Floating light gold: from oracle bone to paper, from transcription to printing
On August 14th, “Floating Light Jin – A Brief History Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Classics” was held in the Sichuan Provincial Library. The exhibition is divided into four sections: "The Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties", "Wei Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui and Tang Dynasties", "Song and Yuan Dynasties" and "Ming and Qing Dynasties". More than 60 representative exhibits were selected to show the origin of the text and the germination of the classics. The publication and production of ancient books, the important books of different periods and related figures and events, present a splendid history of ancient Chinese books.
"Only Yin Xianren, there is a book"
At the exhibition site, some copies of the oracle bones unearthed from the Yin Ruins in Anyang were exhibited. This is the original form of the classics.
"Only Yin Xianren, there are books and books." As early as in ancient times, the ancestors carved the words on the tortoise shell and the bones of the beast. In the Shang and Zhou dynasties, people began to use bamboo slips as a recording material, and it was also popular to cast inscriptions on bronzes to become the seeds of classics.
In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, various philosophical thoughts and scientific theories emerged. All the books of the philosophers said that a large number of simple books were born, and books were officially produced and developed rapidly.
According to Du Guiying, director of the Provincial Library Special Collection Department, there are simple bamboo slips and wooden slips in ancient times. Bamboo slips are mostly edited, the length of the article can be arbitrarily expanded, and the raft is often used alone. "The simple writing tools, the pen and ink, and the knife carving, are the most important forms of books in a long historical period. The book system of later generations has had a profound influence. At the same time, at the time of the simplification, the enamel in the silk fabric began to be used as a writing material.
With the accumulation of experience and wisdom, the Western Han Dynasty invented the papermaking skills. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Lun used bark, hemp, rags, etc., through a series of processes such as frustration, smashing, copying and baking to make plant fiber paper. The papermaking cost has been reduced, and paper writing has become popular.
The record of this history can be seen in "Han Han Shu". “Cai Lun improved papermaking and contributed to the historic transformation of Chinese writing materials.” Du Guiying said.
Leap from manual copy to printing
Writing has also experienced a leap from manual handwriting to printing.
The books of the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties were all copied by hand. During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, the government also set up a large number of professional book writers, specializing in copying.
With the development of society, people's demand for book production has increased, and engraving and printing has emerged in the Tang Dynasty.
"The engraving printing is on a wooden board of a certain thickness, and the stenciled and stenciled manuscript is pasted. The engraver uses a knives to cut off the part of the stencil without writing, which becomes the embossed embossed font. In printing, in the convex Apply ink on the font, then cover the paper with it, and gently wipe the back of the paper to leave a handwriting on the paper.” Du Guiying said that the birth of printing has brought the history of Chinese books into a new stage.
At the exhibition site, not only the engraving artifacts were exhibited, but also the engraving printing experience was set up. "In the Song Dynasty, engraving and printing was widely used. At that time, the depression was one of the three major engraving centers in the country, leaving a lot of precious engravings." Du Guiying said.
Subsequently, Bi Sheng invented the movable type printing, which further improved the efficiency of book printing. This time, a book published in the Qing Guangxu period, which was printed in the Qing dynasty, recorded the list of the imperial examinations and the taxis.
Modern technology to help preserve the classics
The exhibition also simultaneously featured important stories and characters from different periods. The binding form of books has also evolved from simple to complex, from low to high. What you can see now is the package back, butterfly, wire, and folding.
In fact, whether it is bamboo slips, or enamel or paper, it is very fragile and it is not easy to survive. In recent years, the province's libraries have increased the collection and protection of ancient books, and modern technologies such as miniature photocopying have made these precious literature classics better utilized. This exhibition specially exhibited the "Yongle Dadian" of the National Library of China in accordance with the original book layout specifications, paper binding, and simulation photocopying. The system photocopy of the National Library allows more people to experience the grandeur and immortal charm of this great cultural wonder face to face.