All posts by Emily Jantz

Woodblock print editions from the Qing dynasty: Kanxi era

Stories and Treasures, ,

Eleven rare woodblock editions published between 1662 and 1722 (the reign period of the Qing dynasty Kanxi Emperor) were discovered and cataloged at UW as part of this CLIR project. Here are a few examples:

欽定篆文六經四書 (Qin ding zhuan wen liu jing si shu)

《欽定篆文六經四書》 七冊
(清)李光地[等]奉敕纂
清康熙[1662-1722] 北京內府刻本

“Confucian classics in seal characters, authorized by imperial order” (7 volumes)
Compiled by Li Guandi under imperial auspices
Published in Beijing between 1662 and 1722
Woodblock printing

 

 

韋齋集 (Weizhai ji)

《韋齋集》 十二卷, 四冊
朱松
清康熙四十九年[1710]朱昌辰等刻本

“Collected works of Weizhai” (12 chapters in 4 volumes)
By Zhu Song (also known as Zhu Weizhai)
Published in 1710 by Zhu Changchen
Woodblock printing

 

 

温飛卿詩集 (Wen Feiqing shi ji)

《温飛卿詩集》 四冊
温庭筠
清康熙[1697-1722]刻本

“Collected poems of Wen Feiqing” (4 volumes)
By Wen Tingyun (also known as Wen Feiqing)
Published between 1697 and 1722; publisher unknown
Woodblock printing

Zhijia Shen & Jing Liu Present at CLIR Symposium (2015-03-12) UPDATE

News and Events, Scholarly Engagement
Cover of "Innovation, Collaboration and Models", Proceedings of the CLIR Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives Symposium, March 2015
Cover of “Innovation, Collaboration and Models”, Proceedings of the CLIR Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives Symposium, March 2015.

In March, 2015, Project Co-PIs Zhijia Shen and Jing Liu presented at the CLIR Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives Symposium, the capstone event to the seven-year Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives program, funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The two-day symposium and unconference brought together more than 180 participants, including many past and current grant recipients.

The proceedings of the symposium—in which more than 20 symposium presenters examine inter-institutional collaboration, student and faculty involvement, cataloging, arrangement and description, audiovisual collections, science collections, and outreach—have now been published.  The full report is available for download or viewing online at http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub169.  Or directly view the paper by Zhijia and Jing, entitled “International Collaboration to Reveal Rare Chinese Materials Hidden for Half a Century”, at http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub169/shenetal.pdf.

歷代繼統紀年總錄 (Li dai ji tong ji nian zong lu)

Stories and Treasures, ,

歷代繼統紀年總錄三卷
(清)湯棫撰
清嘉慶5年[1800]湯棫木活字本
6冊

“Complete chronology of successions through the ages”
Written by Tang Yu
Published in 1800
Movable-type edition, printed from wooden type
6 volumes

Li dai ji tong ji nian zong lu

此書採用編年的體裁，將從盤古開天地直到明朝滅亡的中國歷史大事依序陳述羅列。此書不見各家著錄，此版又系木活字印本，是一部極其罕見的古代奇書。

This book uses an annalistic style. It enumerates in chronological order the important events in Chinese history from the purported creation of heaven and earth by Pan Gu to the fall of the Ming dynasty.

This appears to be a unique edition, and one that was never copied by later writers.  Moreover, it was printed using wooden movable-type, making it an extremely rare and fascinating string-bound book.

Item description and Chinese explanation by Boyue Yao; English translation by Xinyi Xu, edited by Emily Jantz.

莫高窟六字真言碑 (Mogao ku liu zi zhen yan bei)

Stories and Treasures

莫高窟六字真言碑（現代拓片）
守朗刻石
元至正八年[1348]立石
原碑現藏敦煌研究院

“Mogao Grotto Six Syllable Mantra Stele” (Rubbing, modern)
By Shoulang
Stele erected in 1348, now held by the Dunhuang Academy

This rubbing is from a stele that was erected by Shoulang under the order of the Xining King Sulaiman (fl. 14th century). The stele was inscribed by Shelanlingzhan, and is now preserved in the Dunhuang Academy. The three Chinese characters mo gao ku on the top part of the stele stand for the Mogao Grotto. A portrait of a four-arm Guanyin is in the center, around which are inscribed a six-syllable mantra in six scripts: Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, Tangut, Phagspa, and Mongolian.

