First of all, it introduces simple books, golden carvings, stone carvings and silk books.
According to the order of appearance, there are simple strategies first, then golden and stone carvings, then silk, and finally paper. These forms have the characteristics and functions of books.
① Simplified Book: Also known as Jane Eyre, it can be said to be the earliest book in China. Jane is a bamboo, similar to a page of a book. You can usually write a line of Chinese characters. The "strategy" is to weave multiple bamboos into a book with thread or cowhide. In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the pictograph of "book" is to connect many pieces of bamboo together, just like a book today. The main materials for connecting bamboo pieces are hemp rope and cowhide rope. What is connected by cowhide rope is called "weft knitting", so there is an idiom called "three unique skills of weft knitting". According to the records of pre-Qin classics, this kind of simplified book appeared in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, because there is a written record in Shangshu that "only the ancestors of Yin Dynasty have records and classics", but it has not been confirmed by archaeological findings so far. Simple strategy is difficult to preserve, so the simple strategy of Shang Dynasty has not been handed down. Jane's size varies from dynasty to dynasty. The writing method of bamboo slips was originally lacquer book, that is, writing on bamboo slips with lacquer. Later, I switched to graphite, and later Qin Mengtian invented the writing brush. After the Qin dynasty, there was a simple writing strategy with brush. The biggest drawback of Jane Eyre's books is their large size. According to historical records, Qin Shihuang read official documents 150 kg every day. This is because the official document of Jane Eyre can only be written in a few words, and a large number of bamboo pieces are bundled into a book, which is very heavy. According to historical records, in the Qin and Han Dynasties, ministers wrote official documents and were carried into the palace by two big men. As an article, Jane Eyre is obviously inconvenient. For example, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was in power, the scholar Dongfang Su presented a script to the emperor, but three thousand bamboo slips were used to send two people into the palace.
(2) Golden Carving and Stone Carving: Golden Carving refers to inscriptions cast or carved on bronzes. From the Zhou Dynasty to Zhong Ding in the Han Dynasty, many bronzes have inscriptions. Most of the inscriptions in the Zhou Dynasty publicized Zhou Wang's achievements, commemorated the achievements of ancestors and recorded important events. In other words, ordinary things are not worth casting or carving on bronzes. The longest inscription in the Zhou Dynasty has 500 words, which is of high historical value. Most of the inscriptions after the Warring States period are deacons, casters, years and months, etc., and few are long and flat.
Stone carvings refer to inscriptions carved on stones and are widely used as books. The earliest stone carving in China is Shi Guwen, known as the "ancestor of stone carving". Because these words are engraved on ten drum-shaped stones, they are called "Shi Guwen". The Palace Museum in Beijing has ten works by Shi Guwen. There are ten four-character poems carved with big seal on the ten-sided stone drum, describing the hunting scene of Qin. It was carved by Qin in the Spring and Autumn Period. These ten pieces of Shi Guwen were unearthed in Baoji, Shaanxi in the early Tang Dynasty. His calligraphy has always been highly valued. Now one of the stones has been worn away, and the other nine are incomplete. This is the earliest stone carving in existence. Later generations have stone carvings. The biggest book function of stone carving lies in the engraving of "Shijing". In the Han Dynasty, Wang Mang ordered Zhen Feng to copy the ancient prose Zhouyi, Shangshu and Zuozhuan and carve stones, which was the first of its kind. Since then, there have been stone classics, and all the classic works have been engraved in the world. The value of the Shijing mainly includes: First, the Shijing in Han, Wei and Tang Dynasties was of high value because there was no block print at that time, and it was handed down in ancient Chinese, which provided a basis for future generations to revise the Shijing. Second, the method of communication was invented in the Tang Dynasty. After spreading ink, paper can be combined into scrolls and become popular books at that time. (copybook) The essence of stone carvings in past dynasties lies in the forest of steles in Xi 'an. Beilin is the largest stone carving museum in China.
③Jiānó: In ancient China, silk was the carrier of knowledge. Generally called silk book, some people call it silk book; Because of its white color, it is also called "plain book". Before the invention of paper, people used to write on silk, which was called silk book. Silk books came into being at the turn of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Silk and bamboo chips coexist at the same time. Bamboo slips can be scraped and modified, and are often used as the first draft of books, while silk books are not easy to modify, so they are often used as the final draft of books. In addition, the important documents of the emperor often use silk, while the general documents of his subjects often use bamboo and wood. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, silk script was widely used, and later generations often used silk script to write important documents. Silk books have the advantages of easy cutting and light weight, but the disadvantages are too expensive and high cost.
④ Paper book: According to archaeological findings, plant fiber paper was invented as early as the early Western Han Dynasty. After Cai Lun improved papermaking in the Eastern Han Dynasty, people began to write with paper, but both simplified and silk books existed at the same time, and they were the main forms of books. During the Three Kingdoms period, with the improvement of papermaking and the emergence of a large number of recycled paper, paper books replaced simplified books and silk books and became the main form of books. According to historical records, after the publication of the History of the Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou, many people like to copy it. Zuo Si wrote Sandu Fu in Beijing, and copied it from generation to generation. At that time, "Luoyang paper was expensive". The earliest existing paper book in China is the remnant of the History of the Three Kingdoms written by Jin people.
The binding of paper and books has also undergone a series of changes. Before the Tang dynasty, it was a scroll, and after the Tang dynasty, it appeared folding, and then a loose-leaf version (vertical version) appeared. From Tang Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, folding and loose-leaf binding (thread binding) were the main binding forms. For example, you can see the Ming and Qing Dynasties memorials (folding) and thread-bound ancient books (book binding). The official documents of the Ming and Qing Dynasties are called memorials because they are folded into volumes.
Second, sculpture and movable type printing
Engraving, also known as engraving, is to engrave words or figures on a wooden board or a metal board, making it a printing substrate. And then printing ink on the bottom plate. This technology began in the middle Tang Dynasty, initially from the printing of almanac and Buddhist scriptures. The Diamond Sutra, which was discovered in Dunhuang, Gansu, and printed in the Tang Dynasty, is a block-printed object found in China. From the Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties, woodblock printing was very popular, forming a grand occasion of official engraving, workshop engraving and folk engraving in parallel.
Movable type printing: The inventor was Bi Sheng in the Northern Song Dynasty. During the reign of Injong, he invented carving a single inverted character with clay, and after firing, it became a pottery character. In addition, the adhesive made of turpentine, wax and paper ash is evenly coated on the iron plate with iron frame, then the movable type is placed on the iron plate as required, heated to melt the adhesive, and then the words are flattened with another flat iron plate. After cooling, the clay mold is fixed on the iron plate and can be printed with ink. Bake it with a little fire and take out the movable type for later use. Later, he created wooden movable type. Movable type printed books gradually took shape in the Ming Dynasty, when copper plates and lead plates were popular. The invention and improvement of printed books in China opened the historical era of books, which later spread all over the world.