In 883, the nephew of the calligrapher Liu Gongquan, Liu Jue, came to Chengdu. He recorded in the "Preface to the Teachings of the Liu Family": "Reading books in the southeast of Chongcheng, its books are many yin and yang miscellaneous records, ZhanMeng Xiang House, nine palaces and five latitudes, and there are also calligraphy books, primary schools, and carved plates and printing paper, which are impregnated and inexhaustible. "This may be the earliest record of celebrities visiting bookstores and books in Chengdu." As a "city of books", how is Chengdu "refined"?
A rubbing of the Tang Dynasty's "Dravidian Mantra" unearthed in Chengdu in 1944
Shu paper Shu carved ben jia world
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties of the Two Jin Dynasties, a paper industry appeared in Chengdu. During the Tang and Five Dynasties, Shu paper became a royal tribute, and it was also a special official paper for the imperial court. Hemp paper is well-known throughout the country, and the princes and nobles write poems and paint, and they all spend a lot of money to buy Shu paper from Chengdu. British scholar Joseph Needham's "History of Science and Technology in China: Paper and Printing" believes that "Chengdu has been the center of papermaking since the Tang Dynasty. ”
During the Tang and Song dynasties, papermaking homes mainly lived in Huanhuaxi. Sima Guang's "Sending Cold Gold Notes and Xingzong" describes: "Workers cut the hemp and pounded the white stone anvil. On the xifeng for paper, Yingruo cut Xuanlin (beautiful jade). "At that time, there were dozens or hundreds of papermaking workshops in the Huanhuaxi area alone, which showed the large scale of papermaking in Chengdu. The late Tang Dynasty poet Zheng Gu's "Shuzhong" also said: "There is no rain at night, and the grass is new every day." Mengding tea furrow thousand point dew, raccoon paper a stream of spring. "The papermaking pomp of HuanhuaXi has become a scene in Shuzhong.
Why did the paper family choose Huanhuaxi? Su Dongpo analyzed from the perspective of water quality: "The water of Huanhua Creek in Chengdu is abnormally smooth, and it is made of hemp as a note paper, which is white and lovely. Tens of miles away can not be built, believe in water power. "Huanhua Creek water has a low iron content, less suspended solids, low hardness, white and smooth paper, thin and tough, and the female poet Xue Tao once made "Xue Tao Notes" here. The five-generation Southern Tang emperor sent people to Chengdu to "ask for paper work in Shu" and imitate Shu paper in Jiangnan. Later, "Xie Gongzhi" appeared in Shudi, which was also very popular.
The development of the paper industry has promoted the prosperity of Chengdu's printing industry. Jiannan and Liangchuan editions of almanac books were sold all over the world, Bai Juyi once lamented that "the poets are in Chengdu", the poet's collection was a bestseller at that time, and since the Tang Dynasty, "all the poets in the world have entered Shu".
In 1944, near the Wangjiang Tower in Chengdu, the "Bian Family Seal selling spell book of Longchifang, Chengdu County, Chengdu Province" was unearthed. This mantra is an engraved print of Chengdu in the middle of the 8th century, and it is the earliest surviving Tang Dynasty printed object in China. According to research, "Longchifang" is in the area of Chunxi Road today.
In the Song Dynasty, Shu carved "the variety of books published, the quantity is large, and the quality is so fine that they are far more than before." "Sichuan Press and Publication Historical Materials" records that at that time, the famous bookstores in Chengdu at that time included Guangdu Fei's Continuing Education Hall, Guangdu Pei Residence, and Western Shu Cui's Bookstore. During the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Guangdu Fei's Continuing Cultivation Hall carved and printed 294 volumes of Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian, known as the "Dragon Claw Ben". In the second year of the Southern Song Dynasty (1261), Pei Zhai, the capital of Guangdu, carved and printed 60 volumes of the Selected Notes of the Six Ministers. The Song edition of the Shu engraving reflects the highest achievements of ancient Chinese printing, Chengdu as one of the four famous engraving and printing centers in the country, the history is called "Song Shi Shu carved the world".
Attach importance to culture and education, and pass on the cultural context
Since Wen Weng ran the school, Chengdu has attached great importance to cultural and educational undertakings. In addition to the development of papermaking and printing, the endless academies and libraries have been passed down through the generations, so that China's vast cultural classics have been preserved and passed down to this day.
Heshan Academy was built in 1210 by the famous Southern Song Dynasty master of science and educator Wei Yiweng during the funeral of his hometown in Pujiang. Wei Yiweng not only gave lectures himself, but also invited famous scholars at that time to give lectures, so that "the Shu people could fully understand the study of righteousness and reason", which greatly increased the popularity of sichuan's cultural education. The Heshan School, represented by him, integrated the Three Su Shu Studies of ShuDi and the Ercheng Luo Studies of Luoyang, the two major academic schools in the country, and the "Luo Shu Huitong" made the Song Dynasty Shu Studies and Sciences develop to a new height. The collection of Heshan Academy is as large as 100,000 volumes, exceeding the scale of the national collection of books in the early Song Dynasty. According to scholars, there are many academies in the entire Song Dynasty, but only 4 have a collection of tens of thousands of volumes, and the number of books in Heshan Academy is the largest among all the academies in the Song Dynasty.
In the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Zhidong opened the Zunjing Academy, which effectively changed the style of study in Sichuan. Li Tiaoyuan, one of the three talents of Shuzhong, is also a veritable book collector, with a private collection of 100,000 volumes, placed in the 10,000-volume building. After the destruction of the Ten Thousand Scrolls Building, Li Tiaoyuan, who loved books, died of depression and "died of martyrdom". In the late Qing Dynasty, Chengdu used bookstores gathered, and books such as Taobao were integrated into the daily life of Chengdu people. In 1905, the Japanese Nakano Gushan mentioned in his diary that the Sichuan Persuasion Association held an exhibition every March at the Erxian Nunnery outside the South Gate, and the venue "had a used bookstore with ancient books." Another Japanese, Yamakawa Hayamizu, once visited the flower market and found that "Chinese grocery stores, antique bookstores, and antique shops are lined up under the eaves and atrium, and there is no room for intervening except for passages... Most of the bookstores in Chengdu are concentrated here, and treasures can be found from time to time. ”
Yan Yanfeng Benyuan Library
At the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Ben Garden at No. 16 Heping Street was the private library with the largest and best preservation of ancient classics in the country. Among those who went deep into the Benyuan Library were the famous scholars Gu Jiegang, Chen Yinke, Ma Jiming, Zhu Shaobin, and Meng Wentong, as well as calligraphers and painters Zhang Daqian and Ye Qianyu, and it was praised by Chinese book collectors as "Chengdu Tianyi Pavilion" by Chinese book collectors.
Chengdu Daily Jinguan News Sub-paragraph/Article Responsible Editor He Qitie Editor Wang Juan