The application and development of engraving printing 1

The first quarter of the engraving printing

First, the historical background of the application of printing in the Tang Dynasty

In 618 AD, the establishment of the Tang Dynasty ended the war in the late Sui Dynasty, and the country was once again unified. In the early Tang Dynasty, production had developed and the economy was restored. Some political reforms have been carried out, abolishing the aristocracy's hereditary official system since the Wei and Jin Dynasties and substituting them for examinations. Popularization of education has promoted the development of science and culture. Engraving printing was applied and developed initially in the Tang Dynasty.

1. The Tang Dynasty government paid attention to collecting books, and the collection of books in the society grew rapidly

After the Tang Dynasty ruling class ended the war and unification of the country, it paid great attention to the collection of books. During Gao Zuwu's reign, he ordered the collection of suicide notes in the private sector, renewed the rewards, and increased the number of written orders. In only a few years, a few books were prepared, and during the Taizong period, Hu Dezheng and Wei Zheng also requested the order of books, and sent scholars to carry out the revision and collation. The national books increased greatly, and Xuanzong opened the first year of the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. The collection of books made "All the different books of Gong Qing Shi's family write by luck." Hidden in Qianyuan Hall of the East. According to the transcript of "Ancient and Contemporary Bookkeeping," the national collection of books has reached 3,060, and 51,853 volumes. In addition, there are more than 2,500 volumes and more than 9,500 volumes recorded in the Buddhist scriptures and the Taoist Scriptures. Chang'an and Luoyang are based on four monographs of A, B, C, and D, and are listed in the four collections of Classics, History, Subs, and Collections. And each copy has two copies of positive and negative, axes, bands, ribbons, and notes in various colors. The collection of government books has reached a fairly complete level. In the late Tang Dynasty, after several wars and books, the books were lost. However, the government still paid attention to the collection. When the time went by, the books continued to accumulate. At the same time, the number of private collections is also increasing, and there have been more than 10,000 book collectors. For example, when Xuanzong wrote Weishu family's 20,000 books, when Xuanzong had Liu Jian's family there were 10,000 volumes of books, every book in the collection had to be copied in three volumes. "The upper storehouse, its deputies often read, and the lower ones learn young children." . The large number of books in the community reflects the rapid development of the book culture, but it also gradually reveals that the speed of copying and book growth is incommensurate with the need to adopt new methods to change this situation. More and more urgent.

2. Academic ideas are active, and each discipline has achieved fruitful results

Social stability and economic prosperity have laid a solid foundation for the development of science and culture in the Tang Dynasty. Great achievements have been made in literary arts and science and technology, and talents have appeared in various disciplines. New works have continued to emerge. Geologist Jia Du's “Guanzhong Yugan and Shannan Kyushu and other maps” and Li Jixi’s editor-in-chief “Yuanhe County County Chronicle” are historical and geographical aspects. Masterpiece. In terms of history, following the "Han Shu", "Later Han Shu" and "The Three Kingdoms", the Tang Dynasty completed important works such as Wei, Liang, Chen, Bei Qi, Bei Zhou, Song, Jin, Jishu, and Southern and Northern History. . Du You's essay "The Code" specifically compiled the system of laws and regulations. Liu Zhiji's "Shi Tong" is a systematic review of historiography. The achievements in literature have also reached an unprecedented level. Near-body poems and ancient poems are important literary styles representing the Tang Dynasty literature and have had a profound influence on the literature of future generations. The famous poets represented by Wang Wei, Li Bai, Du Fu and Bai Juyi appeared. The number of poetry collections far exceeds that of the past. The Tang Dynasty legendary literature is a model of later-generation note-taking novels. The commentary developed from folk writing such as "changes" and "satellite" opens the way for the generation of later-generation Zhanghui novels. In terms of science and technology, the most important three calendars, such as the "Shanxi Calendar", "Linde Calendar" and "Da Yanli Calendar," have emerged. In medicine, there is Sun Siyi's "Emergency Preparedness". In pharmacology, the Tang Dynasty completed the "Pharmacopoeia", the first Pharmacopoeia formulated by the state. In addition, in order to meet the needs of readers to search for documents, there are more and more books and written books, such as "Book of Beginners," "Northern Hall Biography," "Arts, Literature, Gathering," "Managing Books," etc. Examine the important reference materials for the previous articles of the Tang Dynasty. The scientific exhibition of the emergence of new varieties will undoubtedly strengthen the needs and desires of the wider society to rapidly disseminate scientific and cultural knowledge.

