Simplify the origin of books

The publication of books in China has a long history, and the binding forms of books are constantly evolving with the development of book production technology and materials used.

It is generally believed that the earliest books in China are tortoise shells or animal bones engraved with words in Shang Dynasty, which has been more than 3,000 years. At that time, in order to facilitate the preservation, several pieces of Oracle Bone Inscriptions related to the content were connected in series with ropes, which was the binding form of early books.

From the late Shang Dynasty, bronze inscriptions appeared, and rulers cast important documents on bronze wares. Especially in the Western Zhou Dynasty, inscriptions can accommodate more characters. Mao's inscription in the Western Zhou Dynasty reached 500 words. Because people often regard this inscription on ancient bronzes as one of the ancient "original books", most book historians think it is also a form of ancient book binding.

Before the invention of paper, bamboo slips were the most representative form of books. According to the length of the article, it can arbitrarily determine the number of abbreviations, one short book and one line, and finally string them together with two ropes and wrap them up for preservation. There are also two kinds of reeds and silk, which are sewn into bags by tasters. Bamboo slips originated in the late Western Zhou Dynasty and continued to be used in the 4th century. Bamboo slips are not only made of bamboo, but also called wooden slips by people who use wood. Parallel to the bamboo slips are wooden slips, which are made into rectangular pieces of wood for writing short articles.

Silk book is a kind of book form slightly later than bamboo slips. Written on silk fabrics, its binding form is to sew the edges and store them in rolls. Because the materials are expensive, they are mostly used by rulers to write official documents or draw pictures, and ordinary books are rarely used. The Book of Songs is also a form of ancient books. The most representative is the Stone Story of Xiping, which was carved in the fourth year of Xiping in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 175). The seven Confucian classics were carved on 46 stone tablets, with a total word count of more than 200,000 words. It stands in front of Luoyang Imperial College for people to read, copy and correct, and its function exceeds that of ordinary books. Its shape is double-sided lettering, the characters are read vertically, the ranks are neat, and the monuments are arranged in a U shape. Others, such as the Buddhist scriptures of Yunju Temple in Fangshan, were carved in the Sui Dynasty, which was later than the stone carvings in Xiping, but it had great influence and high value.

After the invention of paper, a form of rubbing appeared. You can copy all kinds of stone inscriptions on paper, and it is easy to save and read after being mounted into a roll. Later, this method was applied to bronze inscriptions and rubbings of Wen Tao. From the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui Dynasty, various rubbings are an important category in court books.

Paper was invented in the second century BC; Since the second century, paper has been widely used for writing. In the second century, the use of paper became more common and became the main material of book carrier. Many changes have taken place in the binding form of paper books. The earliest books were written in the form of simple raiders and silk books, that is, scroll loading. In the early Tang Dynasty, another kind of whirlwind clothing appeared on the basis of scroll clothing. In the past, there were different views on the shape of cyclone clothing because there were only records that had not seen the real thing. In the Song Dynasty, Zhang Bangji called this kind of binding "flying page by page, spreading to the end, and still merging into a volume"; In the Qing Dynasty, Ye Dehui called it "the product of scales". Some people think that the warp folded clothes are connected end to end, which is the whirlwind clothes. Later, I found Tang Yun's manuscripts in the Tang Dynasty. The written pages were staggered from page to page and pasted on the bottom paper of the scroll. When I read it, I opened it and turned it page by page. After reading it, it is still rolled into a shaft, and its appearance is the same as that of a scroll, which proves that the first two statements are correct.

Origami originated in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Its shape is that the written pages are pasted together in sequence, folded one by one, and then sealed before and after.

Before the invention of printing, there were only the above forms of book binding. After the invention of printing, scroll packaging and warp folding packaging are still in use, but there are still new developments in the use of materials, the size of the format and the decoration technology. Moreover, with the development of printing technology, new book binding forms are constantly emerging, including butterfly binding, Bao Beizhuang binding, line binding and so on.

Second, the book binding in Beijing in Liao and Jin Dynasties

The invention of printing marks that the publication of books has entered a new era. Due to the change of production mode, books can be produced in large quantities quickly, so that more people have the opportunity to read; The increasing demand for books has promoted the prosperity and development of the publishing and printing industry. Publishers pay more and more attention to the binding form of books, which embodies the complete art of ancient book binding from the choice of layout, the size of the core, font lines, binding form and the materials used in the cover.

Printing was invented in the late Sui and early Tang Dynasties. The earliest printed matter in existence is the Pure and Bright Dharani Sutra carved around 704 AD and the Diamond Sutra discovered in Dunhuang. In 868 AD, they were all scrolls. Therefore, reel binding is the most commonly used binding form in early printing. The earliest printed encyclopaedia is Tang Yun, and its binding form may be whirlwind, which was printed in the late Tang Dynasty.