Author: Yang Lang
The small folio is said to be for the needs of the "subway reading type"
A friend had just sent a beautifully printed copy of the "Old Tree Calendar", and after Mozi, he remembered the conversation with Liu Shuyong in those years. I said, your first draw on Sina Weibo is the anger of renunciation, and I still want to "who is the old tree"? A question, knowing is the tree yong. So there is a sentence "It is said that there are high people on the Internet, and when they meet the tree, they believe in the truth." Later, I suddenly saw that the painting style turned to crossing and being born. Shu Yong said that when they all say "dreaming", I come from the dream and go to the dream.
Smell the joy. It was 2011, and I saw Shu Yong painting every day and ran to his school's "dreaming" studio to see it.
The "calendar" of the small folio is a hot seller in the market in recent years. Since the Forbidden City reopened a new version of the Forbidden City Calendar in 2010 on the basis of the 1937 Forbidden City Calendar, it has become popular for a while. In 2012, there were only 4 kinds of calendar books published nationwide, 11 in 2013, 23 in 2014, and more than 200 in 2018. The China Map Society has also had an annual calendar of map themes in recent years, and this year the president sent me to read the new "Daily Humanistic Map", forcing me to go back to the previous years. I also have the One-Way Street Calendar, which combines text messages, and I know that the design won the "Red Dot Award".
The "annual" handbook, which also has a cultural theme, was also popular in the 1950s, marked by the Diary of Fine Arts. The 1955 "Art Diary" has now become a map of artistic achievements in the early days of the founding of New China. The following year, the Writers Association also copied the "Literary Diary", which concentrated on the great achievements of ancient and modern literature outside the country, which was of good quality and is now a rare object in the collection market. After more than sixty years, the Forbidden City Calendar inherits Yayi, only shrinks the folio, opens up a unique form for China's publishing industry, and becomes the pioneer and pioneer of the current calendar books.
The "Forbidden City Calendar", which has a cumulative circulation of 3 million copies, has driven the book packaging market for small folio books. It is said that for the needs of the "subway reading type", this round of small folios focuses on humanistic books with exquisite connotations, such as the new strange book "Lower Riba Worm" produced by The Triptych, which is not only small, but also a letter and two volumes, and the pictures and texts are compared.
"Lower Riba Worm" is a new product of the "movable type printing studio" led by Wang Jiaming. Wang is the founder of Shandong Pictorial and the successor of Sanlian Bookstore, so the production of "movable type" not only pays attention to the connotation but also cares about book packaging, of which "Lower Riba Worm" is a new work of reportage writer Lu Yuegang on insects. A small book in the palm of your hand, you only know the charm of this kind of folio if you have read it by hand.
Book binding is a unique art, I often cite the Southern Song Dynasty version of the "Wenyuan Jinghua", lamenting the simplicity and exquisite design of ancient Chinese books, and its use of lines, column frames, and seals has reached the realm of increasing one point and reducing half points. The emphasis on printing fonts directly led to the birth of "Song style" and "imitation Song style".
The predecessor of the small folio was a "towel box book" that can be put into the sleeve
Since the engraving and printing technology of the late Tang Dynasty gradually matured, there is still a vein in the development of printing in the Song Dynasty that is about folio. This is the "towel box book". Towel box is an ancient man specially placed turban cloth small box, "towel box book" to metaphorically its exquisite, open book small enough to be put into the sleeve, so also known as "pocket book".
Song Dai's "Rat Pu" says: "Today's printed pamphlet, called the Towel Box Book, began when the King of Hengyang of Southern Qi placed the Five Classics in a towel box handwritten by the King of Hengyang." Because this kind of book is small, easy to carry, and can be placed in the sleeve, it is also called pocket book. Ancient booksellers also engraved a kind of pamphlet such as Confucian scripture solutions, which was specially used by examination candidates for cheating, and this pocket copy was called "carrying book".
The "Beitang Shuqian" volume 135 "Queen Mother Towel Box" article quotes the "Han Wu Inner Biography", saying that the emperor saw that there was a small book in the Queen Mother Towel Box, which was filled with a purple brocade bag. The preface to Ge Hong's "Miscellaneous Records of Xijing" of the Eastern Jin Dynasty says that the Hong family was burned and the books were exhausted. But the second volume of the manuscript is in the towel box, and it tastes with itself, so it is still there. The History of the South, volume 41, contains the Hengyang Wang Jun", "Hand-written book the Five Classics into one volume, placed in a towel box for forgetting." ...... The kings heard and competed for the Five Classics of the Cloth Box". It can be seen that no matter written book or engraved book, as long as the opening book is small, it can be loaded in the towel box small basket that you carry with you, which can be called "towel box book".
