Life and death

…Books at that time were scrolls, made by gluing together long sheets of paper and placing a core inside to roll them up. At first, books were mainly Confucian scriptures, but as Buddhism became more popular, copying Buddhist scriptures also became more common, and the profession of copying scriptures, known as kyosho, was born. As paper production increased, the price of paper gradually became cheaper. …

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "Kyōsei" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…当時の書物は紙を長く張り合わせ，中に芯を入れて巻いた〈巻子本〉であった。書物ははじめ儒教経典を中心としたものであったが，仏教が盛んになるにつれ，仏教経典の抄写も盛んになり，抄写を職業とする〈経生〉が生まれた。紙の生産が進むにつれ，紙の値段はしだいに安くなった。…

※「経生」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報