Abstract
In the Ming Dynasty, groups proliferated, were “no longer restricted to the intellectual class,” nor “a special right of scholars.” In recent years, commercial publishing research in the Ming Dynasty has gradually received attention. However, scholars’ attention is still lacking on these questions: When did these books for specific begin to enter the public's field of vision? Who compiled the books? And what effect it had on the community? This paper attempts to sort out the development of reader communities and materials in the Ming Dynasty, taking the as the subject of and how they construct rules, habits, and interests in the Ming Dynasty. As for books, the object of reading, how popular book break the class of text within the elite class and begin to provide the general public with access to knowledge. Also, the impact of social background on the subject in the specific historical conditions of the Ming Dynasty deserves attention. Few scholars have thus far discussed the specific profile of readers and reading materials. Reading is essentially a collective phenomenon; are as much as individuals as members of a group. The social background of a reader shapes in a significant way his skills, concepts, and interpretation strategy. By combing through the social environment, we can explore the behavior and of a particular historical period from a new perspective. This study attempts to expand the cultural and social context on which the reading action is based and discuss the social conditions for a particular set of reading norms that oriented the reader before the act of reading.
Highlights
Reading history is a subfield of the history of books which is not especially concerned with the material form, production and consumption patterns of books, but more considers the reader and the text
The addition of the emerging reading group allowed the development of books that differed from that of the "elite class." The popular daily-use books in the late Ming Dynasty, such as Santai wanyong zhengzong, broadened the subject matter of reading to include the discussion of "personal well-being" – life, old age, illness, death and so on
Through the discussion of the development and changes of "readers" and "reading materials" and the combing of the social background of a particular historical period, reading history provides a new perspective, allowing us to deepen our understanding of the history of thought and culture in this period based on a series of social effects between the "world of readership " and the "world of the text." This paper attempts to discuss the relationship between the different "reading groups" and "book types" in the Ming Dynasty, analyze the formation of the reading ethos in the Ming Dynasty and the downward diffusion of the reading group, and summarize the factors affecting the above changes
Summary
Reading history is a subfield of the history of books which is not especially concerned with the material form, production and consumption patterns of books, but more considers the reader and the text. One of the contributions of reading history is to let the researchers realize that the "text" is to be read by the reader to produce meaning. Through such an interpretation and communication process, the purpose of the text can become part of the thoughts or culture of a particular period. The rapid increase in the number of books, the participation of new reading groups, and the emergence of professional publishing literati gave rise to new reading interests and habits, and changed the traditional knowledge structure, making the reading culture of this period intriguing
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