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基本的な装訂の種類4 – 綴葉装

基本的な装訂の種類4 – 綴葉装
4
The next binding type we look at is the tetsuyōsō or multi-section binding. Some people call it tetchōsō some others use different kanji and call it retsujōsō or retchōsō, so there is no single, universally accepted way of calling it. The leaves are folded in half just as in the detchōsō binding, but instead of pasting each individual leaf, they are first stacked in sets of about five and then folded. When you have a sufficient number of sets (sections), you punch holes near the top and bottom like this, and bind them loosely together with thread to keep them in place. The book is now ready to be written on. After the writing, the covers are applied.
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Holes are punched near the crease and thread is passed through them. It is very similar to the traditional bookbinding method in the West. Formerly, when people were not aware of the existence of tetsuyōsō binding in China, many believed the format to have been invented in Japan, and so it was common to call it Yamato-toji (Japanese-style binding). However, later on, in 1900 a vast trove of texts dating from pre-Tang times were discovered in the Dunhuang caves in China, including numerous ones closely resembling tetsuyōsō books, and so it became clear that the method was in fact of Chinese origin.
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Although so unpopular in China that it was not known about its existence until recently, in Japan the method was consistently popular throughout the pre-modern era, from the Heian to the Edo periods. I have already mentioned this when I introduced paper types, but tetsuyōsō books have text on both sides of the leaf. I will say more about these in a later unit, but there are two basic types, this landscape format here and the standard portrait-oriented one.
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The thread used is thin and very easy to break, and the reason is that a stronger one could damage the paper, so rather than risking damage to the paper, the norm was to use a thinner, relatively fragile one and replace it as many times as necessary. Here I would like to introduce a number of close relatives of the tetsuyōsō method. As I mentioned earlier, tetsuyōsō books have writing on both sides of the paper, so the thicker, less absorbent hishi paper was the common choice. Occasionally, however, thinner, more permeable paper was also used. This is one example. The paper is the thinner choshi paper, but the binding process is the same as in all tetsuyōsō books.
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You notice it when you turn the pages, but the leaves are folded widthwise before stacking them in order to have an extra unused inner side, that’s why you get a fold here. This type of binding is variously called origami tetsuyōsō (folded-paper tetsuyōsō) or fukushiki retchōsō. Using this technique, it is possible to make a tetsuyōsō book using thin, inexpensive paper, but another reason is that hishi paper is very heavy. This is much heavier, and the origami tetsuyōsō is very light, so by using the lighter choshi paper you can make a very light book, which is why we know that people who needed to travel frequently, such as Buddhist priests and renga masters, often used this method.
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This book, too, bears the name of the priest who owned, so it belonged to a priest.

続いては紐や糸で紙を綴じる2つの装訂です。数的にも多いものなのでしっかり理解する必要があります。

4. 綴葉装(てつようそう・てっちょうそう)

*Tetsuyōsō* (“multisection” binding) 図1. 綴葉装(単位:帖)

綴葉装は列帖装(れつじょうそう)とも言います。5枚前後の紙を重ね縦に二つ折したものを「折(おり)」と言いますが、それを必要なだけ重ねて、折り目に明けた穴に糸を通して綴じ合わせ、表紙を付けた装訂法です。

Goshūiwakashū 図2. 綴葉装の例 四半 後拾遺和歌集
Click to take a closer look to the completed version with beautiful covers: Vol1, Vol2

Kin’yōwakashū 図3. 金葉和歌集 〔江戸前期〕
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Hekianshō 図4. 僻案抄 文明13年写
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両面書写が可能な斐紙や叩いて斐紙に近づけた楮紙などを用いるのが原則です。平安以降江戸時代に至るまで、上等な装訂として長く用いられ続けました。日本発生説もありましたが、1900年に中国西域の敦煌で発見された、洞窟に閉じ込められ唐時代以前の文献群である所謂「敦煌文書(とんこうもんじょ)」に同様の装訂の本が発見されており、やはり中国より伝わったものと考えられています。中国ではあまり普及しなかったようで、日本でのみ愛され多用されましたので、日本的な印象の強い装訂と言えます。和歌や物語など日本の古典作品はこの装訂で作られたものが目立ちます。薄い紙でも一度横に二つ折りしてから用いるとこの装訂ができます。これを折紙綴葉装(複式列帖装とも)と言います。軽くて見栄えがすることから、連歌師や医師・僧侶などの旅や移動の多い人物に愛用されたようであります。数え方は「帖」です。

Sagoromo no *sōshi* 図5. 折紙綴葉装の例 〔狭衣の草子〕 一帖
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Bunpitsu mondō-shō 図6. 折紙綴葉装の例「文筆問答鈔」
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古書から読み解く日本の文化: 和本の世界

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