Over 3000 years ago in Shang Dynasty, there were already characters carved or written on tortoise shells and animal bones in China. Since most of thee inscriptions were divination scripts or records of events, they could not be strictly regarded as books.

The oldest books in China were made of bamboo slips appeared in late Shang Dynasty about 3000 years ago. Bamboo was made into slips for writing and then the written slips would be strung together with silk, linen or ox hide thread. This was the earliest book in China.

Wood slips were in use at the same time with bamboo slips. Silk fabric was another kind of writing material used in ancient China. Compared with bamboo and wood, silk is lighter, easier to carry, but few people could afford it.

During the Western Han Dynasty, paper was invented and was widely used in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Paper. Gradually paper replaced bamboo, wood and silk due to its low cost and convenience to carry.