Shells	Clay	Bronze Tray	Stone Tablet	Bamboo
Maps		Wood	Silk	Paper

TSIEN'S METHODS AND PURPOSES

Tsien's book "is intended to reconstruct from available evidence a general picuture of the Chinese written records from about 1300 B.C., when the earliest known Chinese writing is found to have been recorded, to about A.D. 700, when printing is believed to have been in process of initiation" (xxii).

"Continuity, productivity, and popularity constitute the basic characteristics of Chinese books and documents, which are unique among all ancient civilizations in the world" (199).

"The writings preserved on hard surfaces, including bones, shells, metal, stone, jade, pottery, and clay, are generally called inscriptions; while those on perishable materials, such as bamboo, wood, silk, and paper, are usually considered "books"" (199).

Permanent materials were generally for "vertical communication across generations" whereas perishable materials were primarily for "horizontal communication among contemporaries" (200).

"The general principles of construction of the Chinese written language have remained unchanged," but variations have gone from "complex to simple construction, from irregular to stabilized forms, from formal to free lines, and from slow to rapid execution" (203).

Chinese vocabulary grew from the known 5,000 characters on bone inscriptions to over 9,000 around A.D. 100, and his more than five times as many today (204).

Literate society was primarily aristocrats up to the time of Confucius, but the spread of Buddhism increased the literate population and stimulated the development of printing (205).