Printing began in Japan in the 8th century with the production of the Hyakumantō darani, though they were produced for ritual purposes not for reading. Texts were printed for reading from the 11th century onwards and from the beginning of the 17th century commercial publication took off rapidly and so successfully that by the 1660s catalogues of books in print were printed. So surely it is perverse to describe the Edo period as a manuscript culture? Well, no. Because the focus on Japan as a print society like that of contemporary Europe has blinded us to the dominance of manuscript culture and to the categories of knowledge that could only be accessed via manuscripts. Manuscript culture in Japan and the activities that sustained it have been little studied in Japan, let alone Korea or China, but in this talk I will show what we miss by ignoring manuscripts.

Location

Levis Faculty Center, Room 210 (919 W Illinois St., Urbana)

Date

Apr 25, 2024   4:00 - 5:30 pm  

The event is sponsored by CEAPS. Click here for further information.