Bamboo slips period: Three generations ago, bamboo was used to carry characters. Those who are carried on bamboo poles are simple; Those mounted on wood say "thank you"; Even weaving bamboo slips is a strategy. For the ancients, great things are written in strategies, and small things are written in simple words. First it was carved with a knife, then it was painted. In Zhou Xuanwang, there is an ink book. The culture of more than three generations of society depends entirely on this to advance, and the civilization of the country depends entirely on this to preserve, which is exactly the same as the role of later books. Is a simple book, in fact, is the book at that time. This is the earliest and longest time. By the end of the week, it is still popular that "Confucius reads Yi Wei and compiles three unique skills". It can be seen that Wei is a simple strategy. Those so-called books in Confucius' time are still simple now. From ancient times to Zhou Dynasty, all books were bamboo slips, so it was called bamboo slips period. Scroll period: it is difficult to write with bamboo slips, but the characters contained are limited, which is still enough for the pre-Qin period when the humanities are simple. With the demise of the six countries in the Qin Dynasty, the affairs became more complicated, and the number of official and private documents increased day by day. In fact, the previous writing feels that it cannot be used smoothly and is not suitable for use. The first person who feels uncomfortable is the prisoner. Because the prison officer's writing time is limited and can't be overstocked at will, the prison officer's film automatically starts the reform. It takes time to seal script and change it to official script; Bamboo and wood are difficult to handle, and stilbene is replaced. It starts with silk as a book. However, the price of stilbene is too high for ordinary people to buy or use. So although it is popular, it is only official, and society is not universal. That is, the ancient books and documents inherited before are still preserved through simple strategies; There are still very few people who record money in the country. In the Han dynasty, papermaking was invented, and since then, great changes have taken place in writing. Cover paper is the only material suitable for writing, as long as bamboo and wood, cheap and easy to get. From then on, paper became the only thing for writing, and bamboo and wood were naturally eliminated and no one used it. But whether it is paper or paper, the words on it are all handwritten. The so-called book is just a handwritten scroll, unlike today's books. In the thirteenth year of Emperor Wendi, he abandoned the image and stayed, and he was ordered to carve it. Since then, printed books have appeared. From the common sense, the difficulty of engraving and copying is more than twice, which is because of the invention of engraving and the social situation, all kinds of books have been changed into engraving. However, the fact is quite absurd. Except for the laws and decrees, other documents are still handwritten, and the manuscripts are the most expensive. This is due to the shortage of promoters and poor lettering. There is no way to get the seal before it is made. The handlers are inexperienced and the practitioners are not trained. India's seal cutting is not excellent, and there are still many mistakes in the text. It is appropriate to be unpopular with society. At that time, scholars also had a special prejudice that writing once was enough to read several times. Therefore, most upper-class families still hire famous teachers for their children, who copy all classics and history for guidance and do not buy or read any printed books. So although printing was invented in the Sui Dynasty, there was no special progress in the Sui Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, lettering was still not smooth, and social psychology was still expensive to copy and not engrave. Starting from the Five Dynasties, in February of the third year of Changxing in the late Tang Dynasty, Feng Dao and Li Yu invited nine classics to be published. Since then, important classics have been engraved rather than copied. Engraving and printing are successful at this point. However, it is generally easy to misunderstand that the scriptures carved by a generation are the same as those of today. Actually, it's very different, very different. All books, whether paper or paper, handwritten or engraved, have been rolled into axes since the cover is made of silk, and so is the so-called "30,000 Axis". It's not the cost, volume, department and complete set of books now, and a volume is a book. There are books before the Song Dynasty in the history books, all of which are several volumes. There is no such thing as the original text, so they are recorded systematically. It's not a virtual symbol with volume, it's a nominal symbol. Later, the book was inconvenient to open and difficult to review, but it was folded, and because of the long folding time, it was easy to break and divided into very thin slices. In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, Ye was created, that is, the long scroll was folded into several pages, and its form was like today's hand folding, or it was in the Qing Dynasty before. Whether it is silk or paper, whether it is handwriting or carving, its form is completely scroll, so it is called scroll period. Thread-binding period: In Song Dynasty, due to the inconvenience of long scrolls, it was improved to today's thread-binding style according to the format of leaves. That is to say, one leaf is separated to make it discontinuous, one leaf is a plate, and the other leaf is changed. However, it is no longer convenient for reviewing, reading and collecting. So the thread-bound book we read actually started in the Song Dynasty and lasted only a thousand years. Before the Song Dynasty, there were no thread-bound books. Most of the words are engraved, but few are copied. In Song Renzong's celebration calendar, there was a cloth Bi Sheng as a trap, carved with clay, and then the movable type printing plate was invented. Yuan Wangzhen also had movable type printing. During the reign of Hongzhi and Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, Wuxi turned 30 and Anguo was named "Juzhen Class". They are all movable type printing. It is more economical in printing, but in books, there is no difference between entity and engraving. In short, from the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, their books were in exactly the same form, and they were all thread-bound books, so that period was called the thread-bound book period. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, foreign dresses gradually appeared, and after the Republic of China, there was a tendency to replace them with thread dresses. Its form and binding are well known, so I don't need to introduce it in detail. Ancient books handed down through the ages can be divided into two categories: manuscripts and printed books. Copy books are hand-copied books, and printed books are printed by block printing or movable type. However, there are different versions of the name.
