Chinese Ancient Woodblock Print Dictionary

Author: Qu Mianliang (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-02-01
Features: As a reference for research on woodblock printing, the scope includes four parts:
1. Woodblock Printing Terms. This includes various version names (regional, era, publishing institutions), printing paper, styles, bindings, and common book trade terminology.
2. Carvers. The scope generally extends to the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. It records their work (the books they carved), with a total of over 10,000 entries. However, due to limited knowledge, many omissions remain to be supplemented in the future. Many carvers used abbreviated names. According to the recording principles, if the original characters are identified or confirmed to be abbreviations of certain characters, the original characters are recorded. The abbreviations are either enclosed in parentheses or noted as "also known as ×××" at the beginning of the entry. When both the abbreviation and the original characters are present, the abbreviation is generally cross-referenced as "see ××× entry," except for a few exceptions like Qiu Yu, Jin Shiheng, Gong Hua, and Xiong Rujing, who are commonly referred to as "Qiu Yu," "Shiheng," "Gong Hua," and "Rujing," respectively. Carvers with names but no surnames, or surnames but no names, are generally excluded as they do not provide meaningful information.
3. Book Carvers and Copyists. Book carvers were the publishers and distributors of the old era, including official, private, and commercial printing. In terms of time, the focus is on the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties (with the Ming Dynasty primarily before the Jiajing era), as well as some rare and academically valuable books from the early and middle-late Qing Dynasty (the scope of copyists is the same). Some individuals renowned for carving books, including representatives of bookshops, are also included. They actively compiled and summarized the experience of science and culture, printing, re-carving, photocopying, and hand-copying many works of predecessors, contemporaries, or themselves. For version research, it is necessary to record them. However, due to the differences between self-carved, commissioned, and co-carved books, and the distinctions between self-copied, family-copied, photocopied, and hired-copied books, the entries are not categorized. To align with the traditional characteristics of ancient book cataloging, a large portion of the entries are recorded by studio names (including hall names, study names, bookshop names, and school names), with personal names listed separately for reference. Entries without studio names are recorded by personal names.
4. Reference Books. It includes some specialized works on versions, bibliographies, and prefaces (with partial encyclopedias and series included), along with brief introductions to their content and value. Many classical works on versions in the past mention famous ancient book collectors, but as there is a wealth of such material, this dictionary does not include them separately. However, if book carvers or copyists were also renowned for collecting books, they are briefly mentioned in the entries. To meet the needs of version research, all carvings from the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty and later are as far as possible identified and recorded with their formats. If the format is already noted under the book carver entry, it is not repeated under the carver entry but simply recorded as "××× (book carver or studio) edition." To save space, the carver entries only list the titles and versions of the books they carved, omitting details such as authors, volumes, and appendices. In book carver entries involving series, sub-items are generally not listed. However, this does not apply to copyist entries.