The expansion of block printing in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period is reflected in the increase of book engraving sites. At that time, Kaifeng, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Jinling, Dunhuang and Fuzhou were the most famous. Kaifeng is the capital of Liang, Jin, Han and Thursday in the Five Dynasties, and imperial academy is located in the capital, where the famous Nine Classics of the Five Dynasties were completed.
In 932, Feng Dao, the prime minister of the late Tang Dynasty, first advocated sutra engraving. It is said that he saw many kinds of books around Wu and Shu, but most of them were calendars used by ordinary people, some popular books and Buddhist scriptures, and there were no Confucian classics. So he wrote to the emperor and asked him to engrave the printing plates of the five dynasties and nine classics according to the stone classics. With the approval of the emperor, Feng Dao asked Tian Min, a great scholar at that time, and others to call Dr. Confucian scholars from imperial academy, and compiled a book with both annotations and annotations according to the best official model of The Book of Songs of the Tang Dynasty, which has been used since the Six Dynasties. After careful reading by more than six or seven experts and scholars, calligraphers were asked to write in regular script, and then craftsmen were organized to carve and print.
In this way, from 932 to 953, it took 22 years to complete the Five Dynasties and Nine Classics. At the same time, two auxiliary works, *** 130, were carved, which was the beginning of the government's large-scale engraving.
In 955 AD, two years after the Five Dynasties carved the Nine Classics, Tian Min, a master of Confucianism, was ordered to carve a book explaining the sounds and meanings of the classics. The Five Dynasties and Nine Classics, which was engraved in the late Tang Dynasty, was later called the Five Dynasties and Nine Classics because it was published in imperial academy. Since then, the word "edition" has appeared in typology. The appearance of the Nine Classics of the Five Dynasties Prison Edition made the ancient classics have a unified standard version, which was allowed to be sold publicly at that time, which made the Nine Classics of the Five Dynasties Prison Edition widely spread, thus playing a positive role in the popularization of culture. At the same time, from now on, books are no longer the business of folk bookstores or monks, but the publishing business of the imperial courts in past dynasties, which greatly promoted the development of printing industry in later generations. Due to the promotion of the printing industry by the imperial court, the number of private engravings by literati increased. Private engraving is called "home engraving".
Chengdu, the capital of Shu, was an advanced area for engraving books in the Tang Dynasty, and it was more prosperous at this time. Because there was no major war for more than 70 years from the end of Tang Dynasty to the beginning of Song Dynasty, the economy was developed and the culture was prosperous, people's demand for books was increasing. In addition, the rich hemp paper and deep-rooted printing technology provide favorable conditions for the development of printing industry in this area.
Zhao, then prime minister of the post-Shu Dynasty, was a pioneer in private engraving of a large number of books. He ordered people to engrave Selected Poems, Beginners' Books and Six Postscripts of Bai Juyi. Zhao also founded a school at his own expense, engraving the Nine Classics of Five Dynasties and the Stone Classics of Houshu, but not all of them were completed. Under his advocacy, the post-Shu style of writing flourished. Zhao has made great contributions to the development of Shu culture and education.
By the Song Dynasty, the books carved by Wu Jia had been sold all over the country. Because of this, when Shu was destroyed, he made an exception and returned all the engravings to the Wu family. His descendants continued to engage in book engraving and became famous publishers in Chengdu from generation to generation.
In addition, the former Shu Ren saw the advantages of printing. From 909 to 9 13, he carved Zheng De Jing Guang written by Du Guangting, a famous Taoist priest and Taoist scholar, with a total of 30 volumes. In five years, he carved more than 460 editions and printed them, making them widely circulated.
Also engraved in Chengdu are Shu State and Buddhist monk Tan Yu. He collected 65,438+0,000 poems written by his master, Zen master Guan Xiu, which were printed and published in 923 with the title of Zen Moon Collection. All these reflect the development of Chengdu book printing industry in the Five Dynasties, thus laying a technical foundation for the prestigious "book" in the Song Dynasty.
The printing industry in Hangzhou, the capital of Wu Yue State, is also quite developed. Only "The Longevity of the King of Qian Hongchu and the Monk" has carved a large number of Buddhist scriptures, statues, Tatu and incantations, and the print run can reach more than 680,000 copies, which is unprecedented.
Wu Yueguo's printing technology has also reached a high level. The printed paper is white, the ink color is even, the font is clear and pleasing to the eye, and the picture is exquisite. There are also 20 thousand Guanyin statues printed on plain silk, which is unprecedented. This is the earliest printed matter printed with silk in China, which reflects the high level of printing technology in Hangzhou.
Later, the West Lake Leifeng Tower built by Princess Huang collapsed. Archaeologists found that the Dalagni Classic was hidden in the tower brick, and there were bamboo slips inscribed by Guo. In addition, archaeologists also found that there are other wood carvings in the tower brick, engraved with characters' stories, which are more detailed than the scroll paintings in The Book of Dalagni.