Writing situation:
According to the inconsistency between writing and engraving, it can be divided into ancestor edition, handwritten edition, innuendo edition, original edition, manuscript, painted edition, original edition, reprint edition, fine edition, imposition edition, scribble edition, movable type edition, overprint edition, towel box edition, pocket edition and so on.
Zuben, the technical term of edition science. Among the ancient books in China, the book closest to the author or writing time is the truest, the most complete and the least mistakes, and it is called the ancestor or mother book.
The original edition is a proper term for ancient books collating workers. When photocopying ancient books, choose a book to photocopy. This book is called a copy for photocopying. When collating ancient books, we should choose a book as the main book, and then collate this main book in various ways. This book is also called the base book for collating. When you punctuate ancient books, you should also choose a book to punctuate. This book can also be called the base of punctuation. When annotating, translating and indexing, you should also choose a notebook to annotate, translate and index respectively. This notebook can also be called the base of comments, translations or indexes. In addition to photocopying, the original books used in other sorting methods can also be called "exercise books".
Writing books and early books all depend on copying. After the popularity of block printing, many scholars still copy ancient books, so a considerable part of the ancient books handed down are manuscripts. Before the Song Dynasty, there was not much difference between calligraphy and manuscripts, but after the Song and Yuan Dynasties, calligraphy specifically refers to neatly copied books, such as some Neifu books, which have only been handed down in the form of calligraphy, such as Yongle Dadian in the Ming Dynasty, Sikuquanshu in the Qing Dynasty and Historical Records in previous dynasties.
Photocopying, in order to preserve the rare manuscripts of Song and Yuan dynasties, bibliophiles in Ming and Qing dynasties hired people to copy them with fine paper and ink, and the format and font are often almost the same as the original. Such manuscripts are called shadow copies, also known as shadow copies. Among them, Shi Mao in Qijia Pavilion is the most famous.
Manuscript, fine manuscript, because all the books copied by workers are written by non-copywriters. Among them, the copy is exquisite and the font is neat, which can be called a fine manuscript.
Manuscripts, which have been written but not yet published, are called manuscripts. Among them, the manuscript written by the author is a manuscript, and the manuscript copied by the calligrapher and revised by the author is a clear manuscript. Manuscripts are not as valuable as Fu Zi's, especially those of famous writers and manuscripts with high historical value have always been cherished by bibliophiles.
Books written in two or more colors. It is mostly used in books with many illustrations or maps, such as the folk book "Pushing Endorsement".
Original block printing, a book reprinted according to the original block printing. Where the layout, lines and fonts are copied according to the original engraving, it is called imitation engraving, copying engraving, copying engraving and shadow engraving; If you add, delete, revise or add comments to the original block copy, it is called adding block copy, deleting block copy and annotating copy.
Fine block printing refers to block printing with strict collation, neat fonts and excellent paper and ink. Among them, celebrities are invited to write a version of seal cutting (leaving their names on the version) called writing seal cutting.
A book printed after being trimmed and supplemented is called a repaired edition or a revised edition. Some books have been preserved for a long time and have been repaired many times, so they are called progressive editions. If the Song edition was edited in the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, it is called the Three Dynasties Edition or the Three Dynasties Edition.
Copy, combining the versions of books from different regions and printing them into a complete book, is called copy. For example, in the Qing Dynasty, the official bookstores in Ling Jin, Huainan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Hubei published twenty-four histories in different formats, but all of them were the same book.
