A Rabbit in the Moonlight: The World’s First Printed Advertisement

In the collection of China’s National Museum of History rests an unassuming copper plate from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD) that revolutionized our understanding of commercial history. This printing plate, when inked and pressed onto paper, produced what scholars now recognize as the world’s earliest surviving printed advertisement – predating European printed ads by four to five centuries.

The advertisement features bold characters proclaiming “Jinan Liu Family Kung Fu Needle Shop” at the top, with a central illustration showing the mythological Jade Rabbit pounding medicine under the moon. Flanking this image are instructions to “recognize the white rabbit in front as our mark,” while the bottom contains a detailed sales pitch: “We purchase premium steel rods to craft our refined needles, ensuring household satisfaction. Wholesale buyers receive special discounts – remember the white rabbit!”

What makes this 12th-century artifact extraordinary isn’t just its early date, but its sophisticated understanding of branding. The Liu family didn’t merely advertise their product (needles); they promoted their shop as a trusted brand, complete with what may be the world’s first documented trademark – the white rabbit motif. This symbol carried layered meaning in Chinese culture, referencing both the folk saying “with enough effort, an iron rod can be ground into a needle” and the lunar rabbit’s legendary medicine-making with an iron pestle – cleverly implying the shop’s needles represented the pinnacle of craftsmanship.

The Commercial Revolution of Song Dynasty China

The Liu family’s advertising savvy didn’t emerge in isolation. During the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), China experienced what economic historians now recognize as a commercial revolution that transformed urban life. Contemporary records like Meng Yuanlao’s “Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital” and Wu Zimu’s “Record of the Millet Dream” document a vibrant marketplace where specialized shops proudly displayed their brand names:

– “Qian Family Dried Fruit Shop”
– “Ge Family Honey Dates”
– “Yu Family Headdress Shop”
– “Double Gourd Eye Medicine Shop”
– “Sun Sheep Fine Wines Tavern”
– “Ghost’s Cave Teahouse”

Medical practitioners particularly embraced branding strategies. In Dangtu County, the “Xu Tower” surgical clinic earned its name from generations treating abscesses beneath a painted tower emblem. A physician in Raozhou famously displayed a distinctive sign showing “a man holding a hook leading a black wooden pig,” earning him the nickname “Butcher Gao” – which paradoxically became a trusted medical brand.

This proliferation of commercial identities reflected profound economic changes. The Song government implemented policies encouraging trade, standardized currencies, and developed advanced credit systems. Urban populations swelled, with the capital Bianliang (modern Kaifeng) reaching an estimated million inhabitants – all creating fertile ground for competitive marketing strategies.

From Mandatory Marks to Valued Brands: The Evolution of Trademarks

The concept of marking goods actually predates the Song Dynasty by millennia. Ancient Chinese artisans practiced “wulei gongming” (物勒工名) – literally “inscribe the craftsman’s name on objects” – as a quality control measure mandated by the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). Originally intended to trace defective products for punishment, this practice gradually evolved into voluntary branding as certain workshops earned reputations for excellence.

Archaeological finds reveal how Song manufacturers actively protected their brand equity. Bronze mirrors from Huzhou often bore inscriptions like “Authentic Huzhou Shi Family Second Uncle’s Mirror,” with the emphatic “authentic” clearly addressing counterfeit products. Similarly, the Liu needle shop’s rabbit trademark served both to distinguish their wares and deter imitators.

Literary sources confirm consumers actively sought these trusted brands. The Song-era story “Madame White Snake” includes a telling detail where a character specifically praises his umbrella as being from “Honest Shu Family of Clear Lake” with “84 bamboo ribs and purple bamboo handle” – demonstrating brand recognition that would feel familiar to modern shoppers. Contemporary writer Wu Zimu noted capital residents preferentially sought out “famous and celebrated” merchants – the Song equivalent of today’s brand-conscious consumers.

The Information Age of Imperial China: Newspapers and Mass Media

Parallel to commercial branding, Song China developed another modern institution – the newspaper. By the late Northern Song, Bianliang’s streets echoed with vendors crying “Morning News!” – not the official government bulletins (邸报), but privately published “small papers” (小报) that pioneered features we associate with modern journalism:

1. Professional newsgathering: Networks of “palace scouts,” “ministry scouts,” and “office scouts” systematically collected information
2. Profit motive: Publishers earned substantial income from sales
3. Diverse sources: Combining official leaks with street rumors
4. Timeliness: Focusing on “news” (新闻) – a term already in use
5. Popular appeal: Outpacing dry official bulletins in readership
6. Wide distribution: Circulating from capital to provincial offices
7. Editorial content: Including analysis and even fabricated decrees

These papers appeared daily (“writing one sheet per day”) and reached nationwide audiences through printed editions – challenging the conventional wisdom that daily newspapers originated in 17th-century Europe. While authorities periodically banned them for spreading unauthorized information, the papers’ persistence testifies to the Song government’s relatively tolerant attitude toward private enterprise and information flow.

The Publishing Industry and Commercialization of Knowledge

Perhaps the most transformative commercial development was the birth of a true publishing industry. Before the Song, books remained rare handwritten treasures. Scholar Su Shi (1037-1101) recalled elders struggling to find copies of basic histories like “Records of the Grand Historian.” But with advances in woodblock printing, Su noted how “market people now reproduce the works of various philosophers daily by the thousands of sheets.”

By the 12th century, specialized book districts thrived. The Eastern Capital’s Great Xiangguo Temple hosted bustling book markets, while Fujian Province’s Jianyang County became a publishing powerhouse with at least 36 documented printing houses. The county’s Chonghua Village held biweekly book fairs attracting nationwide dealers, with Jianyang editions reaching “all regions, no matter how distant.”

Publishers competed through quality and innovation. Jianyang shops pioneered illustrated classics with “pictures above, text below” layouts. Hangzhou’s Chen Bookshop maintained an editorial library of rare texts and cultivated relationships with poets like Dai Fugu, who humorously described his livelihood: “This seventy-year-old with snow-white hair wanders rivers and lakes selling poetry collections.”

Brand consciousness extended to publishing. Printers like Chen added distinctive “brand marks” (牌记) to their editions. One relocated publisher, Rong Liulang, included a detailed colophon explaining his move from Bianliang to Hangzhou after the Jurchen invasion, assuring customers of his faithful reprints of northern editions – an early example of brand continuity messaging during disruptive times.

Legacy: The Song Blueprint for Modern Commerce

The commercial innovations of Song China represent more than historical curiosities. They reveal a society developing modern economic practices centuries before their supposed European invention:

1. Brand marketing: The Liu needle shop’s integrated approach – combining memorable visuals, quality claims, and wholesale incentives – wouldn’t seem out of place today
2. Consumer culture: The emergence of brand-conscious shopping behaviors
3. Information economy: Professional journalism and mass media distribution
4. Knowledge industries: Large-scale commercial publishing and author compensation

These developments didn’t continue uninterrupted – subsequent dynasties sometimes reversed Song economic liberalism. Yet the period stands as remarkable proof that sophisticated market institutions emerged organically from Chinese society, challenging traditional narratives about the origins of commercial modernity.

When we examine the humble needle shop advertisement today, we don’t just see an ancient sales pitch. We witness the dawn of branding, the beginnings of consumer culture, and the vibrant commercial spirit of an era that – for a few centuries – made China the most advanced marketplace on earth. The white rabbit still pounds its mortar, reminding us how deeply our modern commercial world connects to innovations conceived a millennium ago in Song Dynasty workshops.