Research On Book-collecting Activities During The Five Dynasties And Ten Kingdoms Period

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms,as a period connecting the Tang and Song Dynasties,have a unique historical position,which breeds changes in the turmoil and implies a new beginning in the revolution.At present,the current academic research on book collections is mostly concentrated in the Song Dynasty and subsequent dynasties,while the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms,as the prelude to the cultural prosperity of the Song Dynasty,the study of the collection activities of this period is relatively weak.This article starts from the four major collection systems of official collections,private collections,academies and temple collections,and comprehensively analyzes the collection activities during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.The paper mainly includes three parts.The first part introduces the social background of the development of the book collection in the period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms,mainly discusses the economic and cultural development.At that time,there were frequent wars in the Five Dynasties of the Central Plains.Although the southern countries were divided,the social environment was relatively stable compared to the North.The national economy is developing in twists and turns,and North-South trade was not discontinued,but the center of development shifted to the south.In the cultural field,the Five Dynasties continued the tradition of imperial examinations for scholars in the Tang Dynasty.Some regimes in the ten countries also held imperial examinations,and the way for scholars to learn to be an official has not been cut off.From the later Tang Dynasty,the Imperial College introduced printing from the private sector for the publication and distribution of Confucian classics,which brought convenience to the masses of scholars and stimulated the development of the book collection industry.The second part discusses the official collections,private collections,academies and temple collections of the period from the perspective of the circulation or utilization of the collections.The government's book collection activities are divided into two aspects: the search and storage of books.The compilation of factual records or the development of history editing by the history museum has promoted the development of the government's book collection.Encouraging private book donations,sending special personnel to purchase or through wars are the three official channels for increasing official collections.As far as the Central Plains dynasty was concerned,the function of the secretary province during this period continued the weakening trend of the middle and late Tang.The three museums,especially the history museum,became the main storage place for official collections.Although there are no complete three museums in the southern countries,individual regimes also set up special official treasuries,such as Xishu and Nantang.Private collections are discussed from the two perspectives of collection and management of classics.Bibliophiles obtain collections through purchase,copying,and acceptance of gifts,and on this basis,preserve and use their collections.They either built book buildings or school houses to share their collections,or lived in the mountains and forests for self-entertainment,or worked tirelessly to collate books,which shows the prosperity of private collection.As an important part of the book collection system,the collections of academies and temples also saw new developments during this period.In particular,while the academies gathered students to give lectures,the number of books also increased correspondingly,which affected the Song Dynasty and subsequent dynasties.The third part puts the Five Dynasties book collection in the long river of ancient Chinese history to examine its uniqueness,summarizes the characteristics of the book collection activities in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms at different levels,and summarizes its historical contributions on this basis.The book collection activities of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms completed their baton-style historical mission,promoted the circulation and preservation of books,and provided abundant materials for the compilation of official collections of the Song Dynasty or historical books.Analyzing the collection activities of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period can provide a glimpse of the changes in the scholarly style under the background of wars or divisions,which will contribute to the enrichment of studies in this period and even the history of ancient books,academic history and cultural history.At the same time,it may provide reference for us to collect and protect books and inherit culture during the war.