Bookbinding

What is a book? It is a great symbol of human civilization. It is the best embodiment of human wisdom, will and ideal. It is a material carrier for humans to express their ideas, disseminate knowledge, and accumulate culture. The binding art is the design of the structure and form of this material carrier, and is the “second natural world” created by human wisdom.

China has a long history of cultural origin. Ancient Chinese books in history, heads and feet, fences, layouts, typefaces, etc., all have unique national styles and aesthetic features. Meet the needs and aesthetic awareness of people at that time.

The 20th century was a major turning point for mankind. The rapid development of the industrial revolution led to a worldwide economic prosperity, and the human quality of life and mental outlook have been further improved. With the advent of new scientific and technological revolutions and the information society, science and culture are changing with each passing day, and human beings are not satisfied with the material conditions provided by reality alone. Nearly adopt a critical attitude to accept the highly developed material and spiritual enjoyment of the economy. Today's book binding design can only meet the needs of the times based on constant updating and improvement.

Human information dissemination began with the first phase of language and bonfire. It gradually entered the second phase of the invention of text and paper; the third issue of printing and publishing; the fourth issue of wired and wireless telephony and telegraphy. Invention applications; inventions and uses of electronic computers and integrated circuits up to the fifth period. Today, we are in the transition between the fourth and the fifth period. In addition to the print-based publications, there are also new types of books called multimedia CDs that use both visual and audio communication methods. Thus we should realize that the so-called modern book binding will contain a wider range of content and forms. The times demand that we must carefully study the artistic features of modern bookbinding. To see its development, pay attention to its changes. The static model will cease to exist. The new period puts forward higher requirements for designers and publishing workers. It is necessary to constantly improve and enrich their art accumulation, but also to work hard to learn the scientific and technological knowledge associated with the binding art. Adhering to independent creativity and continuous improvement can advance the fine tradition of bookbinding art in China and create a Chinese book binding style that belongs to a new era, thus achieving a unique position in the world cultural field. This is a work of real significance.

Throughout the history of book binding, books in different periods have different concepts and forms of binding.

The art of book binding gradually developed with the appearance of books. The form of the binding and the materials used vary according to the book binding method of each historical period. The world attire art experienced a “original → ancient → modern development process. The original period from the bone carving, to papermaking and printing before the invention of the original framing art. In the form are derived from the natural material of the ready-made materials, such as Letters were written on stones, shells, animal bones, metal, ceramics, and bricks, becoming "books" at that time. There were papyrus, waxed editions, mud editions, hand-written books, and parchment books abroad, which were unearthed to date. The ancient Egyptian scriptures were copied from ancient Egypt from 3,000 BC to 2500 BC The parchment that was first produced in the 2nd century BC in Pagama, Asia Minor, was popularized in Europe and became a gorgeous one. The parchment book has appeared in China in the form of brief policies, seals, etc. In the West, since humans invented paper and typography, they entered the period from ancient times to modern times. Religious manuscript books, Gutenbauer's paperback, pocketbook and royal special books, close to the modern hardcover form that appeared in Europe in the 16th century At the end of the 19th century, after the industrial revolution, the book design of the original modern design, represented by Maurice and Gropeth, appeared in the West. In ancient China, the book binding experience experienced the installation of scrolls, cyclones, disassembly, and butterflies. Backbone, back-loading, and line-loading, it was only after the May 4th New Culture Movement that China had a book of modern binding art forms.

The evolution of the structure and form of the book shows the footprint of human wisdom. Today, the development and improvement of modern printing and binding technologies provide a broader world for book binding design. It has led to a qualitative leap in book framing design. However, exploring and studying the binding art of Chinese ancient books will have a very important significance for us to develop book design with Chinese characteristics. Exploring the method of blending the traditional book beauty with modern books is the value of advocating the transformation of book form.

Ancient Chinese book binding forms have the following major categories:

1. Editing. Bamboo slips in the form of binding. The ancients wrote it in bamboo slips, and took it as a unit. After writing an article, it ended with a rope. In order to compile Jiancheng strategy, the first strategy must be to mark the title of this strategy book. After compiling Jiancheng strategy, with the axis at the end as the axis, roll it forward and put it into the chamber for collection.

