Propagation of the Kerchief-box Editions
Following Prince Xiao Jun's rendition of "Five Classics in a Kerchief-box," Xiao Yi),
Emperor Yuan of the Liang dynasty, also produced small-sized texts. An avid
bibliophile, he had been collecting books for four decades and was able to assemble
some 80,000 juan (fascicles) of texts. In the Jushu (Assembling Books) chapter of his
work Jinlouzi (Master of the Golden Chamber), the emperor said, "I had Kong Ang
transcribe the Qian Hanshu (History of the Former Han), the Hou Hanshu (History of the
Later Han), the Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian), the Sanguozhi (Records of the
Three Kingdoms), the Jinyangqiu (A Chronicle of Jinyang), the Zhuangzi (Master Zhuang),
the Laozi (Daode Jing), the Zhouhoufang (Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies),
and the Lisao (Sorrow After Departing) into a total of 634 juan (fascile). These texts are stored
in a kerchief-box, and the characters are extremely fine and small." This record
indicates that Xiao Yi had a vast collection of books, and many of which were
transcribed in small characters. It is obvious that the kerchief-box editions made by
Xiao Yi surpassed Xiao Jun’s renditions in both scope and quantity, encompassing not
only the Confucian classics studied by the literati, but also other types of books.
The kerchief-box edition started to flourish and received wide circulation roughly
around the time the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) gave way to the Southern Song
dynasty. At that time, woodblock printing was already facilitating the publication and
circulation of books. On the other hand, commercial print houses also published many
classics, histories, collections of masters, imperial examination preparation
materials, contemporary texts, lexicons, rhyme books, and literary collections. The
kerchief-box editions released by the print houses, commonly known as "small copies,"
"small volumes," or "small booklets," did not have uniform dimensions, but were
considerably smaller than regular books. Their ease of carriage and circulation and
their low cost contributed to their widespread popularity in the market, and went on to
influence the woodblock prints in the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming, and Qing dynasties. The
introduction of lithography and stereotypography in the late Qing dynasty led to the
printing of a large number of small-sized lithographic and stereotypographic editions,
providing literati and readers with more purchase options.
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Shiqishi Xiangjie (A Detailed Abridged Edition of the Seventeen Official History Books)
Written by Lu Zuqian, Song dynasty Shendu Studio imprint by Liu of Jianyang, 15th year of the Zhengde reign (1520), Ming dynasty
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Zhouli (The Rites of Zhou)
Written by Lu Zuqian, Song dynasty Shendu Studio imprint by Liu of Jianyang, 15th year of the Zhengde reign (1520), Ming dynasty
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Shizi Jiaoshoushu (Literacy Textbook)
Compiled by the Bureau of Compilation and Translation, Ministry of Education Stereotype edition by the Ministry of Education Press, 1st year of the Xuantong reign (1909), Qing dynasty
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