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Eastern Culture Nucleus: Chinese Rare Books in the USC Libraries

History 史部

Excellent Rubbings of Stone Carvings (Shimo juanhua 石墨鐫華) is a manuscript copy of a printed book with the same title from the forty-sixth year of the Wanli reign (萬曆四十六年 [1618]) of Ming dynasty. It includes rubbings of steles from ancient times to Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) and focuses on the aesthetic evaluation of their calligraphy. USC's copy is donated by Dr. Peter Marie Suski and the two ex libris seals, 馬硯珊收藏金石圖書記 and 馬書奎印 on the first page of the manuscript are from Ma Shukui 馬書奎 (courtesy name 字 Yanshan 硯珊; awarded with juren 舉人 in 1828), a collector and connoisseur of epigraphy (金石學) in the late Qing dynasty.

Other Special and Rare Editions in the History Branch:

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This is the earliest dated Chinese rare book at USC libraries. It is a chapter from the rare 1515 edition of The Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji 史記) of the Ming Dynasty (明正德十年白鹿洞書院刊本). This book is bound in butterfly binding (蝴蝶裝), which is the earliest known form of binding for printed books in China, developed during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). In butterfly binding, printed sheets are folded inwards and pasted together at the fold, so that pairs of printed and blank pages alternate throughout the book.
The Records of the Grand Historian, written from 109 BC to 91 BC, was the Magnum opus of Sima Qian 司馬遷 (145?-86? BC), in which he recounted Chinese history from the time of the Yellow Emperor until his own time. As the first systematic Chinese historical text, the Records profoundly influenced Chinese historiography and prose.
Date/Edition: 1515 | 明正德十年白鹿洞書院刊本.
This multi-volume catalogue of bronze and stone inscriptions was originally compiled by Zhao Mingcheng 趙明誠 (1081-1129), a noted antiquarian and husband of the greatest woman poet Li Qingzhao 李清照 (1084-ca. 1155) of the Song dynasty. The ex libirs seals on this contents page are from the donor Dr. Chow Tse-Tsung 周策縱 (1916-2007), a world-famous scholar on the May Fourth Movement and The Dream of the Red Chamber (Hong lou meng 紅樓夢); and Wu Chongxi 吳重憙 (1838-after 1911; literary name 號 Shilian 石蓮), a politian, connoisseur of epigraphy (金石學) and collector of the late Qing and Republican periods.
Donated by Dr. Chow Tse-Tsung. Date/edition: 1650 | 清順治七年謝世箕刻本.
This is a pioneer study of around 300 inscriptions on the bronze vessels and steles from ancient times to the Ming dynasty authored by Gu Yanwu 顧炎武 (1613 – 1682). Gu was a renowned patriot, philosopher and philologist in the late Ming and eary Qing periods and was considered as the founder of School of Han Learning (漢學派). The ex libris seal 東園藏書 on the first page of this book is from Liu Kun 劉焜 (1867-1931), a politician, scholar and collector in the late Qing and Republican periods.
Donated by Dr. Peter Marie Suski. Date/Edition: 1662-1708 | Kangxi 康熙 reign.
The Yizheng House Revised Illustrated Catalogue of Antique Objects from the Xuanhe Hall 亦政堂重修宣和博古圖錄 (1752) 10
Illustrated Catalogue of Antique Objects from the Xuanhe Hall (Xuanhe Bo gu tu 宣和博古圖), completed towards the end of the Xuanhe 宣和 era ( 1119-1125) of the Northern Song dynasty, includes over 800 bronze objects from the imperial Xuanhe Hall 宣和殿. This revised edition was printed by Huang Sheng 黃晟 (courtesy name 字 Xiaofeng 曉峰; house name 室名 Yizheng tang 亦政堂 ), a book collector and publisher during the Qianlong 乾隆 reign (1736-1795) of the Qing dynasty.
Donated by Dr. Peter Marie Suski. Date/edition: 1752 | 明萬曆刻清乾隆壬申亦政堂重修本.

Further Reading:
- Hsu, Ya-hwei. "Antiquities, Ritual Reform, and the Shaping of New Taste at Huizong's Court." Artibus Asiae 73, no. 1 (2013): 137-80. Accessed January 26, 2021. https://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24240770.
media/bogutu.jpg plain 2021-01-25T17:51:07-08:00 Link to the catalog record in the USC Libraries
This book consists of three epigraphic studies from the Yuan to early Qing periods, namely Examples of Bronze and Stone Inscriptions (Jinshi li 金石例) compiled by the Yuan official and geographer Pan Angxiao 潘昂霄 (active 1246-1340; literary name 號 Cangya 蒼崖), Select Examples of Epitaphs (Muming juli 墓銘舉例) compiled by the Ming scholar Wang Xing 王行 (1331-1395; courtesy name 字 Zhizhong 止仲), and Essential Examples of Bronze and Stone Inscriptions (Jinshi yaoli 金石要例) compiled by the prominent early Qing intellectual Huang Zongxi 黃宗羲 (1610-1695; literary name 號 Lizhou 梨洲). Jinshi li is the first in-depth research on the literary styles of stele inscriptions (碑文) in China. Huang Zongxi is one of the most influential scholars, Confucian philosophers and political activists druing the Ming-Qing transition period.
Donated by Dr. Peter Marie Suski. Cover date: 1755 (Yihai year of the Qianlong reign 乾隆乙亥).
Illustrated Catalogue of Ancient Jades 古玉圖譜 (1779) 8
This voluminous book was purportedly claimed to be a catalogue of jades from the imperial collection of Emperor Xiaozong 孝宗 (1127-1194) of the Southern Song dynasty, but it is considered by scholars as a forgery published by Jiang Chun 江春 in 1779. Although this multi-volume set contains some incorrect information, it includes a detailed description for each object and thus is still regarded as a useful reference book for the study of Chinese jades.
Donated by Dr. Peter Marie Suski. Date/edition: 1779 | 清乾隆四十四年江春康山草堂刻本.

