Abstract: In medieval China,people learned knowledge through transcription and created new knowledge by altering the content of what they chose to copy.The explosion of knowledge in medieval China induced the advent of the categorizing work and propelled the birth of the type of literature known as Leishu.Leishu aimed to collect various knowledge from diverse sources,examine its validity and authenticity,and present it systematically.The compilation of Leishu broke the physical and structural standards of the traditional books and thereby reset the boundary of knowledge.The abridged versions of monographs composed by scribes were more suitable for wide circulation and made a great contribution to the spread of knowledge.

Key words: transcription, Leishu, abridged versions, handwritten copies, the history of knowledge