3. The prevalence of religions, translations, and copybooks are popular all over the country

Since Buddhism was introduced into China from the Han Dynasty, after centuries of development, it has become more prevalent in the Tang Dynasty. The ruling class believed in Buddhism and sent the monk Xuanzang to travel to India for 17 years. He retrieved the size of 25 horses and adopted the 256-law clip and 657 letters. The government opened a translation school and translated Xuzhou Buddhist scriptures with 75 volumes and 1,335 volumes. Afterwards, Jing Yijing and other dozens of people, either translated the new scriptures, or retranslated the old translations. The translated Buddhist scriptures must be copied extensively to make it widely known. When Taizong heard Xuanzang's new translation of the “Yoga Shidi Jing”, he immediately ordered the secretary to write nine transcripts and awarded it to Kyushu, Luo, He, Xiang, Liuchong, Jing, Yang, Liang, Yi and other Kyushu. The exhibition spreads. The Tang dynasty's translation and manuscript copy have reached a new position that surpasses previous generations. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, Zhisheng wrote "Kaiyuan Interpretation Book" and compiled it into the Tibetan scriptures as many as 1,076 and 5,048 volumes since Han and Wei. After Kaiyuan, the history continues to increase. At the time of Daizong, he pulled two vehicles from the palace ◆ "King Guoren Wang Jing" to the two temples of Zisheng and Ximing. At the time, famous temples such as Donglin and Ximing all had a large number of Buddhist scriptures. As for the folk scriptures and chanting scriptures, they reached an astonishing level. At that time, there were many Buddhist sects and other religions were introduced. The development of religion will inevitably cause a great deal of demand for religious scriptures. It is obvious that copying alone cannot solve the problem.

4. Guowei is strong, has extensive foreign exchanges, and has close relations with various countries in the world.

The Tang Dynasty was the peak period for the development of feudal society in China, and it was also one of the world’s advanced civilizations. China maintains close ties with other countries in the world. The brilliant and splendid culture of the Tang Dynasty deeply echoed the people of all countries at that time. Various national envoys, officials, foreign students, law enforcement officials, merchants, musicians, and painters came to China to observe and indulge regardless of hardships. A large number of overseas students went to China to study and study the history of the Tang Dynasty, instrument system, text selection, calligraphy, astronomy, mathematics and other cultures of the Tang Dynasty, Taizong State Imperial College building increased 1,200, more than 8,000 trainees. When these overseas students returned to China, they took away a large amount of Chinese literature and books to promote their studies. They became an important medium for the spread of Chinese culture. The Confucian doctrine has had a far-reaching influence abroad, especially in the eastern neighboring countries of Japan, North Korea, Baekje, and Silla. In China, which is centered on the capital Chang'an, people from all walks of life gather and bring along its own culture, arts, craftsmanship, as well as products and commodities. In a wide range of exchanges, they interact with each other, inspire one another, and complement each other, and promote their own country. Cultural development. While the culture of the Tang Dynasty spread to various countries, it also absorbed foreign culture and became more and more rich. This increasingly frequent cultural exchange activity will inevitably strengthen the demand for rapid and extensive reproduction of book literature.

In summary, we can see that both economic and cultural development, as well as religious communication and foreign cultural exchanges, all require the supply of a large number of duplicate books. The traditional transmission method can no longer meet the requirements of society. People urgently need a new and efficient book copying technology.

