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Eastern Culture Nucleus: Chinese Rare Books in the USC Libraries

Two Color 朱墨套印

Huajian ji 花間集 (The Collection of Songs among the Flowers) 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 copy is an annotated edition by Tang Xianzhu 湯顯祖 (1550-1616), a prestigious Chinese playwright of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). 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.

Other Fine Examples of Two-Color Printing from the Chinese Rare Book Collection:

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Chunqiu 春秋 (Spring and Autumn Annals), one of the Wujing 五經 (Five Classics) of Confucianism, is the first Chinese chronological history which covers the years from 722 BC to 479 BC. Zuozhuan 左傳 (The Commentary of Zuo) contains more complete and rich accounts than the Chunqiu and thus has been regarded as the prime source on the ancient history of China. The Chunqiu and Zuozhuan were often edited together during the later years of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). This USC 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.
Preface date: 1616 (Bingchen year of the Wanli reign 萬曆丙辰) . Edition: 朱墨套印本.