Study On The Commercially Published Books For Imperial Examination Candidates In Shandong In The Qing Dynasty

In the Qing Dynasty, the commercial publishing industry began to rise and grew by leaps and bounds in Shandong. There appeared many publishing houses all over the province and several publishing centers emerged. Among them, the "Four Publishing Houses " located in Liaocheng were the most famous. Publishing houses’commercial publishing activities had much relation to the market’s demands. Obtaining the maximum economic benefits was their most important pursuit. The imperial examination books, because of the vast market, became the major publications. The study on the commercially published books for imperial examination candidates in Shandong can help us understand the whole commercial publishing industry of Shandong in the Qing Dynasty much better and more comprehensively. First, the commercial publishing houses in Shandong had their own characteristics. They produced many kinds of books for imperial examination candidates, including almost all subjects of the imperial examinations, which were very rich in content."Explanations on the upper margin" and "Crowded lines and characters" were their layout characteristics. Second, the main publishing pattern of the imperial examination books was to re-publish the books which had been published by other publishing houses before. There were also a large number of "Southern Books", which refers to the books printed in the southern provinces and transported by the Shandong publishing houses to the north for sale. The third publishing pattern was that the Shandong publishing houses actively involving in the compilation of the imperial examination books. To market books, the publishing houses had taken various measures to make advertisements. The prosperity of the imperial examination books, to some extent, was a symbol of the development of the commercial publishing industry in Shandong in the Qing Dynasty.