An Inquiry into the Formation of Readership in Early China: Using and Producing the *Yong yue 用曰 and Yinshu 引書 Manuscripts

The material features of the Shanghai Museum *Yong yue 用曰 and Zhangjiashan Yinshu 引書 manuscripts structure their texts in ways different from each other, inviting questions on production methods and the influence of form on the reception of content. I provide an overview of developments in manuscript formatting, noting a gradual development towards increased visual formatting in manuscripts over time. The article examines what the use of codicological features such as manuscript materiality, layout, and punctuation reveal about manuscript production and how these translate to the reception and understanding of text. It analyzes how such features in the two manuscripts contribute to a sense of textual unity, order their respective contents, and facilitate different modes of reading such as vocalization, memorization, browsing, and linear reading. I propose that developments in manuscript formatting increasingly facilitated visually clearer, context-independent, and text-centered modes of reading, allowing for a dynamic involvement of readers with the modes of engagement structurally favored by the manuscripts. This, in turn, possibly reveals broader shifts towards the formation of readership in Early China.