After entering the era of engraving and printing, the towel box book is still favored by many book consumers because of its ease of carrying. Moreover, due to the small folio, the printing materials are saved, the production cost is reduced, and the book price is correspondingly much cheaper. Book publishers can take a small profit and high-sell marketing approach, making it easier to occupy the market. Savvy book publishers naturally do not ignore such business opportunities, and many towel boxes have been engraved throughout the ages.
For example, in the book "Bibliography of Tianlu Linlang" compiled by Yu Minzhong, a heavy minister of the Qing Dynasty, Volume 1 contains the Song Edition Towel Box Book "Dong Lai Jia Shu Reading Poems" and "Five Classics", of which the "Five Classics" are "Xingmi Character Exhibition, Lang Ruo Liemei"; Volume 2 contains the Song Edition Towel Box Book "Nanhua Zhenjing" and "Taixue New Arrangement rhyme class", etc., and the "Nanhua Zhenjing" edition is less than half a foot high, compared with the "Five Classics" and "Donglai Jiaju Reading Poems" in the Jingbu, the size is particularly shrunk, and the characters and paintings are doubled"; Volume 3 contains the Song edition of the towel box version of "Yutai Xinyong". Selected Writings of the Holy Song Dynasty, "Selected Qing Fu Notes", etc.; Volume 5 contains the Yuan Edition Of the Towel Box Edition "Nine Classics" and the "Seventeen Histories Detailed Sections"; Volume 6 bibliographs the Yuan Edition Of the Towel Box Edition "Class Compilation Labeling Mr. Wen Gong's Economic Literature Balance", "Detailed Notes on Mr. Dong Lai's Zuo Shi Bo Discussion", "Dongpo Collection", "Class Layer Lan WenXuan", "New Compilation of Ancient Fu Titles", etc.; Volume 7 contains the Ming Edition of the Towel Box Edition "Pi Ya"; Volume 10 contains the Ming Edition Towel Box Edition "Mr. Lao Quan's Collected Works" and "Wenyuan Yinghua Compendium".
For example, Volume 3 of Wang Shizhen's "Fenganyu Dialect" mentions the Wuxi Qin Dynasty's Song Dynasty carved small book "Nine Classics"; Ye Dehui's "Shulin Qing Dialect" mentions that "In the thirteenth year of Qianlong, Yao Peiqian carved the "Sayings of the World" in eight volumes, five elements and eleven characters, and the long end of the present Ministry of Works is one inch and eight minutes, and the width is one inch and one minute." In Qianlong, Suzhou Peng's engraving has two kinds of annotations, "On the Theory" and "Meng", "the lines are extremely fine, the length is two inches of the present ministry, and the width is one inch and seven minutes." According to Ye Dehui, many of the towel boxes in the Qing Dynasty were made smaller in size than in previous generations.
The "pocket book" is a very precious and inseparable thing for the owner
Roughly speaking, ancient Chinese book publishers were more inclined to make the following types of books into boxes: First, books related to the imperial examination. As mentioned in the aforementioned Dai Kun' words, the reason why the Southern Song Dynasty towel box book became popular was not because of studiousness like Xiao Jun, but to facilitate the carrying of the imperial examination, and the goal when used for cheating was small and not easy to be detected.
This situation persisted until the late Qing Dynasty. Before the road and the salt, the large and small science fields were searched and inspected to the strictest, and there were those who undressed and stripped off. After the tongzhi, the forbidden net gradually widened, and the searchers did not investigate deeply, so they were full of fraud. Those who enter the museum will be rewarded with small books in lithographs. Or write a book of fly heads, hidden in fruit cakes and belts, and with the baskets and the genus of research, all hidden for the bottom, and even have a hat top and two layers of boot soles and two drawers.
The "small book of lithography" mentioned here is a cloth box book made using the newer printing technology of the time. Of course, it is also convenient for readers to figure out their careers. For example, volume 6 of the "Tianlu Linlang Bibliography" says that the "Selected Books of the Class Compilation Layer Lan Wenxuan" is "a book of the post at that time, and the book jia carved to make profits, so it imitates the Song towel box style, taking the easy to sell ear".
The reason for printing novels on smaller paper and in dense small print is not only for the convenience of carrying, but also to reduce the cost of publishing and reduce the price of books, so that more people with lower incomes can (relatively speaking) afford to buy books to read. The readers of philosophy, history, and anthologies are mainly scholars, while the readers of novel books are not only scholars, but also a large number of ordinary people in the city.