2. Volume loading. Also known as scrolling equipment. Editing and scripting ancient book binding formats. After the prevalence of paper books, it also followed the practice of scripting. The binding was also the writing of a long strip of paper to form the form of a roll, so it was called a roll. Popular in the Tang and Tang dynasties. Now the decoration of Chinese painting also uses this kind of scroll to preserve the works.

3. Cyclone equipment. Cyclones are the transitional form of the reel to the leaf. The binding format is based on a strip of paper that is slightly wider and thicker than the pages of the book. The pages of the book are affixed to the left in a row and misplaced on the bottom paper. The collection is rolled up from the beginning to the end. It retains the appearance of the reel, which also solves the inconvenience of the inspection.

4. Disassembled. Also known as folding sub. It appeared in the late Tang Dynasty after the middle of the 9th century. The form of binding is to fold continuously around a certain number of lines, finally forming a stack of rectangles, front and back sticky cardboard, as a protective seal. The dismantling overcomes the problem of inconvenience in the roll.

5. Butterfly outfit. Apply to the characteristics of engraving and printing books to create a butterfly. This form of binding is to print the pages of the book, centered on the heart of the version of the suture, folding the word. On the side of the edition, paste one by one, open the book, center the edition, and open the book to the left and right. Song and Yuan Dynasties prevailed in this form of binding. Because the book page of the butterfly is a single page, the characters on the back are easy to appear on the back when reading, and there is a phenomenon that the front surface of the character is facing inward. The inconvenience of reading is the shortcoming of the butterfly suit.

6. Back pack. The form of binding is

The book page is folded, and the version is facing outwards. The left and right sides of the book page are facing the spine setting. The number of pages is set in a stack and the order is arranged. The paper is placed on the basis of the version of the mouth. The head, foot, and mouth are fixed. Taiping, forming a book back. A piece of paper that is slightly wider and stiffer than the book is used as the cover and back cover. This form of binding is from the back of the book, so it is called a back pack. Back-packed books appeared in the late Southern Song Dynasty. Yuan, Ming and Qing also use this form. Such as the Ming Dynasty "Yongle ceremony", the Qing Dynasty "Sikuquanshu" and so on.

7. Line installed. The framed form is similar to the package backloading. The pages are folded, the version is outgoing, the front cover and the back cover are each one, and the back of the book is stamped with a dash. Line-bound books are not only easy to read, but also difficult to break. Line decoration is the most advanced form in the history of Chinese traditional binding technology, with elegant Chinese national style binding features. The advent of thread-bound books has formed China's unique binding art form and has a strong national style. It has enjoyed a high reputation internationally and is a symbol of the "Chinese Book".

The front cover and back cover of the thread-bound book are mostly made of porcelain, paper, or fabric. There is a white sign on the left side of the cover. There is a title and a vermilion stamp on the title. The right side of the cover is stitched with clear water thread. The layout of the head is more than twice the foot, and branches, circles, columns, cards. Lines are divided into singles and doubles, the boundaries are text branches, the columns are black and red, the Wusi and Zhusi, the records are pedestrians and year and month address, and most of the books are illustrated, the layout has two pages of illustrations, Single-page illustrations, left-right texts, post-image below, or text-to-text interpolations.

China's ancient books, ink, incense, paper, layout, sparse, the word big eyes. It is elegant and straightforward, but it does not deliberately pursue gorgeousness. It is a feature of our country's bookbinding. The fonts are Yan, Liu, Ou, and Zhao. They pay attention to the harmony and culture of the book.

China's modern book-binding art began in the late Qing and early Republic of China, especially under the influence of the "New Fourth Movement" period of the New Culture Movement and the influence of Western science and technology. Under Mr. Lu Xun's active advocacy, Tao Yuanqing, Feng Zikai, Qian Junxi, etc. With the efforts of a large number of well-known framing artists, China's framing art has created a new era.

After 1949, the rapid development of the publishing industry and the advancement of printing technology and craftsmanship have opened up broad prospects for the development and improvement of bookbinding art. China's book-binding art presents a pattern of coexistence in many forms and styles. During the “Cultural Revolution”, the art of book decoration was plague, and “Red” became the main form of the time. In the late 1970s, the art of bookbinding was revived. Into the 1980s, the reform and opening up policy greatly promoted the development of the binding art. With the active involvement of modern design concepts and modern science and technology, the art of bookbinding in China has become even more distinctive and innovative.