Science and Civilisation in China, Part 1, Paper and Printing

Front Cover
Cambridge University Press, 1985 M07 11 - 504 pages
Part one of the fifth volume of Joseph Needham's great enterprise is written by one of the project's collaborators. Professor Tsien Tsuen-Hsuin, working in regular consultation with Dr Needham, has written the most comprehensive account of every aspect of paper and printing in China to be published in the West. From a close study of the vast mass of source material, Professor Tsien brings order and illumination to an area of technology which has been of profound importance in the spread of civilisation. The main body of the book is a detailed study of the invention, technology and aesthetic development of printing in China. From the growth and ultimate refinements of early woodcut printing to the spread of printing from movable type and the development of book-binding, Professor Tsien carries the story forward to the beginning of the nineteenth century when 'more printed pages existed in Chinese than in all other languages put together'.
 

Contents

1 Origin Development and Migration of Paper and Printing p
1
2 Factors Contributing to the Early Invention of Paper and Printing in China p
3
3 Information on Papermaking and Inkmaking in China p
10
4 Sources for the Study of Chinese Printing p
17
b Nature and evolution of paper p
23
2 Definition and Nature of Paper p
35
3 The Beginnings of Paper in the Han p
38
4 The Progress of Papermaking from the Chin to the Thang Period p
42
1 Paper for Graphic Arts and Stationery p
85
2 Paper as a Medium of Exchange p
96
3 Ceremonial Uses of Paper p
102
4 Paper Clothing and Furnishing p
109
5 Wallpaper and Household Use of Paper p
116
6 Papercraft and Recreational Use of Paper p
123
e Origin and development of printing in China p
132
2 Beginnings of Woodblock Printing p
146

5 Development of Papermaking from the Sung Dynasty p
47
c Technology and processes of papermaking p
52
2 The Invention of the Screen Mould p
64
3 Processes of Papermaking p
68
4 Treatment of Paper p
73
5 Preservation of Paper p
79
d Uses of paper and paper products p
84
3 Incunabula of the Sung and Printing under Four Extraneous Dynasties p
159
4 New Dimensions of Ming Printing p
172
g Aesthetic aspects of Chinese printing p
252
BIBLIOGRAPHIES
384
GENERAL INDEX
451
Table of Chinese Dynasties
476
Copyright

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