jan 1, 400 BC - Jiǎndú (简牍) Bamboo slip book

Description:

An early form of the book in East Asia, jiǎndú were made by writing on bamboo slips, which were tied together side-by-side and could be rolled up into a scroll. They are an example of a pre-paper writing material used in East Asia (Galbraith, 2020).

About the image: Though some medical texts seem to have been recorded in the jiǎndú format, verifiable images of them are difficult to find for a Western researcher with limited knowledge of Chinese. This image is of a reproduction of a Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 200 CE) directory of weapons dated to circa 93 CE (Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek).

SOURCES
Galbraith, S. K. (2020). A Brief History of the Book: From Tablet to Tablet. Libraries Unlimited.

IMAGE
Chinese Book Made of Bamboo (reproduction). (93 C.E.). [Bamboo, ink]. Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek, Leipzig, Germany. https://mediengeschichte.dnb.de/DBSMZBN/Content/EN/SoundsSymbolsScript/01-chinesisches-bambusbuch.html

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