Out in Paperback / Publishing, Culture, and Power in Early Modern China

Publishing, Culture, and Power in Early Modern China by Kai-wing Chow, Stanford UP '04, 397 pages, ISBN #0-8047-3368-6. Index, bibliography, notes, appendices, character lists.

Much has been written about the transformative influence of the printing industry on Western culture, literature, and commerce. Now University of Illinois historian Kai-wing Chow demonstrates that a parallel phenomenon was taking place in China as well during the 16th and 17th centuries. The economic and operating advantages of wood block printing, Chow writes, allowed it to hold sway as the dominant technology long after movable type was introduced.

The author challenges the prevailing view that books weren't widely available to consumers because of their high cost of production, arguing that inexpensive books were indeed available and read. Not surprisingly, commercial publishing had a profound effect on literary culture, "particularly on the civil service examination. The expansion of the book market produced publicity for literary professionals whose authority came to challenge the authority of the official examiners."