Further Reading:
- Wilson, Ming. "What Do Books Tell Us about Their Buyers—A Case Study of the Guyu Tupu." In The Art of the Book in China, edited by Ming Wilson and Stacey Pierson, 105 –15. London: Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 2006.
media/guyutupu.jpg plain 2021-01-22T14:08:48-08:00 Link to the catalog record in the USC Libraries
This catalogue of antiquities was originally compiled by Wang Qiu 王俅 (active 1176) during the Southern Song dynasty. It contains inscriptions of bronze objects, mirrors and seals from the Shang (1600-1046 BCE) to Tang (618-907) dynasties. USC's copy is a revised edition (校本) by Zhang Rongjing 張蓉鏡 (active 19th century) who also added two volumes of Investigation of Discrepancies (Kaoyi 考異) to the catalgue. The ex libris seal 南陵徐乃昌校勘經籍記 on the first page of the book is from Xu Naichang 徐乃昌 (1869-1943), a famous connoisseur in the late Qing and Republican periods. The other ex libris seal here is from Zhou Guoyi 周國頤, a late Qing official and scholar.
Donated by Dr. Peter Marie Suski. Colophon date: 1811. Edition: 清嘉慶十七年鴛湖張氏醉經堂刻本.
Catalogue of Xiqing Antiquities (Xiqing gujian 西清古鑑) is an illustrated catalogue of ancient bronze utensils and other objects from the Shang (1600-1046 BCE) to Han (206 BCE-220 AD) dynasties in the imperial collection of the Qing dynasty. It was commissioned by the Qianlong 乾隆 emperor (1711-1799), compiled under the supervision of the Qing official and scholar Liang Shizheng 梁詩正 (1697-1763), and completed in 1751. Appended to the book is a sixteen-volume record of coins (錢錄) from ancient times to the Ming dynasty. The structure of the book follows Illustrated Catalogue of Antique Objects from the Xuanhe Hall (Xuanhe Bo gu tu 宣和博古圖) of the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127). Each entry contains an illustration, a detailed description of the dimension and weight, and a discussion of the inscriptions. USC's copy is an exquisite, large copper-plate facsimile of the woodblock palace edition, which was printed in Japan in 1888. The original printer’s colophon is missing from the copy, which reads "光緖十四年邁宋書館在日本銅鐫 (Engraved on the copper plate by Maisong Shuguan in the fourteenth year of Guangxu reign [1888])". The ex libris seal 陶齋 is from Duanfang 端方 (1861-1911; literary name 號 Taozhai 陶齋), a late Qing Manchu high-ranking official who was also a well-known collector of antiques.
Date/edition: 1888 | 清光緒十四年邁宋書館日本銅版影印本.
Talking about Stone [Inscriptions] 語石 (1909) 9
This is the first comprehensive research on stone inscriptions with a broad coverage of historical time periods, geographic locations, and subjects. Particularly, it includes steles from other countries and regions (such as Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Europe and Africa) and expands the scope from steles to a wide variety of types of stone inscriptions, including bridges and pillars, well fences, stone figures and lions, etc. The author Ye Changchi 葉昌熾 (1849-1917) was a notable book collector and scholar of epigraphy (金石學) during the late Qing and Republican periods.
Donated by Dr. Peter Marie Suski. Date/edition: 1909 | 清宣統元年自刻本.

Further Reading:
- Ma, Hongju 马洪菊. Ye Changchi yu Qing mo Min chu jin shi xue 葉昌熾与清末民初金石学. Beijing: Min zu chu ban she, 2014.
media/yushi.jpg plain 2021-01-22T13:48:19-08:00 Link to the catalog record in the USC Libraries
This is an illustrated catalogue of bronzes from the imperial collection of the Qing dynasty, which was originally compiled in 1793 by order of the Qianlong 乾隆 emperor (1711-1799). It is the sequel to the more comprehensive Catalogue of Xiqing Antiquities (Xiqing gujian 西清古鑑) completed in 1751. Printed in 1911, USC's copy is a fine lithographic facsimile of a manuscript version of the catalogue from the Palace of Tranquil Longevity (甯壽宮). It beautifully reproduced the imperial seals stamped on the contents page of the original manuscript.
Date/edition: 1911 | 清宣統三年上海商務印書館石印本.