Table Of ContentTHE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
STUDIES IN LIBRARY SCIENCE
A SCHOLAR CARRYING
A VOLUME OF
BAMBOO BOOKS IN HIS ARMS
Reproduced from a tomb tile of the third century B.C.
in the Collection of the Royal Ontario Museum,
Toronto
WRITTEN
ON
BAMBOO AND SILK
The Beginnings of Chinese Books
and Inscriptions
BY TSUEN-HSUIN TSIEN
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 61-11897
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London
The University of Toronto Press, Toronto 5, Canada
© 1962 by The University of Chicago. Published 1962. Second Impression 1963
Printed in the U.S.A.
“THE SOURCES OF OUR KNOWLEDGE
LIE IN WHAT IS WRITTEN ON BAMBOO AND SILK,
WHAT IS ENGRAVED ON METAL AND STONE,
AND WHAT IS CUT ON VESSELS
TO BE HANDED DOWN
TO POSTERITY.”
Mo Tzu, fifth century b.c.
PREFACE
“Written on bamboo and silk” was an old Chinese expression for books,
documents, or other written records produced in ancient times. These
words are therefore used to indicate a period in Chinese book history,
running from antiquity to about the sixth century A.D., when bamboo and
silk were used as writing material in China. The title also describes the
general scope of this book, even though early writings on other materials,
including paper, are discussed. In the language of the philosopher Mo Tzu,
who lived around the end of the fifth century B.C., what is “written on
bamboo and silk” is the source of our knowledge about the ancients whose
voices and countenances we cannot hear and see.
Many studies of the development of Chinese books have dealt with the
invention of printing and its subsequent history, but few have treated the
period before the use of printing. The latter period is much more important
for the origin of communication and scholarship in China and is much
longer than that during which printing has been employed. Information
about early Chinese records included in general histories of books is
incomplete and inadequate, and the few investigations made by sinologists
generally limit their scope to a certain phase. Because of this gap, a com
prehensive study of the development of early Chinese records is needed
not only by students of book history and of Chinese culture, but also by
those in other disciplines who are seeking evidence of the early state of
communication in Chinese civilization.
To investigate the early development of Chinese books without reference
to that of inscriptions is not only illogical but also impossible. The word
“book” is usually defined as “a collection of literary writings” and
“inscription” as “writings on hard surfaces.” Although inscriptions are
hardly to be considered as books, nevertheless, there is no clear demarca
tion between these two kinds of written records. Not only are texts of
literary writings and documents found to have been inscribed on hard
materials, but also inscriptions have frequently been transcribed into books.
Therefore, this study traces the origin and evolution of all kinds of written
records produced in ancient China, no matter whether they are called books
or inscriptions.
vii
viii
Preface
Since the end of the last century, a great quantity of inscribed objects
and writing materials have been discovered at vàrious sites in and outside
of China. In more recent decades especially, the excavation of many
unusual materials and tools for writing provides us with new evidence
concerning the development of Chinese records during different stages.
The present study is intended to reconstruct from available evidence a
general picture of the Chinese written records from about 1400 B.C., when
the earliest known Chinese writing is found to have been recorded, to about
A.D. 700, when printing is believed to have been in process of initiation.
This period of more than two thousand years prior to the invention of
printing marks the early stage in Chinese book history, when the materials,
contents, forms of writing and its arrangement, and certain characteristics
of format gradually took the shapes which became traditional for Chinese
books and culture during the following stage when printing was applied.
While printing is used as a landmark of book history, it merely changed
the method and thus increased the quantity of production, without
changing the general substance and format of the records.
The introduction of this work includes a discussion of the value of early
Chinese records and of social and intellectual factors underlying their
development within a chronological framework. The main body is ar
ranged according to the different materials most commonly used in succes
sive periods. In addition, there is a chapter on the origin and evolution of
the various tools and vehicles for writing. A concluding chapter sum
marizes the previous discussions, and gives some generalizations and inter
pretations under various topics of general interest. Special emphasis has
been laid on the beginnings of inscriptions and books and on the develop
ment of such physical aspects as materials, format, and technology. The
dates of the origin and existence of different materials are traced with
special care from both archeological and literary evidence. No attempt,
however, is made to discuss the authorship, dating, and contents of all
literary materials, which belong in a separate work on literary his
tory.
The sources of information for this study consist principally of various
field reports of archeological excavations, reproductions of objects and
inscriptions, and decipherments and interpretations of these by scholars
of various disciplines. Examples of these materials and writings have been
reproduced to illustrate the distinctive forms in which the early Chinese
records are preserved. Sources of these pictures are acknowledged follow
ing each item in the list of illustrations. Literary materials are also used to
interpret and supplement the archeological data. lissome cases philological
IX
Preface
evidence is used, since the forms of early pictograms and ideograms throw
some light on the objects and ideas of ancient times.
The dates for Chinese dynasties or particular periods are usually given
upon their first appearance in the text, and their equivalents in the western
calendar can be found in the Chronological Table following the end of the
main text. The metric system is used throughout the book for modern
measurement, whereas such words as “foot” and “inch” are reserved for
translation of ancient units. Chinese characters for personal and place
names, book titles, and special terms which are not given in the text can be
found in the Glossary or in the Bibliography. A brief reference to the
sources is given in the footnotes; details are in the Bibliography. Abbrevia
tions of book titles can be found at the beginning of the Bibliography.
Corresponding characters for authors and titles, translation of titles or
description of the contents and particular editions used for citation are all
given in the Bibliography.
In the preparation of this study, I wish to express my sincere gratitude
to Professor H. G. Creel for his inspiration and encouragement that has
enabled me to undertake this investigation. He has read the entire
manuscript and offered many valuable suggestions to eliminate my errors.
I am also greatly indebted to Professor Howard W. Winger for his advice
and criticism of the manuscript. To Professors Edward A. Kracke, Jr., L.
Carrington Goodrich, and Ruth F. Strout, I am grateful for their reading
and suggestions to improve the work. My thanks are also due to Mrs.
H. G. Creel, Dr. Kenneth Starr, Dr. Babette M. Becker, Dr. T. L. Yuan,
Dr. K. T. Wu, Dr. Shu-ch’ing Lee, and Dr. Cho-yün Hsü for their reading of
whole or part of the manuscript and for their help in one way or the other.
Dr. Kenneth Starr of the Chicago Natural History Museum and Mr. E.
D. Grinstead of the British Museum have generously provided me with
many pictures from their respective collections for illustration. Professors
Tung Tso-pin and Lao Kan of Academia Sinica were especially kind in
sending me otherwise unobtainable materials and photographs. I also wish
to express my appreciation to Dr. Lester E. Asheim, Dr. Herman H.
Fussier, and members of the Graduate Library School of the University of
Chicago for their interest in sponsoring the publication. To Miss June
Work I owe gratitude in many ways in the preparation of the book.
Finally, my wife, Wen-ching, has written the calligraphy in the glossary
and bibliography. Without her encouragement and constant help, this
work could not have been completed.
Chicago, Illinois T. H. T.
January, 1962
