Ancient people wrote books

Books existed in ancient Egypt and Babylon five thousand years ago, but the papyrus scrolls and clay tablets at that time looked very different from modern books. same. China's bamboo slips (books) originated in the Western Zhou Dynasty, almost three thousand years ago. Those "woven" with leather strips or hemp ropes have recently been unearthed in Changsha, Jiangling, and Linyi. Although the skin and hemp have decayed, they are only Only bamboo slips are left.

A maximum of ten characters can be written on a bamboo slip. The five thousand words of "Laozi" can only be printed on a few pieces of paper on both sides, but there are a lot of bamboo books weighing many kilograms. Zhuangzi said, "Benefit from many sources, and it contains five carts of books." Just imagine how big a house would be to accommodate five carts of books. Therefore, ancient people must have a dedicated study room to read and store books, let alone write books. But as far as I know, the word "study" (including its nickname) appeared later. "The study room in the secret pavilion opens in sequence", "Sleep in the study room" and "The study room looks at the dawn opening" are all poems written by the Tang Dynasty. I don't read much ancient books, so I wonder if a liberal scholar can tell me an earlier example.

Check the 75th to 116th volumes of the Collection of Ancient and Modern Books·Kaogongdian. There are descriptions of bedrooms, medicine rooms, and Buddhist rooms in the houses, halls, and rooms. No library. Only the article "Chairs, couches and screens" says:

Both bookshelves and cupboards are arranged to store pictures and history, but it should not be too complicated like a bookstore.

These "picture histories" or books seem to be mainly for display, not for reading.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the reading interests and life sentiments of Jiangnan scholars were refined to the highest degree. Li Liweng's "Xian Qing Ou Ji·Living Room" has only one section on "study wall", but it has a lot of concise meaning:

The wall of the study room is most suitable to be chic; if you want it to be chic, avoid painting. The lime chalk wall is polished to make it extremely flat and covered with paper; secondly, paper is used to make the pillars and window lattice of the same color.

This kind of floor-to-ceiling decoration method is most suitable for the study room. Not only does it have good lighting, but its simplicity also fits the atmosphere of reading.

Zhang Zongzi's "Tao'an Dream Memories" is the article I admire most. The book says that "the three generations of the Yu family accumulated more than 30,000 volumes of books" and that "my father is a master who never lets go of volumes and does not feel tired every night." There are also many articles about his own pavilions and gardens. There is an article in "Plum Blossom Bookstore" that says, "The old house behind the building collapsed, and I built a four-foot foundation to build a large bookstore." However, after that, he only described the flowers and trees in front and back, not the books. "Xuanqie Pavilion" says, "When I was six years old, I studied with the gentleman in Xuanqie Pavilion", and only introduced the ingenuity of its architecture. Only "Tianjing Garden" writes about the reading life, which is the only exception:

The bathing hall of Tianjing Garden has high locust trees and deep bamboos, and the dark water is thousands of layers. Sitting opposite the orchid pond, you can see the water and the trees. Fish, birds, algae and waterfowl are like flying in the air. While I was reading, I felt the green color on my face. I opened the book by the window, and the words were all bright and fresh.

In the minds of those of us who live in six-sided reinforced concrete, I am afraid we cannot even imagine this state because we have never experienced it. Nowadays, people who are very powerful, very rich, or both very powerful and very rich can certainly create a "benefit and green" environment, coupled with high-tech facilities, their enjoyment will definitely exceed Zhang Dai's level. But they are busy both physically and mentally, and it is difficult to appreciate the flavor of "opening the window and revealing the fresh writing".

But Zhang Dai only wrote this short paragraph, and the next thing he wrote was about the lucky bamboo shoots passing through the garden in spring:

Choose a big bamboo shoot on top and throw it into the water to call out to the people in the garden. He said: "Catch the bamboo shoots!" He drummed his oars and flew away. The gardener picked it up in a small boat. It was shaped like ivory, white like snow, tender like lotus root, and sweet like sugarcane frost. There is nothing to say about cooking, but there is a sense of shame.

The article of more than one hundred words is finished.

I guess the ancients could read and write articles, but why didn’t they write more about their study rooms? Probably they regard reading as only a part of their private life. They may not all have the ambition to cultivate Qi Zhiping like Zeng Guofan, nor do they all want to show off like Liu Yuxi, so they cannot and do not want to write "Qiuque Zhai Ji" and Although "The Inscription on the Humble Room" takes the study as its title, it does not mean the study as an "ancient text". It is also true that everyone needs a "living room". After all, only Bai Xingjian and a few others wrote "Da Le Fu".

(October 2004)