The Tang Dynasty not only had an urgent need for printing, but also had the material basis and technical conditions for the application, development of printing, ink, stone inscriptions, and extension. In particular, papermaking technology, since the invention of the Han Dynasty, has continued to increase in papermaking raw materials and the technology has continuously improved through the efforts of a generation and more. The papermaking industry in the Tang Dynasty has reached a peak. The paper-producing areas are all over the country, and papermakers and private individuals are involved. According to "Tangshu Geography", there are eleven states in Changzhou, Hangzhou, Yuezhou, Zhangzhou, Zhangzhou, Xuanzhou, Zhangzhou, Chizhou, Jiangzhou, Xinzhou, and Hengzhou. . The Tang Dynasty papermaking raw materials have grown from hemp to cassia, mulberry, sandalwood, yangxiang, hibiscus and bamboo. Because of the different raw materials used and the different manufacturing methods, there are more specialty products in different parts of the country. "Tang Six Code": Yizhou's size of yellow and white hemp paper, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Fujian, Vietnam's thin yellow paper, the state's large mold paper, Xuanzhou, Zhangzhou's case paper, Puzhou's fine Pu white paper and other uses.

Under the historical background of urgently needed and established material conditions in the society, engraving and printing was applied in the Tang Dynasty, and preliminary development has taken place. Unfortunately, the Tang dynasty's engravings are too few to survive. In the following, we will give a brief introduction to the occurrence and development of the printing industry in the Tang Dynasty from the literature and the existing physical objects.

Second, the initial printing activities in the literature

Chinese printing has begun to be applied in the Tang Dynasty and has been initially developed. From the literature data, we can understand the situation of the Tang Dynasty printing, mainly the following records: First, the literature records of the Tang Dynasty.

(1) Tang Muzong Changqing four years (824 years), the poet Lantern for Bai Juyi's "Changqing set" preface: "Bai's Changqing set, the Taiyuan people Bai Juyi's ... ... twenty years of ban provincial view, post There are no books on Hou's walls, and there are all sorts of princes and princes, and the hordes of horses and cowboys can walk all the way. As for writing and modelling, it is sold everywhere in the market, or is held by a person who drinks wine.” More and more books are written between Le Lotian and Miscellaneous poems, sold in the market. "" Dieler "word, generally interpreted as engraving. It shows that the social and cultural knowledge of the Tang Dynasty was very popular. Yuan and Bai poetry were widely spread in the people at the very beginning, and printing techniques have been applied.

(2) "Old Tang Wenzong Jiji": "Dan and nine years (835 years) in December Ding ugly, confessed to the government, not private calendar version." Calendar version, namely the printing of the almanac. This record shows that the Tang Dynasty government had ordered the ban on private printing of almanac. According to the second book titled "Shi Fu Yuan Turtle" volume 160 emperors, the reason for the order was that from the then Dongchuan Jiedushi Feng Su's petition: "Jiannan Xichuan and Huainan Road are all printed Every day, the Secretary Tian Tiantai has not issued a new calendar and its calendar is full of the world and there is a path of respectful deeds." Explain that the Central Government has not yet issued a new calendar each year, and that the city has sold the almanac of private printing. . According to "Tangshu Geography", the Tang Dynasty Yu Sung Zong to Germany (757) Jiannan separated Dongchuan and Xichuan. It shows that in the more than 70 years between 757 and 835, there was already a private constitutional publication in the southern area.

(3) Tang Sikong map "Sky Kong's chart collection" Volume 9 has a lecture on the worship of the Dongdu King Ai Temple. The article "Law Shuo" was written and the title was marked with "800 copies of printed paper." The text mentions that "When you met in Luocheng, you burned and printed it, and you lost your lust and wanted to be more polished." In the context of the article, when Tang Wuzong banned the Buddha, the Buddhist scriptures in the temple were lost. Wu Zong banned the Buddha for five years (845). Sikong figure took up ten years in Tang Shizong, Xiantong, and served for six years (Year 879) in the period of Mou Zongyin. This time, he proposed to “enhance the Buddhist scriptures”.

(4) Tang Fanzhen's "Yunxi Youyi" volume: "Don't do it? Seek the dragon tiger for more than fifteen years. And Zhenjiang right, Nayitayan's art of warfare, for the "Liu Hongzhuan" carved thousands This book was sent to the Chinese and North Koreans and the Four Seas." In the middle of the ninth century, the Taoist masterpiece was printed and printed.

(5) Liu Yan's "Family Training": "In the mid-summer of the three years of Xixia (883 years), I spent three years in the prison. Yu was a scholar in the book, and was on a rest day. I read the book in the southeast of the city. His books are yin and yang, miscellaneous accounts, accounted for dreams, relatives, and the nine houses.