从甲骨文到E-publications

One of the world's four ancient civilizations, Chinese civilization has continued for thousands of years without interruption. It is a culture characterized by long history, rich content, unity in diversity, deep and far-reaching influence, and continuous development. To review 3,000 years of Chinese publishing is to see the reasons behind the changes that took place in each period of publishing activity. Therefore, the publication and presentation to the world of this illustrated summation of China's 3,000 years of publishing is of great significance.
The body of the book is divided into four periods, a chronological approach that displays China's publishing history and culture against the whole panorama of Chinese cultural development. Papermaking technology, printing technology and the application of modern digital technology are the transition markers, thus： 1. The invention of characters and the appearance of books-the era of writings on bamboo and silk； 2. The invention of papermaking technology——the era of books handwritten on paper； 3. The invention and development of printing technology-the printing era； 4. The development of digital technology, a profound influence on Chinese publishing-our current digital publishing era. Modern Chinese publishing is highly diverse in character, a pattern that encompasses print publishing, on-line publishing and mobile-phone publishing. The Appendices cover book layout and binding in ancient China, large-scale compilations and complete works, and books most representative of Chinese culture.
The aims of this retrospective of 3,000 years of publishing in China are to explore the essence of Chinese publishing history, to clarify the course and changes in its development, to carry forward this precious historical and cultural legacy, to add to the accomplishments of the publishing industry and to present more outstanding publications to the world.

《从甲骨文到E-publications：跨越三千年的中国出版（英文版）》是根据中华文明的整体特征和中国出版文化的独特性，以出版介质和出版方式为切入点和关注点，以中国出版史进程中的经典作品、重点出版机构和重要人物为中心，将三千年中国出版历史分为甲骨竹帛时代、纸写本时代、手工印刷时代、机械印刷时代和21世纪“大出版”时代几个专题，突出描述了中国当代出版业的发展情况，以及中国当代出版与世界交流及对世界出版业的贡献，用客观的、发展的眼光看待中国出版史中的重大命题，力求以丰富的内容和生动的形式来反映中国出版历史文化和中华文明的发展全景与丰富内涵。