Tuesday 16 June 2015
Woodcuts highlight ancient printing
China Daily 16 June 2015
Ancient books are today rare , but even rarer are those wooden blocks used to print books hundreds of years ago . The show of precious printing blocks at the National Museum of Classic Books , which opened last week and runs through the end of July , features a large collection of the blocks known as woodcuts . It 's the first and the most comprehensive exhibition of its kind in China .
On display are 147 blocks used for printing text , images and patterns collected by more than 10 Chinese museums , libraries , institutions and private collectors . In addition , 60 ancient books published by woodblock printing are also on show .
Block printing originated from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618- 907), when Buddhist sutras were widely printed . People had to engrave characters on a block , and a book required hundreds of woodcuts to print . The world 's earliest book is the Chinese scroll known as the Diamond Sutra , printed in 868 and now in the collection of the British Museum .
The earliest woodcut in the show is from the Western Xia regime (1038- 1227), unearthed in 1990 in a pagoda in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region . It was used to print an interpretative book of sutras . Blocks from the Qing Dynasty (1644- 1911) reveal important medical texts passed down from the Song Dynasty (960- 1279), when the spread of block printing reached its peak .
Woodcut printing was used for more than books . The technique was widely applied in daily life . Blocks in the exhibition were used to print posters , contracts , pictures for Spring Festival , marriage certificates and patterns to ward off diseases and troubles . Most blocks of this kind were used only once ; they are more difficult to find than books .
"For quite a long time , we have ignored the importance of protecting printing blocks . But the show sends a message that China is beginning to rank the protection of blocks with that of ancient books ," says An Pingqiu , an expert on ancient books .
An says that printing blocks need a large place to be stored and are hard to transport . Compared with ancient books , they 're more difficult to protect and pass down .
Shi Jinbo , director of the research center of the culture of the Western Xia regime at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences , says that there are many ancient books from the Song Dynasty , but the blocks are rare . The only existing block for the printing of ancient books in the Song Dynasty is in the United States . Germany , meanwhile , has the most blocks from the Western Xia regime .
"I suggest that China 's block protection should start from private collectors . Shows of this kind are a good way to increase public awareness ," says Shi .
The show also invites experienced craftsmen from ancient-book printing houses to demonstrate how to make woodcuts and demonstrate the process of printing .
This year , blocks for ancient book printing are on the protection list of China 's rare ancient books , so institutions that collect these relics will receive government support and funding .
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