Kangxi Three Towards The Central Body Engraved Books

The publishing work sponsored by the central institutions during the reigns of Emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong ranked first among all the like in the Qing Dynasty in terms of the quantity and the accomplishments. The Central Printing Institutions, whose main body was the Compilation Office of Yingwu Palace, not only contributed to reinforcing the governing of the ruling class but also erected a glorious milestone along Chinese official publishing history through comprehensively carrying on and developing the ancient Chinese printing and binding techniques as well as the movable-type printing technique. The version research on this unique group of publishing institutions attentively concerns with the related personages and history, therefore a detailed identification and analysis of the origin of the representative categories provide us with the basic ground to draw a correct conclusion.For instance, two imperially sponsored books "Complete Poetry of Tang" and "Pei wen yun fu" which were printed by Cao Yin and Others are especially of great importance for the early Qing printing history. However, although both printed and published in the same city, Yangzhou, the former was printed by Yangzhou Poetry Bureau, while the latter Yangzhou Book Bureau. Therefore, one word difference in titles of the institutions indicated twice formations of the bureaus.In fact, it was a peculiar phenomenon among the upper ruling class at that time that court officials would print books and tribute them to the imperial court. Court officials' active participation into book printing pushed forward the popularization of the books of Kangxi version, which were characterized by "Ruan zi jing xie jing ke" (which means elaborate writing and printing in regular style) and thereafter considered as the unique cultural symbol of that time.Initiated in the Song dynasty, the movable-type printing technique for the first time was adopted by the central institutions for their publishing activities during Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns and thus launched the greatest copper movable-type and wooden movable-type printing projects. Two books, "Collection of Ancient and Current Books" and "Series of Precious Books in Yingwu Palace" were considered as classics in Chinese ancient publishing history for their unique version features caused by the unusual printing experiences and techniques.The very printing activities of the central institutions during the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns reflect the overall cultural policies and ruling strategies during the heydays of the Qing Dynasty. Therefore they are priceless treasures along the timeline of Chinese Books. They not only made profound influence on the cultural development in those days but also hold great reference value to the academic research nowadays.