A patchwork book, a patchwork of clothes, is called a patchwork book. Luo Song, a native of the early Qing Dynasty, collected three versions of the Song and Yuan Dynasties and printed them into a patchwork of Historical Records. In modern times, there are patchwork versions of Zi Tongzhi Jian and Twenty-four History. Among them, 1930- 1937 is the most famous one. This manuscript was photocopied with the oldest rare book at that time. For example, Historical Records was written by Huang of Song Qingyuan, Hanshu was printed by Song Jingyiu, and there were several versions of Jin Shu. The seven histories of the Northern and Southern Dynasties were written by Song Meishan, Sui Shu, Heather and Northern History were printed by Yuan Dade, and the old Tang book was printed by Song Shaoxing, using the new Tang book.
Sloppy books and ancient books have been blurred because of repeated printing. Printed books are called sloppy books. For example, the famous Seven History of Meishan in the Song Dynasty is still in use in the Ming Dynasty, and the printed version is called Nine Lines of Prose Book (because the Seven History of Meishan has 9 lines 18 characters).
Movable type books are made of clay, wood, copper, iron, lead, tin, magnets, spoons and other materials, and then typeset and printed, called movable type books. According to Shen Kuo's Meng Qian Bi Tan, in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, Bi Sheng first invented clay movable type, and Wang Zhen printed agricultural books with wooden movable type in the Yuan Dynasty, but no manuscripts were found. The earliest living movable type is Huayan Jing, a generous and wide Buddha discovered in 1972. There were many movable-type books in Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the fifth year of Hongzhi in Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1492), Huaxiang printed Splendid Flower Valley with copper movable type, and in the eighth year of Hongzhi (A.D. 1495), Rongzhai Essays and Notes on the Combination of Ancient and Modern Things were printed. During the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, the Neifu printed 10,000 copies of the Collection of Ancient and Modern Books with copper movable type, and Qianlong printed the series of Wuyingdian Juzhen Edition with jujube movable type. In addition, there are Korean movable type books spread to China.
Overprint, a book printed in two or more colors. Zhu Mo's two-color overprinter, known as Zhu Mo's, is common. In addition, there are three-color, four-color, five-color and six-color overprinter. In the Ming Dynasty, the technology of plate separation, color separation, overprinting and gravure printing was invented, which was called "ridge plate" and "arch flower". This printing method is often used in printmaking.
Pocket edition, towel box, is a small box for ancient people to put headscarves. A towel box refers to a small notebook, which means that it can be put in a towel box. Song Dai Kun's "Rat Tree" contains: "This booklet is called the towel box book, which started from the towel box of the Five Classics written by Wang Hengyang in the Southern Qi Dynasty." Because this kind of book is small, easy to carry and can be put in the sleeve, it is also called pocket edition. In ancient times, booksellers also printed pamphlets on Confucian classics, which were specially used for imperial examination candidates to intimidate and lure. This pocket edition is called the book of coercion.
Two cut copies, some books add a horizontal line to the layout, so that it is divided into two parts, called two cut copies or two sections. It often appears in illustrated novels, operas, sketches and other books.
Lead printing, an ancient book printed by modern lead printing technology. In the 23rd year of Daoguang reign (A.D. 1843), Mohai Library, the earliest lead printing publishing institution in China, was established in Shanghai. In the seventh year of Xianfeng (AD 1857), the earliest printed book "Liuhe Congtan" in China was published. Since then, many ancient books have also adopted the lead printing method. During the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, lead-printed ancient books were mostly packed in thread, which was similar to the appearance of block printing, so we should pay attention to identification.
Shi Yinben, a book printed in lithographs. This is also a modern printing method introduced to China in the late Qing Dynasty. The manuscript is written in medicinal ink on special paper, covered on the stone surface, removed from the medicinal paper, coated with ink, and then printed on the ink-stained stone tablet. Lithographic printing and lead printing are both ink printing, which is different from block-printed ancient books printed with ink. Moreover, Shi Yinben is mostly handwritten software characters, which are easy to identify.
The era of printing and sculpture:
According to the time of publication, there are Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Liao, Xixia, Jin, Mongolia, Yuan, Ming, Qing and Republic of China.
Engraving printing in the Tang Dynasty just appeared in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, and copying is still the main form of books. Most of the printed books handed down are Buddhist scriptures and almanac.
