Three-thousandyear History of Books in China
Publishing activities are significant to human civilization. Different civilizations breed distinct publishing activities, whereas publishing activities advance civilizations. The time-honored Chinese civilization has nurtured the distinctive Chinese publishing industry. To some extent, its formulation and development mimics that of Chinese civilization. Featured with long historical standing, plenty of connotations, unity of styles, extensive influences and constant innovation, Chinese civilization is unique in the world in its continuity.
Ancient China not only produced brilliant achievements for human civilization, but also has been showed a tendency towards strong development and flourishing prospects through almost a hundred years of reform and development. As the old Chinese saying notes: “Although Zhou was an ancient state, it had undertaken a mission to reform.”
This tendency has partly determined the unique characteristics of the development of China’s publishing industry’s. At the same time, publishing, as a significant activity of knowledge accumulation and cultural inheritance, has contributed greatly to the spread and inheritance of Chinese civilization. From a broader view, as one of the earliest countries with the most advanced publishing industry, ancient China played an important role in the history of world publishing. In the past thousands of years, Chinese civilization has spread all over the world with books as carriers and has taken a significant part in the development of world culture by constructing the Asian Confucianism civilization circle. Especially, the invention and spread of papermaking and printing techniques have contributed to human civilization and have profoundly influenced the development of human society.
The written language, a foremost recording tool of knowledge and culture, is the prerequisite for a publishing industry. China is a country that has had many different nationalities and languages since ancient times. Among the numerous character systems, Chinese characters are the mainstay for the spread and inheritance of Chinese civilization. Among all the written languages of the Four Great Ancient Civilizations, the Chinese written language had a stable character outline, explicit meaning and good continuity. Because of Chinese written language, today’s people can both understand different kinds of books written in the past thousands Oracle bone pieces with inscriptions years and depict fluently today’s changing and fast developing world. Thanks to Chinese characters, Chinese civilization has been extended for thousands of years without any interruption.
After the appearance of the written language as a carrier of knowledge, the pressing problem plaguing the development of the publishing industry was to find the appropriate recording material for the written language. After trying bamboo, wood, oracle bone, bronze, stone and silk, Chinese people invented paper to write and paint around the 2nd century B.C. This was an epoch-making invention because paper is the best writing material that has been ever found on earth.
In 105 A.D., the gradual spread of papermaking technique, innovated by Cai Lun, enormously promoted the development of the publishing industry and society. Inspired by the rubbing and sealing techniques, Chinese people invented printing technique in the 7th century B.C. That led to new progress on the quality and quantity of book publishing and brought the history of human communication and civilization to a new stage. During 1041–1049 A.D., the civilian Bi Sheng invented typography, the printingtype material which transferred from plaster to wood to metal such as copper, tin and others. In the 11st century, registration printing came into being on the basis of engraving, which made printed matter more attractive and plentiful.
Well connected with the constant innovation of the character carrier and replica technique, the Chinese publishing industry enjoyed continuous development. From the 21st century B.C. to 16th century B.C., Chinese publishing was burgeoning and it experienced a historical transformation from the written language to primary publication. Then primary editions and classical collections appeared, as well as the appearance of some initial elements of publication. It is conservatively estimated that the Chinese publishing industry has a history of over 3000 years.
The early compilation activities followed, in which Chinese people accumulated rich compiling experience and developed their own compiling methods. The invention of papermaking technique, that later become a major category in ancient Chinese handicrafts, fundamentally changed the media of the written language.