A painting of a bookstore in ancient China by the contemporary artist Wu Xujing (1945–) Photo: ARTRON

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The Li Wa Zhuan, or The Tale of Li Wa, is a short novella composed during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). The novella is a fictional story about a romantic relationship between a nobleman named Zheng Sheng and a famous prostitute named Li Wa in Chang’an. The details of the story reveal the reality of daily life in the Tang Dynasty, one of which gives a snapshot of the lives of literati at that time. In order to help Zheng pass the imperial examination, Li accompanied him to a bookstore. She told him to pick the books he needed, a hundred ounces of silver in total worth, which they loaded onto their carriage and carried home.

 

Widespread bookstores
The earliest record of bookstores in China dates back as far as the Western Han Dynasty (202 BCE–8). A scholar named Yang Xiong (53 BCE–18) wrote in his book, Fa Yan, that people who liked reading books but refused to embrace Confucianism were just like the owners of bookstores, who sold books but did not understand them.

The spread of education and the development of literature in ancient China prompted the emergence of the book trade. Bookstores thrived during the Tang Dynasty, spreading over a wider area of the country. They were not only found in major cities such as Chang’an, Yangzhou or Luoyang, but also in remote frontier zones.

The wide spread of bookstores provided a great deal of convenience for literati to read and learn, hence cultivating many famous scholars. The Old Book of Tang recorded that Tang scholar Xu Wenyuan used to spend most of his time reading books in a bookstore operated by his elder brother, who raised the whole family by selling books. This experience helped Xu have good command of the Five Classics (five pre-Qin Chinese books that form part of the Confucian canon).

According to the existing documents, bookstores usually sold dictionaries, calendars, paintings, poetry anthologies, Buddhist sutras and novels. In a poem reminiscent of a legendary female politician of the Tang, Shangguan Wan’er (c. 664–710), the Tang official Lü Wen (771–811) stated that in 798, his friend Cui Renliang bought a novel named Yan Shen Ji in a market of Luoyang and found the signature and notes written by Shangguan Wan’er in this book. Surprised by this discovery, Lü composed the poem to honor Lady Shangguan, in which he mentioned that the fragrance left by Lady Shangguan had protected the book from insects, and her signature and notes were still clear to see.

The Yan Shen Ji is a compilation of legends, short stories, and hearsay concerning Chinese gods, Chinese ghosts, and other supernatural phenomena in the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern dynasties (220–589). Lü’s poem served as evidence that the Yan Shen Ji was handed down to the Tang Dynasty. It also serves as an example of the diversity of books at the time. Among all the books available in the market, those associated with the imperial examination were usually best sellers.

The system of money and bartering constituted the main forms of book transactions in the Tang Dynasty. Some bought books with gold. A poet named Mou Rong lamented in one of his poems that his large collection of books had drained all his money. Another poem by Li Xian indicated that he bartered his clothes for classics.

 

Supply of books
The flourishing book market of the Tang Dynasty contributed to an effective industry of seeking and purchasing books as well as hiring people to copy books.

In the book industry, books were purchased by owners of bookstores, who were nicknamed pu tou. Usually, the pu tou were a group of shrewd businessmen, searching for and purchasing books door to door.

A Tang poet named Wang Jian (c. 767–830) described in his poem that there were knocks at the door from time to time, and the visitors were usually the pu tou, coming for nothing else but to purchase poems. Sometimes, if the author was a well-known writer, the pu tou would highlight his name on his books to make it more attractive. For instance, after obtaining the works from Bai Juyi (772–846), one of the greatest poets of the Tang Dynasty, the pu tou would mark “Master Bai’s work” on the front cover of his books.

As businessmen, the pu tou tended to chase works of famous writers or books that appealed to the general populace. Therefore, works from unknown writers or not in popular demand were excluded from their “shopping list.” There are some poems that express the depression of unpopular writers whose poems or books begged for patronage and their struggling in poverty. Their poems could only be discovered by some professional pu tou with great perception and good taste. One such renowned pu tou was Sun Ying. He and his father were not only the owners of bookstores, but also good connoisseurs of antiques. Their capacity for judging antiques established them a reputation among collectors during the period.

As the market demand continuously increased, copying out books was the only way to increase the book supply. A special profession was created, which was called yong shu, referring to hiring people to copy out books. People who were employed to do this job were called yong shu ren. Most of them were poor literate people who had no other choice to make a living. According to existing documents, those yong shu ren earned a sparse living.

In the Tang market, books were pretty expensive, probably because the long-term copying made the high-volume production of books almost impossible. Meanwhile, the exquisite binding and decoration of books at the time also raised their prices. It was quite common to find complaints about spending too much money on books in Tang poems.

During that period, bookstores also attracted many foreign readers, including merchants, monks and envoys. Some of them shopped extravagantly in the bookstores.

 

Epitome of the literati life
With the advanced development of the book trade in the Tang Dynasty, book collecting became an important part of a literati’s life. Just like drinking and composing poems, collecting books served as a symbol of the literati and scholar-officials.

Since books played a significant role in a literati’s life, selling collected books to make ends meet was considered an extreme misfortune and a source of shame. Among various ways of making a living, it was said that there were three approaches unworthy of literati or other educated people, including selling one’s own house, books and slaves. People who scraped by this way would be treated with contempt. Hence, the Tang people cherished their collected books as a treasure that should be handed down through generations, and they told their children not to sell them.

According to the Taiping Guang Ji, or the Anthology of Tales From Records of the Taiping Era, a Tang official named Du Jian had collected tens of thousands of books. He made a note at the back of every book to warn his later generations that either dropping a book or selling a book was a deed of impiety. However, his warning didn’t protect his books well. It was said that some books marked with Du’s notes were found in another collector’s houses in the Song Dynasty.

For an educated person, one of the saddest possible moments is portrayed in a poem by the Tang poet Xu Yin. Since boats were essential vehicles for trading books in Jiangnan area, this poem describes a phenomenon where boats always rushed to a poor scholar’s house as soon as they heard the news of his death, because there were often some books left for sale.

 

Gu Wenbin is from the School of Literature and Journalism at Xiangtan University.

(edited by REN GUANHONG)