Engraving in the Five Dynasties, a book carved in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907- 959 AD). Including nine blueprints carved in the later Tang Dynasty, the later Jin Dynasty and the later Zhou Dynasty, and books, anthologies and Buddhist scriptures carved in the later Shu, wuyue and Southern Tang Dynasties. Most of the engravings of the Five Dynasties have been lost, and most of them can still be seen now, such as the Diamond Sutra found in Dunhuang in the eighth year of Tianfu in the late Jin Dynasty (AD 934) and the Baoyin Sutra carved by wuyue.
Song dynasty engraving, a book engraved in the song dynasty (960- 1279). Due to the popularity of block printing, the official and folk book engraving industry is extremely prosperous, and the scope of book engraving has included classics, history, books, collections and other books. The block-printed edition is of high quality and is regarded as a rare book by bibliophiles in past dynasties.
Liao carving, contemporary with the Northern Song Dynasty, was carved in the area ruled by Qidan. The Khitan book is strictly forbidden, and Liao engravings are rarely circulated. 1974, more than 60 printed materials were found in the wooden tower of Fogong Temple in Yingxian County, Shanxi Province, most of which were carved by Liao Dynasty, and the earliest inscription was "Qiu Meng".
Xixia block printing, Xixia was founded in 1032, and 1227 was destroyed by Mongolia. Xixia characters are written by themselves, and books such as the Tripitaka are also carved in Xixia characters, but they are rarely passed down from generation to generation. Archaeologists found eight volumes of Xixia Sutra in butterfly costume in Helan Mountain, Ningxia.
The gold edition is a book engraved in the northern part of China, ruled by the Jin Dynasty, roughly at the same time as the Southern Song Dynasty. Among them, Pingyang Prefecture (now Linfen, Shanxi Province) has the most developed book engraving, and the official scripture research institute presided over the book engraving work. There are not many gold engravings handed down from generation to generation, and Liu Zhiyuan is famous for reconciling Zhao Cang.
Mongolian engraving, a book engraved in Pingyang before the founding of the Yuan Dynasty. Basically follow the old rules of Pingyang Jing Yuan in Jin Dynasty. There are 65,438+0247 engravings of The Three Rites of Zheng Jia School, 65,438+0249 engravings of Zhang Cunhui Hui Mingxuan of Pingyang House and 65,438+0244 engravings of Treasure.
Block printing in the Yuan Dynasty, a book engraved in the Yuan Dynasty (1279- 1368). In the north, Dadu (Beijing) and Pingyang are the centers, and in the south, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian are the bookstore centers. The Yuan Dynasty prints spread widely and had a unique style.
Engraving printing in the Ming Dynasty, a book engraved in the Ming Dynasty (1368- 1644). During this period, no matter the carving area, carving form or carving scope, it was far superior to the previous generation. There were many works in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, but few before orthodoxy. After the mid-Ming Dynasty, there were two remarkable changes in block printing. First, imitation of Song Dynasty is suitable for printing books, and second, thread-binding is used instead of package-binding.
Qing edition, a book engraved in Qing Dynasty (A.D.1645-1911). During this period, the official and private book engraving industry reached its peak. Especially in the period of Ganjia, textual research rose, scholars were keen on edition collation, and a large number of books with rigorous collation and exquisite engraving appeared. Most of the ancient books circulating now are clear editions. Among them, the fine carvings before and after Qianlong and Qianlong were valued by scholars, and many of them were listed as rare books.
Engraving in the Republic of China, during the period of the Republic of China (A.D. 19 12- 1949), most of them were rare books of past dynasties. During this period, photocopying and lead printing technologies were widely used, and traditional block printing gradually declined.
Book engraving area:
According to the engraving area, there are Zhejiang edition, simplified edition, Shu edition, Pingyang edition, foreign edition (Japanese edition, Korean edition) and so on.
Zhejiang Edition, a book carved in Zhejiang in the Song Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the economy and culture of Zhejiang Road were relatively developed, with a large number of engraved books and high quality. The book was engraved in Hangzhou, Quzhou, Wuzhou, Wenzhou, Mingzhou, Taizhou, Shaoxing and other places, so it was divided into Hangben, Quben, Wuzhou, Wenzhou, Mingzhou, Taizhou and Shaoxing.