During the Five Dynasties, Ning He, a famous poet, served as prime minister in all dynasties. He is studious, witty, good at short songs and erotic songs, and pays special attention to his reputation. To this end, he published 100 volumes of collected works in his hometown of Shandong and distributed them to his friends. His works spread to Kaifeng and Luoyang. Ning He was the first writer to publish his own works, and from then on, the trend of block printing and private collection prevailed. In the late Jin Dynasty, Shi Jingtang ordered Zhang Jianming, a Taoist priest, to engrave Laozi's Tao Te Ching, which was a preface written by Ning He, and put a crown on the frontispiece, so that it was promulgated in the world. Jinling, the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty, is now Nanjing. It is also engraved with Shi Tong, a monograph on historical theory by Liu Zhiji, a famous historian in the Tang Dynasty, and Yu Tai Xin Yong, a collection of poems by Chen in the Southern Dynasties.
Dunhuang is located in the remote Hexi area. At that time, Cao, our ambassador to the Guiyi Army in Dunhuang, asked sculptors to engrave various bodhisattvas, great saints Pishamenton, Diamond Sutra, Qieyun and Tang Yun in the 1940s and 1950s.
Among them, the statue of King Vishnu, made in 947, has a compact structure and a prominent center. The lines depicted are vigorous but not rigid, bold but not rough, simple but not vulgar, which fully shows the level of block printing technology in this period. Another woodcut, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, was produced at the same time as the Great Sage Vishamun, which is characterized by simple and clear picture and smooth carving. The inscription of this painting is "Craftsman Lei Yanmei". The name "Lei Yanmei" is the first person to engrave a name in the history of ancient printmaking and illustration.
In addition to Cao's name, Guanyin Bodhisattva and Diamond Sutra also have the names of the earliest engravers in ancient history. These kinds of Buddha statues and Buddhist scriptures are precious printed materials handed down from generation to generation, indicating the main sculptors and carving years.
Fuzhou is located on the southeast coast. At that time, the king of Fujian attached great importance to culture and education. Xu Yin, his minister, wrote The Ode to Geometry Life, which was printed and sold by booksellers, so he wrote a poem, "My humble work is biased to be printed and sold". It can be seen that there was a bookstore in Fuzhou at that time, which carved and sold books for a living.
With the development of book engraving industry, it is easier to collect books than before, so there are more private and state books. According to records, Zhao Kuangning, Minister of the Back Beam, was "quite learned and had thousands of books". Wang Du, a general in the late Tang Dynasty, had 3,000 "good books" at home. The following week, Zhang Zhao accumulated tens of thousands of books and built a library. Sun Guangxian, a scholar in the south of Jingnan, is a tireless scholar. He is proficient in classics and history, and his family is thousands of books. Li Jue, Li Jing and Li Yu, the three kings of the Southern Tang Dynasty, all bought books to establish education, and there were "ten thousand books in the palace". The descendants of Qian Liu, the monarch of wuyue, all believe in Confucianism and like to collect books. "There are more than 10 thousand French calligraphy books at home, and there are many different books." Therefore, history says that "there are abundant books in the south of the Yangtze River, ranking first in the world".
There were thousands of books in this period, which were very rare in the period of war and harassment, reflecting the development of book engraving industry in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period from one side. Woodcut illustrations in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period are also a major feature.
The invention of woodcut printing technology in the Tang Dynasty was actually the primary stage of woodcut printmaking art. At that time, woodcut was mainly for the propaganda of religion, and the great development of religion made the printing industry flourish. As for woodcut illustrations in literary books and folk books, it was not until the Five Dynasties that they gradually received due attention. Woodblock prints originally belonged to an independent art category, but with the invention and popularization of woodcut printing technology, woodcut prints were printed in books, thus expanding the content and form of books and becoming a bright spot in the development of ancient books in China.
During the Five Dynasties, due to the import of Indian Buddhist culture, it had a great influence on ancient culture, which was precisely reflected in the art of woodcut illustrations of books.
In fact, woodcut Buddhist painting is an important work in the books of the Five Dynasties. Through the Buddhist paintings in books, the Buddhist thoughts of reincarnation and causality are vividly expressed, and the images of Buddha and Bodhisattva are close to human personality characteristics, thus achieving the goal of popularizing the people.
The illustrations of books will give people a more intuitive feeling, and it is easy to understand the text content of books. At that time, many ordinary religious believers, the so-called "believing women" and "good men", could not read. Although they recited the Scripture or Confessions, they couldn't understand what was written in the Scripture. But with illustrations, at least ordinary believers can understand the general meaning of the scripture, so when the illustrated scripture appeared, its brand-new face was immediately welcomed by the majority of believers.