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Eastern Culture Nucleus: Chinese Rare Books in the USC Libraries

Ming Dynasty: Zhengde-Chongzhen Reigns
明正德至崇禎時期

Biography of Zhang Yi (Zhangyi liezhuan 張儀列傳), the earliest dated Chinese rare book in the USC Libraries, 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), which provided a detailed account of the life of the influential itinerant political strategist (縱橫家) Zhang Yi 張儀 (d. 310 BC) of the Warring States (475-221 BC) period. Zhang traveled among the states and helped Qin (秦) State to dissolve the unity of the other states, paving the way for Qin to unify China in 221 BC. 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, enabling pairs of printed and blank pages to alternate throughout the book.

The Records of the Grand Historian, written from 109 BC to 91 BC, was the Magnum opus of the greatest Han dynasty historian Sima Qian 司馬遷 (145?-86? BC), in which he recounted Chinese history from the era of the Yellow Emperor (黃帝) until his own time. As the first systematic Chinese historical text, the Records profoundly influenced Chinese historiography and prose.

Further Reading:

Durrant, Stephen W. The Cloudy Mirror: Tension and Conflict in the Writings of Sima Qian. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995.

Other Rare and Special Editions from the Zhengde to Chongzhen Reigns of Ming Dynasty:

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This rhyming dictionary was compiled by the phonologist (音韻學家) Han Daozhao 韓道昭 of the Jin 金 dynasty in 1212. It attempted to revise the earlier published Extended Rhymes (Guangyun 廣韻) of the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), consolidating the rhyme schemes and reducing the overall number from 206 to 160.
Donated by Dr. Peter Marie Suski. Date/Edition: 1515-1516 | 明正德乙亥至丙子刻本.
Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037-1101; courtesy name 字 Zizhan 子瞻, literary name 號 Dongpo 東坡) was a preeminent scholar, writer, poet, painter, calligrapher, and statesman in the Northern Song dynasty. USC's copy is the original edition published by Mao Wei 茅維 (1575-1640?; courtesy name 字 Xiaoruo 孝若), a historian, poet, and dramatist of the late Ming dynasty. The ex libris seals on the caption title page (卷端頁) of this book 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).
Donated by Dr. Chow Tse-tsung. Date/edition: Between 1606 (Bingwu year of the Wanli reign 萬曆丙午) and 1620 | 明萬曆間茅維刻本.
Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu 春秋), one of the Five Classics (Wujing 五經 ) of Confucianism, is the first Chinese chronological history which covers the years from 722 BC to 479 BC. The Commentary of Zuo (Zuozhuan 左傳), a commentary to the Chunqiu, contains more complete and rich accounts and thus has been regarded as the prime source of the ancient history of China. The Chunqiu and Zuozhuan were often edited together during the later years of the Ming dynasty. This USC's edition includes annotations by the Ming official and scholar Sun Kuang 孫鑛 (1543-1613; courtesy name 字 Yuefeng 月峰) and is an excellent example of two-color printing in black and red (朱墨套印) in the late Ming dynasty.
Date: 1616 (Bingchen year of the Wanli reign 萬曆丙辰) . Edition: 朱墨套印本.
This is a manuscript copy of a printed book with the same title, compiled by Zhao Han 趙崡 (courtesy name 字 Zihan 子函; awarded with juren 舉人 in 1585 [the Yiyou year of the Wanli Reign of the Ming dynasty 萬曆乙酉年]) and possibly printed in 1618 (the Wuwu year of the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty 萬曆戊午年). It includes rubbings of steles from ancient times to the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) and focuses on the aesthetic evaluation of their calligraphy. The two ex libris seals, 馬硯珊收藏金石圖書記 and 馬書奎印 on the caption title page (卷端頁) of this manuscript are from Ma Shukui 馬書奎 (b. 1794; literary name 號 Yanshan 硯珊; awarded with juren in 1828), a collector and connoisseur of epigraphy (金石學) in the late Qing dynasty.
Donated by Dr. Peter Marie Suski. Date/Edition: 1618 | 萬曆四十六年.
The Collection of Songs among the Flowers 花間集四卷 (1620) 36
The Collection of Songs among the Flowers (Huajian ji 花間集) is the earliest extant anthology of poetry in China, which includes poems by literati poets in the late Tang Dynasty (618-907). The collection has been considered as the precursor to the Chinese ci 詞 poetry (song lyrics) of the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Donated by James Tang, USC's copy is an annotated edition by Tang Xianzhu 湯顯祖 (1550-1616), a prestigious Chinese playwright of the Ming dynasty who was contemporary with the renowned English dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and passed away in the same year. It was printed around 1620 according to the colophon (Gengshen year of the Wanli reign 萬曆庚申). This edition is an excellent example of two-color printing in black and red (朱墨套印) in the late Ming dynasty.
Donated by James Tang. Colophon date: 1620 (Gengshen year of the Wanli reign 萬曆庚申).