The word "pocket" originally meant that it could be hidden in the pocket and carried around, in addition to the small size of the object itself, it was generally a thing that the owner was extremely precious and inseparable. For example, in the Song Dynasty, Mi Fu once received the original copy of Chu Suiliang's Lanting Preface and cut it into a "pocket post". Mi Fu's move was because he was very precious about this fa book written by Chu Suiliang, and in order to carry it with him and observe it at any time, he divided the entire large fa book and bound it into smaller posts. And Dong Qichang's son Mi Youren's "Ink Cloud Mountain Scroll" also mentions that Xiaomi "claims to have colored pocket scrolls, which is the first in his life", and the "pocket scrolls" here should emphasize that the size of the painting should be very small. It can be seen that at least in the Song Dynasty, there is also a saying of "pocket" in legal book posts and picture scrolls.
Some books in the Ming Dynasty also have the word "pocket" on the title, such as the 10 volumes of "Pocket Little Children's Fang" written by Xu Yongxuan in the Ming Dynasty, and the 4 volumes of "Pocket Fang" written by Li Heng, etc., but it is not clear whether the second book is a towel box, or perhaps the title of the second book is only taken from the meaning of personal treasure. However, from the mention of the preface of the book "The Journey of The World on Land and Water", we can infer that in the Ming Dynasty, people already called "towel box book" and "pocket book" mixed. The Qing Dynasty followed this custom. For example, the "History of the State Dynasty Palace" volume 35: Qianlong eleven years, the emperor engraved the history of the classics, the volume is voluminous, the pear jujube residue, do not let go, imitate the ancient "towel box" style, ordered to engrave the ancient Xiangzhai pocket books.
The Qianlong Emperor ordered that the carved scriptures of the Wuying Hall and the remaining scraps of the history be used, imitating the style of the ancient people's towel boxes, and carving them into the so-called "Ancient Xiangzhai Pocket Book", which included: "Guxiangzhai Pocket Treasure Four Books and Five Classics", "Gu Xiang Zhai Pocket History", "Gu Xiang Zhai Pocket Miniature Outline Three Compilations", "Gu Xiang Zhai Pocket Miniature Ancient Wen YuanJian", "Gu Xiang Zhai Pocket Treasure Zhu Zi Quan Shu Shu" one, "Gu Xiang Zhai Pocket Miniature Yuanjian Class Letter", "Gu Xiang Zhai Pocket Miniature Beginner's Study" one, "Gu Xiang Zhai Pocket Shi Shi Su Poem", "Gu Xiang Zhai Pocket Shi Zhu Zi Quan Shu" Gu Xiang Zhai Pocket Chun Ming Dream Record" one and so on.
In the Qianlong period, people mixed "pocket books" and "towel box books", and there is another example to prove it. As mentioned above, the book "Shi Zhu Su Shi" is one of the pockets of Gu Xiang Zhai, and the summary of the book in the "General Catalogue of the Four Libraries" refers to it as the "Towel Box Book", saying that "in the early Qianlong Dynasty, the Zhao Nei Fu published it as a towel box book, took it with it, and the clothes were mihong". It can be seen that in people's minds at this time, the pocket book is the towel box book.
Many writers are proud to have a place in the "Hundred Flowers And Small Folios"
In the 1980s, Shanghai Culture Publishing House had produced a set of small folio series of "five corners series", this set of more than 150 kinds of books is more habitual 32 open thin, and the price is indeed fifty cents, the content is mainly based on new knowledge of humanities and social sciences, in that era of seeking knowledge and learning is very popular for several years. Later, the printing cost came up, the price went up, and the concept of "five corners" did not exist, so it did not exist.
Earlier, from 1962 to 1993, Tianjin Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House published nearly 100 volumes of essays, all of which were folios of 690 × 960.
The birth of "Hundred Flowers and Small Openings" is related to Mr. Sun Li. In 1962, Sun Li compiled a part of the prose as "Jinmen Xiaoji" and handed it over to the Hundred Flowers Literary and Art Publishing House, because the number of words was too small, it was difficult to print a book, which made it difficult for the editor. The editor hoped that Sun Li would write some more, but Sun Li, who was ill, was unable to write, and this problem could only be solved by the art editor Chen Xin.
Chen Xin is worthy of being an experienced book binding design expert, he first cut off a part of the 32 folios horizontally and vertically, and then reduced the center of the edition, using the inscription and tail flowers to make up for the lack of text, so that the 28,000-word "Jinmen Xiaoji" was printed into an elegant and beautiful small book. The book was an unexpected success, bringing joy to the sick Sun Li and being welcomed by readers.
The success of the "Jinmen Xiaoji" led to the formation of an unwritten rule by the Hundred Flowers Literary and Art Publishing House, that is, in the future, this folio will be used for the publication of scattered works. Therefore, before the "Cultural Revolution", more than ten kinds of Ye Junjian's "Two Capitals Scattered Records", Ba Jin's "Inexhaustible Feelings", and Biye's "Moon Lake" were published.
