contributor
26,975
edits
Changes
From SamuraiWiki
Jump to navigationJump to searchPrinting and Publishing (view source)
Revision as of 19:25, 6 December 2014
, 19:25, 6 December 2014→Pre-Modern Printing
==Pre-Modern Printing==
==Pre-Modern Printing==
Throughout the pre-modern period, up until the late 16th century, printed materials in Japan were almost exclusively Buddhist texts. The vast majority of these, it is believed, were not produced to be read, but rather were produced as religious offerings. The donor or patron gained religious merit through commissioning and funding the production of the work, and from then donating it to a temple; the work, stored away inside a temple's storehouse or otherwise buried or hidden away, would then go unread.<ref>Keyes, 11.</ref>
Throughout the pre-modern period, up until the late 16th century, printed materials in Japan were largely Buddhist texts, and were almost exclusively produced or sponsored by Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, court nobles, the Imperial Court, or samurai elites. The vast majority of these, it is believed, were not produced to be read, but rather were produced as religious offerings. The donor or patron gained religious merit through commissioning and funding the production of the work, and from then donating it to a temple; the work, stored away inside a temple's storehouse or otherwise buried or hidden away, would then go unread.<ref>Keyes, 11.</ref>
The printing of religious texts in significant volume took off beginning in the 11th century, the one exception being the 8th century production of the ''Hyakumantô darani''.<ref name=smith334>Smith. p334.</ref>
The printing of religious texts in significant volume took off beginning in the 11th century, the one exception being the 8th century production of the ''Hyakumantô darani''.<ref name=smith334>Smith. p334.</ref>
In the [[Muromachi period]], non-Buddhist texts such as the [[Confucian classics]] and books of Chinese poetry began to be printed as well, sponsored chiefly by [[Zen]] temples. However, none of these enjoyed widespread circulation, and the vast majority of literary and other non-religious texts continued to circulate, to the small extent that they did, through hand-copied manuscript copies.<ref>Ikegami, 291-292.</ref>
==Tokugawa Period==
==Tokugawa Period==
