A Brief Chronicle of China’s Publishing Events
26th century B.C.: Appearance of Chinese characters.
21st–16th century B.C.: Appearance of primitive books and records.
1600–1046 B.C.: Beginning of primitive editing.
1046–771 B.C.: Government sets up specific book collections. Books and records appear.
770–256 B.C.: Private writing emerges. Confucius compiles ancient books and records.
213–212 B.C.: “Burning books and burying scholars alive”(fenshu kengru) by Emperor Qinshihuang.
2nd century B.C.: Invention of plant fiber paper and application for writing and painting. Early bookstores appear.
101 B.C.: Simaqian completed the first biographic style book The Records of the Grand Historian.
26–5 B.C.: The first large-scale state-level collection of books and preparation of state collection directory.
1st century: Introduction of Buddhism and Buddhist sutras to China. Buddhist scriptures translated.
105 AD: Papermaking improved by Cai Lun. Technique spreads across China.
175–183 AD: Carving of Stone Classics of the Xiping Reign, a large publication before the invention of printing.
7th century: Invention of woodblock printing, beginning of sutras and calendars using this technique. Bookshop and private printing emerges.
932–953: First government printing of the nine Confucian classics and first government-carved books.
971–983: First government printing of the Chinese version of the Chinese Tripitaka.
10th century: Invention of color woodcut printing.
1041–1048: Bi Sheng invents movable-type printing.
1048: The Yongle Dadian Encyclopedia is completed.
1561: Fan Qin encourages completion of Tianyige, the earliest known private book storage facility in China.
End of 16 th century: Western missionaries involved in translation and writing in China.
1726: Compilation of Gujin Tushu Jicheng or Complete Collection of Illustrations and Writings from the Earliest to Current Time.
1782: Completion of Siku Quanshu (Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature).
Early 19th century: Involvement of foreign missionaries in Chinese publishing.
1840: Opium War starts. Western modern printing begins to penetrate China, leading to reform and transformation of Chinese publishing.
1897: Founding of the Commercial Press, marking the emergence of modern private publishing.
1912: Founding of the Zhonghua Book Company, ushering modern publishing undertakings.
1949: The 1st of October marked the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the entrance into a new growth period for Chinese publishing industry.
1978: The compilation of “Encyclopedia of China” was launched. Until 1993, the first version of “Encyclopedia of China” was published.
1981: The first computer of China, Chinese character laser editing and composing system Huaguang I went through appraisal at the ministry-level, marking the Chinese publishing industry’s entrance into the new age of “light and electricity” and the end of the age of “lead and fire.”
1986: The first Beijing International Book Fair was held in Beijing. Until 2009, 16 sessions of the Fair have been successfully held.
1992: China signed the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention, which marked the improvement of the publication law system of modern China and the integration with copyright efforts around the world.
2009: As the guest of honor, China participated in Frankfurt International Book Fair in Germany, which effectively promoted Chinese publishing industry to go global.