Simplified edition, also known as Fujian edition, is a kind of book carved in Fujian during the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties. In Song Dynasty, Fujian carved books and collected books in Jianning and Jianyang. Masha town in Jianyang is rich in banyan and bamboo paper, which is convenient for engraving and printing. Therefore, there are many bookstores. Some famous bookstores survived in the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, and the printed books were also called Mashaben.
Books carved in Sichuan during the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty. Chengdu and Meishan are relatively developed. Chengdu is engraved with famous treasures from the early Northern Song Dynasty, while Meishan is engraved with seven histories, including Song Shu, Nan, Liang Shu, Chen Shu, Shu Wei, Bei, Zhou Shu and Zi Tongzhi Jian. Books are divided into big characters and small characters.
Pingyang Edition, also known as Pingshui Edition, is a book carved in Pingyang, Shanxi (also known as Pingshui, now Linfen, Shanxi) during the Jin and Yuan Dynasties. After the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty, the engraving of Kaifeng in the Northern Song Dynasty was plundered here, and an instant book publishing agency was established. Since then, Pingyang has become a book engraving center in the north.
Japanese version, also known as Toyo version, is an ancient book carved in ancient Japan. Japanese leather paper is mostly used, which is similar to that of Korea, but the quality is not as good as that of Korea. Hiragana and Katakana are commonly used in Japan, which are easier to identify.
Korean edition, also called Korean edition, is an ancient China book carved by ancient Korea. China printing was first introduced to South Korea, and Korean block printing was subsequently introduced to China. The Korean version is exquisitely carved, with wide writing and clear handwriting, and mostly uses white leather paper.
The nature of sculpture:
According to the nature of engraving, it can be divided into official engraving, family engraving and workshop engraving.
Official engraving, official engraving book. Since the Five Dynasties, the central and local government offices have carved books, but the institutions are different, so the names of official engravings are also different. Mainly includes:
Imperial academy's Engraving "Jian Ben" in the past dynasties. Mainly various Confucian classics, literary and historical masterpieces. According to documents, since the Five Dynasties, imperial academy has carved nine classics, and the Northern Song Dynasty inherited its legacy system and continued to engrave the history of classics. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the old books no longer existed, so they collected and printed local books in imperial academy, the capital, calling the old books "old supervised books" and the new books "pro-supervised books". Imperial academy was established in Nanjing and Beijing in the Ming Dynasty, both of which were engraved with the history of 2 1 century, so it was divided into "Southern Supervision Edition" and "Northern Supervision Edition".
The courthouse is a book carved by the local government in the Song Dynasty with the money from the courthouse.
The books printed by this factory are under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty Sili Supervision Factory. Common ancient books include Five Classics, Four Books, and A Complete Collection of Sexual Principles. It is characterized by large books and words as big as money, but because the eunuch is in charge, the collation is not accurate and there are many mistakes.
Neifu Ben, a book engraved in the palace of Ming and Qing Dynasties. The books carved in the inner hall in the Ming Dynasty were mainly Confucian classics, while many books were carved in the inner hall in the Qing Dynasty. The engraving of books in the inner government often pays attention to the form rather than the cost, but the collation of the inner government in the Qing dynasty is also meticulous. Zhao Lian's Miscellaneous Notes on Xiao Ting continued to write the catalogue of inscribed books in Neifu.
Canon, in the Kangxi period of Qing Dynasty, a book repair office was set up in Wuying Hall, and a book engraving office was set up in the 4th year of Qianlong (A.D. 1739), and princes were appointed to preside over the proofreading and engraving of books. Engraved books are called classic books. The temple school is exquisitely carved, with excellent paper and ink, comparable to the Song Dynasty. Engraved books such as Ming History, Tongdian, Tongzhi and Literature General Examination have been listed as excellent works in Qing Dynasty.
Juzhenben, a rare edition of Sikuquanshu, was selected and engraved during the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. Wuying Hall is printed with movable type, and there are more than 250,000 woodcut movable types. Qianlong named it "Juzhen Edition", and the printed books were called Wuyingtang Juzhen Edition. Later, official bookstores around the country also printed books that imitated Juzhen edition, which were called "treasures of gathering outside", while movable type books in Wuying Store were called "treasures of cohesion".
The book publishing house was initiated by Zeng Guofan. Government-run book publishing houses have been established in Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Sichuan, Anhui, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Shandong, Shanxi, Zhili and other places, and the books engraved are called "Book Publishing House" or "Bureau Bookstore".
