How did a new reading culture bloom in China?

1. The earliest kind of print was introduced in China in 594 AD.

2. The printing was done by pressing the inked woodblock on the paper, and as the paper of that time could not be printed on both sides so, the craftsmen did a peculiar thing they folded the paper on one side and then printed on both the sides, these were the Accordion books.

3. The printing was sponsored by the imperial state in China.

4. The Civil Services Examination was conducted by the state, and the print was done for the examination also the books for the same were printed and sponsored by the state.

5. As the candidates increased so did the volume of print, and it led to a boom in printing.

6. The culture of reading spread among merchants, officials and it became an activity which people did in their leisure time.

7. The printed material was also imported, and rich women also started to read.

8. By the seventeenth century, not only the officials but the merchants also used the print technology in their lives for their professional and other needs.

9. Women who were rich also started reading books and started printing and publishing their own books. Many scholar official’s wives were involved in doing this work.

10. The print was now not just a leisure activity.