Emperor Qin Shihuang (259–210 B.C.) popularized stone inscriptions by using them in various places to make his efforts to unite the country known as he undertook inspection tours throughout his 12-year reign. During the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 A.D.), stone carvings became very popular. There were many great articles engraved on stone, among which the most famous one was “Xiping Stone Classics.” It launched the history of engraving ancient Confucian classics, playing significant role in the development of books. After that, the imitators in the later generations followed suit. The result was a six-fold increase in inscribing activities. Of the resulting products, only the “Kaicheng Stone Classics of the Tang Dynasty” (now kept in the Forest of Steles in Xi’an) and the “Qianlong Stone Classics of the Qing Dynasty” (now kept in the Imperial Academy in Beijing) have been completely preserved.
Stone Classics of the Xiping Reign
The engraving of Stone Classics of the Xiping Reign, lasting 9 years ranging from 175–183A.D., presided over by the noted scholar Cai Yong. There were 46 stone monuments for 7 Confucian classics: I Ching, Poems of Lu State, The Book of History, The Spring and Autumn Annals, The Biography of Gongyang, Ceremonies and Rituals and Analects of Confucius, which star ted engraving in the Xiping Reign and gained the name as Stone Classics of the Xiping Reign. The stone classics, stood in front of the gate of Imperial College in Luoyang, the capital at the time, attracted numerous people to watch and copy every day. As the earliest Confucian officiallydefinitive edition of classics in Chinese history, the stone classics is not only a massive governmental proofread for Confucian classics, but also an editing and publishing especially one r un on a large scale by government, which, to a certain degree, facilitated the emergence of beating-rubbing technique and the invention of printing technology.
Besides the Confucian classics, Buddhistand Taoist classics from various dynasties were also engraved on stone. The most splendid were the Buddhist stone inscriptions in Mt. Shijing in Fangshan District, Beijing. A total of 3,572 volumes of 1,122 Buddhist classics were engraved on the 14,278 stone sheets from the early 7th century to 12th century. These stone inscriptions were called “Tripitaka of Yunju Temple in Fangshan” or “Fangshan stone inscriptions.”
Bamboo and wooden slips
Before the invention of papermaking, polished bamboo and wood slips were the earliest, most widely used and the most influential writing materials. A single bamboo slip was called Jian while numerous bamboo slips linked together were Ce; or “Jian Ce.” Blank wooden slips were called Ban while written ones were Du. Slender wooden slips were called Mu Jian and wooden slips were Ban Du while the bamboo ones were Jian Du.
In terms of time, bamboo and wood as a writing material can be traced back to the 21st century B.C. or before, even before the use of oracle bones, metal and stone.
In terms of content, bamboo and wooden slips can be classified into clerical documents and books which included Confucian classics, history and geography books, laws and regulations, military books and chronicles. Compared with oracle bones, stones and metal, bamboo and wood have their own merits. They are of low cost and easily found. It is easy to make slips that are good for writing and amending. Moreover, the slips can be linked into volumes to better spread of culture. As a result, along with silk and paper, bamboo and wood slips were used as writing material for hundreds of years even after paper was invented. They did not exit as viable writing materials until the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317–420) in the 4th century.
Silk manuscripts
Silk manuscripts or textile writing, are characters written on various kinds of silk. The silk culture, which originated in China, was recognized around the globe. According to ancient books, silk began to be used as a writing material no later than the Spring and Autumn Period and prevailed for about 700– 800 years throughout the Warring States and Three Kingdoms Period (220–280).
The real silkmanu script, unearthed in the Chu tomb of Chang sha in 1934, was called “the Chu Silk Manuscript.”It includes written content about many important legendary figures surrounded by colored mysterious images in Chinese ink and done with writing brushes. This is the earliest silk manuscript ever found and maintained to date.
The most silk manuscripts were unearthed in Mawangdui Han tombs in Changsha. In 1973, more than 120,000 words in 20 kinds of books were found, like Lao Zi (two versions), I Ching, Intrigues of the Warring States and Strategies of the Warring States. Silk was used not only in writing but drawing, including diagrams and maps in bamboo and wooden slips. There were Dao Yin Tu and other three ancient maps in the Mawangdui Silk Texts.
The merits of silk for writing were that the silk, not as heavy and clumsy as bamboo and wood slips, could be easily cut into different sizes and was convenient. It had a large capacity but required little space, for writing, keeping, carrying and reading. However, due to its higher cost, silk used in writing was far beyond the reach of ordinary people. The biggest merit of silk manuscripts was that it enlightened people to produce a new writing material that was easier to write on and inexpensive. After years of exploration and practice, Chinese ancestors finally invented papermaking on the basis of silk rinsing and retting techniques.
Papermaking technique
As one of the four great inventions of ancient China—along with printing, gunpowder and the compass—papermaking was an amazing achievement of ancient Chinese science and technology.