The Printed World: Books, Publishing Culture, and Society in Late Imperial China

Abstract

Beginning in the late Ming period, China experienced a surge in the production and consumption of books. Printed pages bound into fascicles and housed in cases moved across space and through the social landscape. Their trajectories illuminate larger social, intellectual, economic, and cultural patterns. They also reveal identities under construction—by readers, writers, publishers, and consumers. This article assesses the expanding field of late imperial Chinese book history in the United States and Japan, with some reference to scholarship in China and Taiwan. It looks at the field's move away from its origins in the history of technology and its increasing engagement with social and cultural questions. In particular, the article highlights the field's focus on the “place” of publishing in late imperial China, construed both in terms of regional orientation and the social position of readers and producers of books.

Publishing and Medicine: A Potentially Integrated Field?

“…This trend in the scholarship tends to neglect noncommercial transactions such as gift giving, and official and individual sponsors. 1 This will result in the oversimplification of the complex interactions among politics, literati culture, and publishing. With regard to specific studies, she argues that scholars writing the history of Chinese books and printing make efforts to address a core question: “was the book an instrument through which historical change was realized or an indicator of how the times had changed?” 1 This question is so complex that its answer seems inaccessible based on the limited primary sources and case studies.…”

“…1 This will result in the oversimplification of the complex interactions among politics, literati culture, and publishing. With regard to specific studies, she argues that scholars writing the history of Chinese books and printing make efforts to address a core question: “was the book an instrument through which historical change was realized or an indicator of how the times had changed?” 1 This question is so complex that its answer seems inaccessible based on the limited primary sources and case studies. However, the examination of how the printed book “influenced conceptions of literati identity and gender roles,” and the exploration of the social status of the producers and consumers of books, more or less, reveal how printed books trigger the changes.…”

“…1 In its formative stages, this field borrows associated terminology and methodology from its European counterpart, including the terms "book history," "print culture," "publishing history/publishing culture," and the concept of "communication circuit." 1 Scholars then adapted these borrowed terms and methods to Chinese primary sources. Scholars have made great achievements through long-term studies of Chinese publishing history and micro studies.…”

“…Because epistemic medical genres from the Song dynasty on circulated at least partly in printed form, scholars of the later imperial period further asked how people created and validated medical knowledge through medical publications. They consider a central question for the history of medicine in China, and also address a general question of scholarship on the history of Chinese books and printing from the perspective of medicine, mainly answering the question of “was the book an instrument through which historical change was realized?” 1 In other words, studies of epistemic medical genres in the printed world help to clarify the role of printed texts in the production and validation of medical knowledge, while research on medical publishing will also provide answers to the role of medical publications in the spread and understanding of medical knowledge in Chinese society. This indicates the feasibility and desirability of the integration of publishing and medicine in scholarship on Chinese history.…”

“…As Tobie Meyer-Fong pointed out in her 2007 article on publishing history, from the 1990s onward, an increasing number of social and cultural historians use Chinese books as a source and subject to develop a field to rethink intellectual, social, political, and cultural trends through the examination of the production, circulation, and consumption of books in historical contexts. 1 In its formative stages, this field borrows associated terminology and methodology from its European counterpart, including the terms “book history,” “print culture,” “publishing history/publishing culture,” and the concept of “communication circuit.” 1 Scholars then adapted these borrowed terms and methods to Chinese primary sources. Scholars have made great achievements through long-term studies of Chinese publishing history and micro studies.…”