Changes

==Styles of Traditional Bookbinding==

==Styles of Traditional Bookbinding==

*The [[handscroll]] is perhaps the most traditional form of assembling sheets of paper (or silk) into a larger whole. Sheets or sections were arranged horizontally, pasted (or stitched, in the case of silk) to one another, end to end, and wrapped around a wooden dowel to form a scroll.

*The [[handscroll]] (J: 巻子本 ''kansubon'' or 巻物 ''makimono'') is perhaps the most traditional form of assembling sheets of paper (or silk) into a larger whole. Sheets or sections were arranged horizontally, pasted (or stitched, in the case of silk) to one another, end to end, and wrapped around a wooden dowel to form a scroll. Scrolls have the disadvantage over other forms of books (J: 冊子本, ''sasshibon'') of it being difficult to skim or skip forward to certain sections; whereas with a book one can simply flip the book open to a later section, a scroll has to be scrolled through from the beginning, a lengthy process. For this reason, along with the older history of the form (i.e. it being an older, more traditional form), and the association of scrolls as the format of imported Buddhist knowledge, scrolls came to often be the choice format for prestigious gifts, and treasures, to be kept and preserved, but not necessarily to be regularly opened or read.

*Folding albums, called ''orihon'', are also called "accordion books." Sheets of paper, each folded vertically, are pasted together at the edges, forming a collection which can be opened either one page (one "opening") at a time, or, stretched out to reveal several openings at once.

*Folding albums, called ''orihon'', are also called "accordion books." Sheets of paper are pasted together as in a scroll, and then folded to form a collection which can be opened either one page (one "opening") at a time, or, stretched out to reveal several openings at once. This form originated from scrolls being folded in the course of their use.

*Butterfly binding (''detchôsô'' or ''kochôsô'') is somewhat similar to accordion binding, but involves pasting the pages together all at one end, forming a spine, such that the outer edges (at the left and right extreme of each opening) are individual and free.

*Butterfly binding (''detchôsô'' or ''kochôsô'') is somewhat similar to accordion binding, but involves pasting the pages together all at one end, forming a spine, such that the outer edges (at the left and right extreme of each opening) are individual and free. In such books, openings alternate between opening quite freely and easily (where merely folded), and opening less completely (where pages are pasted).

 

*Album binding, or ''gajôsô'', also known by several other names, is a form related to butterfly binding, but with pages being pasted together at the outer edge, away from the spine. This is a common format for Chinese albums, and is quite rare among Japanese examples earlier than the Edo period. Whereas butterfly-bound books often alternate content pages with blank ones (the result of each page being illustrated or inscribed on only one side), the album binding hides these unsightly blank sides, providing an uninterrupted experience. However, such albums are open, or loose, at the spine, being held together only by the pasted outer edges, and are thus quite fragile.

*''Fukurotoji'' or ''yotsumetoji'' binding, also known as "stitch" or "pouch" binding, is perhaps the most common, and the most commonly associated with traditional Japanese books. Pages are folded such that the fold becomes the outside edge of the page; in other words, the left page of one opening, and the right page of the next opening, are two halves of the same sheet of paper - the outer edge of the page is in fact the fold between the two. This is known in Japanese as the ''hashira'' ("pillar") or ''hanshin'' ("heart of the printing block"), and often contains the title of the book, and the page number, printed right across the folded edge of what becomes the outer edge of a page of the book. The pages are then bound at their free-floating (non-folded) edges to form a spine, by poking holes through the pages and linking them with twisted pieces of paper called ''neji'', or "screws." These hold the pages together to form the book. Covers are then affixed with string, stitched in a distinctive pattern around, usually, four holes. Taller books sometimes have five holes instead of four, and books bound in this way in China during the reign of the [[Kangxi Emperor]] (r. [[1661]]-[[1722]]), have six. Those bound using a flat cord instead of silk thread are called by the term ''yamato-toji'' (lit. "Japanese binding").

*''Fukurotoji'' or ''yotsumetoji'' binding, also known as "stitch" or "pouch" binding, is perhaps the most common, and the most commonly associated with traditional Japanese books. Pages are folded such that the fold becomes the outside edge of the page; in other words, the left page of one opening, and the right page of the next opening, are two halves of the same sheet of paper - the outer edge of the page is in fact the fold between the two. This is known in Japanese as the ''hashira'' ("pillar") or ''hanshin'' ("heart of the printing block"), and often contains the title of the book, and the page number, printed right across the folded edge of what becomes the outer edge of a page of the book. The pages are then bound at their free-floating (non-folded) edges to form a spine, by poking holes through the pages and linking them with twisted pieces of paper called ''neji'', or "screws." These hold the pages together to form the book. Covers are then affixed with string, stitched in a distinctive pattern around, usually, four holes. Taller books sometimes have five holes instead of four, and books bound in this way in China during the reign of the [[Kangxi Emperor]] (r. [[1661]]-[[1722]]), have six. Those bound using a flat cord instead of silk thread are called by the term ''yamato-toji'' (lit. "Japanese binding").