Study Of Huainan Press

Huainan Press is a relatively special one of the official engraved-book presses in the late Qing Dynasty(晚清官书局).Not only worked for continuing civilized pulse of traditional publishing career in the ancient city of Yangzhou,Huainan Press also responded to the demand to revitalize the national culture and education by printing books at the time.On the basis of the historical data and previous research findings,this thesis attempts to trace the whole story of Huainan Press from different angles in the modern Chinese background.It aims to redefine the position of Huainan Press in the cultural history of Yangzhou.The body is divided into the following six parts:Introduction discusses the academic background of this thesis.After the war between the Qing Empire and Taiping Heavenly Kingdom(太平天国),the official presses were built by local governors like Zeng Guofan,which made significant contributions to the recovery of culture and education after the war.Compared with the heated discussion of the other official presses at that time,Huainan Press has been rarely concerned.It’s high time to explore this press as far as possible.The first chapter is The Setup of Huainan Press,explaining why and how it was founded.Yangzhou once was the economic and cultural center of Southeast China,with a long history of block printing back to the Tang Dynasty.Of all the areas the war affected,Yangzhou had been damaged severely.It was necessary to rebuild the local culture after the war.In the year of 1869,Fang Junyi held the post of Lianghuai commissioner of salt revenue(两淮盐运使),and established a press in Yangzhou to apply to the scholars’ needs.That is Huainan Press.Pang Jiyun,Fang’s temporary successor,constructed the articles of Huainan Press,which helped it work effectively.The second chapter is The Operation of Huain an Press,presenting the whole progress of the press.Throughout the history of Huainan Press,there are several important figures who played the Key roles.Ma Xinyi adopted Huainan Press as one of the Five Press to carve the History of Sui Dynasty《隋书》)in The TwentyFour Histories(《二十四史》).Zeng Guofan indicated Huainan Press to carve Thirteen Classics Explanatory Notes and Commentaries(《十三经注疏》).Fang Junyi guided Huainan Press to work for inheriting the culture of Jianghuai area.Hong Rukui,another Lianghuai commissioner of salt revenue,committed to innovate after he took charge of the press,brought it a second wind.Based on former researches,the market circulation and wood block printing techniques of Huainan Press are also involved in this chapter.The third chapter is The Fade of Huainan Press,aiming to represent how the press dissolved,and investigate the causes for the decline.According to the historical documents,the possessions of Huainan press was shipped to Jiangning after it incorporated into Jiangchu Press(江楚编译局),and eventually destroyed during the Anti-Japanese War.It was the Reform Movement in 1898(戊戌变法)that made the judgment.But the underlying reasons that caused Huainan Press to decline,are the mismanagement,overstaffing,and the recession of salt business in Yangzhou.The fourth chapter is The Products of Huainan Press,analyzing the quantity and quality of books Huainan Press published.Integrating kinds of existing table of contents and message of several libraries,a new bibliography is worked out in this chapter.The master copies and collation are served as references to judge the quality of books that Huainan Press published.In terms of quality,there are still lots of imperfections of Huainan Press.The fifth chapter is The Cultural Contribution of Huainan Press,uncovering Huainan Press’ uniqueness and cultural significance under the complex background of late Qing Dynasty as well as in the long carved history of Yangzhou.Huainan Press was different from other official presses in the same period,it was greatly dependent on the salt industry in Yangzhou.Therefore,it should assume the responsibility of inheriting the block printing tradition in this area.Fang Junyi and his partners built and operated this press,not only for publishing books,but also for recalling and reconstructing the culture of Yangzhou.There are three appendixes attached below,The Chronicle of Huainan Press,The Sales Catalogue of Huainan Press,and The Price List of Huainan Press in 1934.