(a) "Not everyone welcomed the printed book." Explain the statement with examples from sixteenth century Europe.

(i) Not everyone welcomed the printed book, and those who did also had fears about it.

(ii) Many were apprehensive of the effects that easy access to the printed word and wider circulation of books may pollute the minds of the people.

(iii) It was feared that if there was no control over what was printed and read then rebellious and irreligious thoughts might spread.

(iv) If that happened the authority of ‘valuable’ literature would be destroyed.

(v) Expressed by religious authorities and monarchs, as well as many writers and artists, this anxiety was the basis of widespread criticism of the new printed literature that had begun to circulate.

(b) “By the seventeenth century, the flourishing of urban culture in China also led to diversity in the use of printing.” Explain the statement with examples.

(i) By the seventeenth century, as urban culture bloomed in China, the uses of print diversified.

(ii) Print was no longer used just by scholar-officials. Merchants used print in their everyday life, as they collected trade information.

(iii) Reading increasingly became a leisure activity.

(iv) The new readership preferred fictional narratives, poetry, autobiographies, anthologies of literary masterpieces, and romantic plays.

(v) Rich women began to read.

(vi) Many women began publishing their poetry and plays.

(vii) Wives of scholar-officials published their works and courtesans wrote about their lives.

(viii) This new reading culture was accompanied by a new technology.