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Chapter 3. Impagination, Reading, and Interpretation in Early Chinese Texts

  • Michael Puett
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Impagination – Layout and Materiality of Writing and Publication
This chapter is in the book Impagination – Layout and Materiality of Writing and Publication

Abstract

This chapter explores the forms of pagination that developed in the early Chinese tradition. It traces these developments from the fourth century BC (when the primary material used for textual production was bamboo) through the first several centuries of the common era (when paper became the primary material). It argues that the forms of pagination that emerged during this period were related to changing understandings of text, interpretation, commentary and the authorities of the author and the commentator.

Abstract

This chapter explores the forms of pagination that developed in the early Chinese tradition. It traces these developments from the fourth century BC (when the primary material used for textual production was bamboo) through the first several centuries of the common era (when paper became the primary material). It argues that the forms of pagination that emerged during this period were related to changing understandings of text, interpretation, commentary and the authorities of the author and the commentator.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. List of Figures VII
  4. List of Tables XIII
  5. List of Contributors XV
  6. Introduction 1
  7. I Slips, Scrolls, and Leaves: Before the Codex
  8. Chapter 1. Text and Paratext in the Greek Classical Tradition 23
  9. Chapter 2. Tabernacles of Text: A Brief Visual History of the Hebrew Bible 47
  10. Chapter 3. Impagination, Reading, and Interpretation in Early Chinese Texts 93
  11. Chapter 4. Sūtra Text in Pecha Format: Page Layout of the Tibetan Vimalakīrtinirdeśa 111
  12. Chapter 5. Between the Lines and in the Margins: Linguistic Change and Impagination Practices in South Asia 151
  13. II The Printed World
  14. Chapter 6. The Margin as Canvas: A Forgotten Function of the Early Printed Page 185
  15. Chapter 7. Page Layout and the Complex Semiotic System of Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century Chosŏn’s Samganghaengsildo 209
  16. Chapter 8. The Transformation of the Typical Page in the Handpress Era in the Southern Netherlands, 1473–c. 1800 237
  17. Chapter 9. Writer’s Block or Printer’s Block: The Book and Its Openings in Early Modern China 273
  18. Chapter 10. Placing Texts on Chinese Pages: From Bamboo Slips to Printed Paper 301
  19. Chapter 11. Recovering Translation Lost: Symbiosis and Ambilingual Design in Chinese/Manchu Language Reference Manuals of the Qing Dynasty 323
  20. Chapter 12. Japanophone Glosses (kunten) in Printed and Digitized Manuscripts 351
  21. III Beyond the Book
  22. Chapter 13. Beyond the Physical Page: Latest Practice of Scientific Publication 377
  23. Index 399
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110698756-004

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. List of Figures VII
  4. List of Tables XIII
  5. List of Contributors XV
  6. Introduction 1
  7. I Slips, Scrolls, and Leaves: Before the Codex
  8. Chapter 1. Text and Paratext in the Greek Classical Tradition 23
  9. Chapter 2. Tabernacles of Text: A Brief Visual History of the Hebrew Bible 47
  10. Chapter 3. Impagination, Reading, and Interpretation in Early Chinese Texts 93
  11. Chapter 4. Sūtra Text in Pecha Format: Page Layout of the Tibetan Vimalakīrtinirdeśa 111
  12. Chapter 5. Between the Lines and in the Margins: Linguistic Change and Impagination Practices in South Asia 151
  13. II The Printed World
  14. Chapter 6. The Margin as Canvas: A Forgotten Function of the Early Printed Page 185
  15. Chapter 7. Page Layout and the Complex Semiotic System of Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century Chosŏn’s Samganghaengsildo 209
  16. Chapter 8. The Transformation of the Typical Page in the Handpress Era in the Southern Netherlands, 1473–c. 1800 237
  17. Chapter 9. Writer’s Block or Printer’s Block: The Book and Its Openings in Early Modern China 273
  18. Chapter 10. Placing Texts on Chinese Pages: From Bamboo Slips to Printed Paper 301
  19. Chapter 11. Recovering Translation Lost: Symbiosis and Ambilingual Design in Chinese/Manchu Language Reference Manuals of the Qing Dynasty 323
  20. Chapter 12. Japanophone Glosses (kunten) in Printed and Digitized Manuscripts 351
  21. III Beyond the Book
  22. Chapter 13. Beyond the Physical Page: Latest Practice of Scientific Publication 377
  23. Index 399
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