Private engraving, that is, privately funded engraving of books, in which private engraving for non-profit purposes is called home school edition or home engraving. Since the Song Dynasty, private engravings have continued to flourish, some of which are commensurate with the names of the rooms, such as The Classic of Books in the Song Dynasty, thousands of books by Yu, A Book of Tianyi Pavilion by Fan Qin in the Ming Dynasty, Tongzhi by Qing Dynasty, Ignorant by Bao Tingbo and The Book of Rites by Huang Pilie. There are also people who are commensurate with their names, such as the "Yellow Book" in the Song Dynasty and the "Learning Book" in the Ming Dynasty.
Fang carved, books carved by bookstores, bookstores, bookstores and book sheds in past dynasties. The square engraving is for profit, and the engraving is poor, so it is often inaccurate. By the Song Dynasty, Fang's carved books, such as Lin's and Yin's bookshops, were comparable to official carved books and family books.
Circulation:
According to their circulation and preciousness, ancient books can be divided into full edition, abridged edition, residual edition, popular edition, rare edition, rare edition, rare edition and so on.
A complete book.
The abridged edition is called abridged edition or abridged edition because the original book is too big, only a part of it was abridged when it was printed, or it was abridged for other reasons.
An incomplete book refers to a book with incomplete content. In the process of spreading ancient books, due to various reasons, they are incomplete, and some are only missing volumes and volumes. After copying the match, it can still be completed. Some of them are incomplete and can only be used as copies of his books. Generally speaking, the value of the residual copy is much lower than that of the whole copy.
Passbook refers to the version of ancient books with many engravings, wide circulation and late age.
Rare books with few engravings and small circulation. For example, the local chronicles carved in the Ming Dynasty, genealogy and genealogy of past dynasties are rare.
An orphan book, the only ancient book in the world, is often not recorded by various schools, such as the Yongle Grand Ceremony in the Ming Dynasty. There is only one book in China that can be called "the orphan of China", such as the 30-volume Selected Notes of Five Ministers, which was engraved in the Song Dynasty.
Rare books, which were written earlier, circulated less, and had higher research value, usually refer to Song and Yuan editions, Neifu editions, manuscripts with historical value, and revised editions recognized by celebrities.
Rare books, at first, refer to ancient books with rigorous collation and exquisite engraving, and later their meanings gradually expand, including all kinds of ancient books with earlier engraving and less circulation. Because among the bibliophiles of past dynasties, good books must be old books, and recently, only ordinary books have been copied and engraved more. For example, Ding Bing, a bibliophile in the late Qing Dynasty, stipulated in the Collection of Rare Books: 1. Old sculpture, 2. Boutique edition, 3. Old copy and 4. Old proofreader According to the standards of that era, he defined the old edition as the Song and Yuan editions and the refined edition as the Ming edition. According to this classification, with the passage of time, the age limit of rare books in collectors' minds also moves backwards day by day. During the Republic of China, Ming printmaking gradually entered the ranks of the old edition. After the mid-20th century, the blocks before Qianlong became rare treasures. Even no matter how many pieces are missing or not, they are demarcated by age. In fact, real rare books should focus on the contents of books, the scientific research value of ancient books and the value of historical relics. 1At the end of 1970s, the General Catalogue of Ancient Books in China began to be compiled. When determining the inclusion standard and scope, the "three natures" and "nine articles" are stipulated, which should be a complete and thorough expression of the concept of rare books:
(1) Books carved or copied in Yuan Dynasty and before.
(2) Books engraved and copied in the Ming Dynasty (except those whose versions are vague and widely circulated).
(3) Printed copies and manuscripts rarely circulated before the Qianlong period in the Qing Dynasty.
(4) Books published by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the peasant revolutionary regimes of past dynasties.
(5) Before the Revolution of 1911, there were manuscripts with original opinions or school characteristics in academic research, or with systematic opinions, as well as rare printed editions and manuscripts.
(6) Manuscripts, rare editions and manuscripts reflecting a certain period, a certain field or an event before the Revolution of 1911.
(7) Before the Revolution of 1911, famous scholars proofread, engraved or copied the printed matter and manuscripts that had been proofread by predecessors and had reference value.
(8) In printing, it can reflect the development of printing technology in China, representing various movable type books, overprint books or block printing with exquisite printed matter in a certain period.
(9) Printed plates of Ming Dynasty, ancient printed plates of Qing Dynasty and seal cutting by famous artists (with characteristics or handwriting).