De Dunhuang à Huizhou : notes brèves sur la géographie des premiers temps du livre imprimé en Chine

Abstract

This article falls into two parts. The first covers the printed book up to the middle of the 1 Oth century and the localities associated with the development of printing — especially Sichuan, for which we have many reports. The situation in Dunhuang or the capital is more complicated. From these places the data are sometimes contradictory. However, "this lack of evidence does not mean that xylography was not widespread in China before the 9th century, but only that — already present in Japan and Korea — it could just as well have originated in Sichuan as in Chang'an or Luoyang or somewhere else." The second part of the article deals with the period from the mid 9th to the 13th century and provides a critical analysis of the datings that have been suggested for the beginning of printing in Huizhou. Although from the time of the printing of the Classics (in the 1 0th century) the printing of Confucian reference works grew more common, and a fair number of works have survived from the time of the Southern Song, the part played by Huizhou publishers was, in the opinion of this writer, more limited than some other scholars have suggested.