Further Reading:
- Shields, Anna M. Crafting a Collection: The Cultural Contexts and Poetic Practice of the Huajian ji (Collection from among the Flowers). Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006.
- Tan, Tian Yuan, Paul Edmondson, and Shih-pe Wang, eds. 1616: Shakespeare and Tang Xianzu’s China. London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, 2016.
media/flowers_caption page.jpg plain 2021-03-12T10:17:14-08:00 Link to the catalog record in the USC Libraries
Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037-1101; courtesy name 字 Zizhan 子瞻, literary name 號 Dongpo 東坡) was a preeminent scholar, writer, poet, painter, calligrapher, and statesman in the Northern Song dynasty. USC's copy is a selection of Su's poems by Tan Yuanchun 譚元春 (1586-1637; courtesy name 字 Youxia 友夏), a late Ming poet, writer, and literary critic who was one of the founders of the Jingling School (竟陵派).
Donated by Dr. Peter Marie Suski. Date/edition: 1621 (First year of the Tianqi reign 天啟元年) | 明天啟文盛堂刻本.
Miscellaneous Morsels from the South Slope of You Mount 酉陽雜俎二十卷 ; 酉陽雜俎續集十卷 (1628-1644) 20
This miscellany was written by Duan Chengshi 段成式‎ (d. 863; courtesy name 字 Kegu 柯古), a poet, writer, and civil officer during the Tang dynasty. It includes a wide range of subjects, such as natural phenomena, dreams, Buddhist stories, social practices, Daoist immortals, flora and fauna, anecdotes, medical prescriptions, wine, and food. USC's copy was collated and printed by Mao Jin 毛晉 (1599-1659; courtesy name 字 Zijin 子晉), a prominent book collector and publisher during the late Ming and early Qing periods. It is part of the ninth series of his collectanea entitled Jindai Mishu 津逮祕書 (See 中國叢書綜録, I, p. 56).
Donated by Dr. Peter Marie Suski. Date/Edition: Chongzhen 崇禎 reign (1628-1644) | 明毛氏汲古閣刻本.

Further Reading:
- Reed, Carrie E. "Motivation and Meaning of a 'Hodge-podge': Duan Chengshi's 'Youyang Zazu'."Journal of the American Oriental Society 123, no. 1 (2003): 121-45. DOI:10.2307/3217847.
- _____. A Tang Miscellany: An Introduction to Youyang Zazu. New York: Peter Lang, 2003.
media/youyangzazu.jpg plain 2021-03-12T13:32:50-08:00 Link to the catalog record in the USC Libraries

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Biography of Zhang Yi 張儀列傳 (1515) 9
This is the earliest dated Chinese rare book in the USC Libraries, a biography of the influential itinerant political strategist (縱橫家) Zhang Yi 張儀 (d. 310 BC) of the Warring States (475-221 BC) period and 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). Zhang traveled among the states and helped Qin (秦) State to dissolve the unity of the other states, paving the way for Qin to unify China in 221 BC. 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, enabling pairs of printed and blank pages to alternate throughout the book.
The Records of the Grand Historian, written from 109 BC to 91 BC, was the Magnum opus of the greatest Han dynasty historian Sima Qian 司馬遷 (145?-86? BC), in which he recounted Chinese history from the era of the Yellow Emperor (黃帝) 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.

Further Reading:
- Durrant, Stephen W. The Cloudy Mirror: Tension and Conflict in the Writings of Sima Qian. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995.
media/Zhang Yi.jpg plain 2022-01-28T12:27:03-08:00 Link to the catalog record in the USC Libraries