda, and the great development of religion allowed the printing industry to flourish. As for the woodcut illustrations in literary books and folk books, it was not until the later Five Dynasties period that they gradually received the attention they deserved. Woodblock prints originally belonged to an independent art category, but with the invention and promotion of woodblock printing technology, woodblock prints were printed in books, thus expanding the content and form of books and becoming a highlight in the development of ancient books in my country.
During the Five Dynasties period, due to the input of Indian Buddhist culture, it had a great influence on ancient culture, and this was precisely reflected in the art of book woodcut illustrations.
In fact, woodcut Buddhist paintings are important works of books during the Five Dynasties period. Through the Buddhist paintings in the book, the Buddhist thought of reincarnation and cause and effect is vividly expressed, and the images of Buddha and Bodhisattvas are brought close to human character traits, so as to achieve the purpose of popularizing it among the people.
The illustrations of the book will give people a more intuitive feeling and make it easier to understand the text content of the book. At that time, most religious believers, the so-called "believing women" and "good men", were illiterate. Although they chanted "Sutras" or "Repentance", they could not understand what was written in the Sutras. What's the meaning. However, with illustrations, ordinary believers can at least understand the general meaning of the scriptures. Therefore, when the illustrated version of the scriptures appeared, its new look was immediately welcomed by the majority of believers.