On the Act and Representation of Reading in Medieval China‪.‬

I. Books, throughout the medieval period in China, were precious objects, handed down as treasures from generation to generation in families wealthy or fortunate enough to possess them. It is therefore not surprising that the sixth-century scholar Yan Zhitui [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (531-591), in his remarkable Yanshi Jiaxan [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], sternly emphasizes how the care of books is a serious matter and that to allow books to be carelessly strewn about one's study is injurious to moral character. Moreover, he also feels it necessary to point out that,