As early as 3000 years ago in the late Yin Dynasty, people at that time took local materials and carved pictures and texts on tortoise shells or animal bones. Oracle Bone Inscriptions is not a real book, but an early prototype of the book. About the 8th century BC, Jane Eyre was the earliest book in China.
After the invention of papermaking in Han Dynasty, China had a real paper book. After the invention of block printing in Sui and Tang Dynasties, books became an important carrier of inheriting civilization and culture. In the Song Dynasty, Bi Zhen invented movable type printing, which greatly facilitated the printing of books in China and made it easier for people to read books. Through movable type printing, lithography and mechanical printing, it becomes easier to produce books on a large scale and the application of books becomes more common.
The function of books
1, leisure and entertainment function: books can make people happy. Roy Rand said that reading is eternal happiness. The pleasure of reading is that it opens a window for us to understand the world, gives us wings of imagination, gives us strength and encouragement when we are weak, and gives us a new friend when we are lonely.
2. Cultural inheritance function: a treasure house of wisdom handed down from generation to generation. The difference between human beings and wild animals is that from ignorance to civilization, wisdom is constantly increasing and accumulating.
For thousands of years, books have been accompanied by the progress of human civilization. From barbarism to civilization, from tradition to modernity, human ancestors tried their best to preserve the knowledge and skills they created and accumulated through various forms and pass them on to future generations. The book records the history, new discoveries, knowledge and experience of human beings, and future generations learn the wisdom of the ancients from the book.
3. Socialization function: an important carrier of human socialization. Wei Liaoweng, a famous Neo-Confucianism scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty, pointed out in "On the Law of Being King" that books should contain Tao, articles should be learned, words should be rewarded and punished, and pens and tongues should be whipped. Books are the carrier of communication and play an important role in guiding public opinion, spreading knowledge, values and behavior norms, and educating readers.
4. Economic function: realizing cultural products and knowledge. From the perspective of economic benefits, publishing books is like printing money. Books have the characteristics of cultural products and are profitable. Humans are eager for knowledge, and we are always willing to pay for knowledge and valuable information. Therefore, one of the ways to realize knowledge is to publish books to obtain copyright benefits.