In 1975, Lin Na, the former president of the Hundred Flowers Literary and Art Publishing House and in charge of the literary and art group of the Tianjin People's Publishing House, who had recently resumed his work, asked the responsible editor Xie Daguang to still publish scattered works in the form of small folios. After the end of the "Cultural Revolution", the Hundred Flowers Literary and Art Publishing House resumed its establishment, and the publication of the "Hundred Flowers Small Folio" also entered a period of vigorous development, from 1979 to 1991, the "Hundred Flowers Small Folio" published more than 80 kinds.
These small folios include new works by a number of old writers such as Bing Xin, Ye Shengtao, Sun Li, Luo Dagang, Feng Yidai, and Feng Mu, as well as masterpieces by ma laqinfu, Wang Meng, Deng Youmei, Feng Jicai, Jiang Zilong, Zhang Xianliang, Ye Wenling, and other literary giants, as well as the debut works of literary rookies such as Jia Pingwa and Zhao Lihong.
Many writers are proud to have a place in the "Hundred Flowers And Small Folios". Nearly a hundred kinds of "hundred flowers and small opening books", like a hundred flowers blooming, emit a seductive fragrance, admired by literary and art publishing houses around the world, and loved by prose lovers across the country.
Professor Liu Yunfeng of Nankai University has been committed to collecting, sorting out and researching the "Hundred Flowers and Small Openings" for many years. He believes that although the "Hundred Flowers and Small Opening Books" have not produced new products for thirty years, they have shown their unique charm in today's publishing environment. Although they are not large, due to the loose layout, they do not feel stingy at all. The most commendable thing is their cover design, most of which are from the hands of Tianjin binding masters and art masters, these covers are either fresh and elegant, or simple and thick, but they can be summarized as one point, that is, "natural harmony", they are perfect works of art, with a unique artistic style, and this style is also the publishing style of Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House.
I believe that today's more than half a hundred old literary young people have read these small books, and I have saved the two sets of books that are written in small and cheap books, of which Biye's "Moon Lake" is my favorite work.
In addition to the practical side of the small folio, there are also psychological effects
In fact, the "Pentagon Series" is a "one-corner series" on the beach in the 1930s. At this time, Wu Liande, the owner of Liangyou Book Publishing Company, appointed Zhao Jiabi, who had just graduated from school, as the editor-in-chief of Student Pictorial, and at the same time edited a set of student books "One Corner Series". The uniform price of one dime and one book is very popular with middle school students. It is estimated that among the middle school students were the editors of Tianjin Baihua and Shanghai Literature and Art.
In the seventeenth century, there was a best-selling "Love Field Book" in the Netherlands, and author Johan van Dans explained in the preface why the book was designed as a small twelve-folio:
"This is not done to save money on printing, but because it is best made in your pocket, and you can take it with you wherever you go when you have receptions and parties... Also, I made it into such a small thing, so that if one evening you just buried your head in this book, and your parents, who longed for you to be by your side, suddenly appeared and surprised you, then you could hide it under your apron. Or, if you're an orphan girl living with your grandmother or aunt, if they happen to see the book, they'll find it too difficult to read because the words are small. ”
The book, titled The Satirical Poems of Scopus or the Ingenuity of Tyrsus in Love, can be seen as the "Little Yellow Book" of the time, and the cunning of its opening was designed for the girls who read it.
In addition to the practical side, small folios also have psychological effects. Everything that is small is amiable, and large is fearsome. Small books can be used to narrow distances, and large books can be used to create distances. A small and delicate book is suitable for creating a private atmosphere, suggesting some subtle and even ambiguous emotions, and it is not surprising that it is used as a close friend of girls.
On the other hand, a large, heavy book is suitable for adding a sense of solemnity, sacredness and history, which means that the book is the bearer of a long tradition, so it is most appropriate to place a large book as heavy as a table in a museum in a church for people to solemnly cover.
Modern publishing is associated with the development of printing technology. In the fifteenth century, against the backdrop of the Renaissance, mechanical printing began to mature in Italy. One of the great contributions of the publisher Manutis was the creation of the first small folio book in 1501. Prior to this, books, especially Bibles, were very large, because such books were mainly placed in churches, and bishops did not need to carry such heavy books with them, and similar books were only read by a few people. But the Renaissance fueled the demand for books among the civic class, which people wanted to take with them outside of work. So Manutis reduced the size of the book from a large folio to a small folio that can be placed in a pocket, and in the case of paper cut, the size of the book is generally 7.7cm x 15.4cm, and Manutis also designed romantic italics for the small folio, in order to highlight the lyricism of the content, which was a pioneering arrangement at the time.
The history of book binding is often like this: those thick and dignified books are "a serious book" in the true sense from content to form. And those small folio books are often interesting, interesting, and can be understood by people. (Yang Lang)
Source: Beijing Youth Daily