 

Pictures from the CLIR Site Visit on October 30, 2015

[linked from other posts]

各省官兵花名冊 (Ge sheng guan bing hua ming ce)

Stories and Treasures, ,

各省官兵花名冊
(清)佚名編
清道光[1821-1850]寫本
10冊

“Muster Rolls of Various Provinces”
Anonymous
Produced between 1821 and 1850
Manuscript
10 volumes

Ge sheng guan bing hua ming ce

這是一部清代全國各省八旗官兵的花名總冊，內列每人的職務姓名等，年代不詳，據推測大約在道光年間，是對當時全國軍隊成員的一次集中清點登記，由此可知當時清代軍隊的分佈、結構和規模，具有極高的史料價值。

This is a nationwide muster roll of the officers and soldiers of the Qing dynasty’s Eight Banners army. The year is unknown, but presumably it was written around the period of the Daoguang Emperor. It is an extensive counting and registering of the members of the military at that time, recording everyone’s names and posts. According to this, we can know the distribution, structure, and scale of the Qing army at that time, which makes this book of great historical value.

Item description and Chinese explanation by Boyue Yao; English translation by Xinyi Xu, edited by Emily Jantz.

貴州百苗圖 (Guizhou bai Miao tu)

Stories and Treasures, ,

貴州百苗圖
(清)佚名編繪
清末[1821-1911]刻本(彩色套印)
1冊

“Hundred Figures of Miao Minorities in Guizhou”
Anonymous painter from the Qing dynasty
Published between 1821 and 1911
Woodblock printing (multi-color)
1 volume

Guizhou bai Miao tu
Sample page from “Guizhou bai Miao tu”

這部書描繪了近百個貴州各地各苗族部落的男女人物，每幅圖後有專門的文字介紹，資料珍貴，有學術價值。彩圖顏色豐富，鮮艷逼真；繪畫精美細緻，生動形象，極具藝術觀賞性。製作方法是採用手工的木版水印技術，達到了很高的工藝水準。中國國內收藏的貴州苗圖大多為手繪本，木版水印卻很少見，華大收藏的這部彩色套印本彌足珍貴。

This book depicts nearly one hundred male and female figures from the Miao ethnic minority groups living in various parts of Guizhou Province. On the back of each picture is a detailed textual description. This information is precious and has great academic value.

The illustrations are colorful, bright, and vivid, displaying impressive and meticulous artistic technique. Unlike most editions of the “Hundred Figures of Miao Minorities in Guizhou” collected domestically in China, this edition is not hand-painted.  Instead, the illustrations are colored using a quite technologically advanced multi-color woodblock printing technique. Thus this edition, held by UW, is quite valuable.

Item description and Chinese explanation by Boyue Yao; English translation by Xinyi Xu, edited by Emily Jantz.

甲午大吉詩編 (Jia wui da ji shi bian)

Stories and Treasures, ,

甲午大吉詩編一卷 續編一卷
(清)許郊[等]撰
淸光緖20年[1894]杭州許郊刻本
1冊

“A Collection of Jia Wu Da Ji poetry”
Written by Xu Jiao, et al.
Published in 1894 in Hangzhou
Woodblock printing
1 volume

A collection of more than one hundred heptasyllabic quatrains, all composed in acrostic poetry form, celebrating the birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi and eulogizing the good auspices of the jia wu year (1894).

Item description and explanation by Boyue Yao, edited by Emily Jantz.

Zhijia Shen & Jing Liu Present at PRRLA (2015-10-20)

News and Events, Scholarly Engagement

CLIR Project PI Zhijia Shen and Co-PI Jing Liu gave a presentation about the project at this year’s annual conference of the Pacific Rim Research Libraries Alliance (PRRLA).  The conference was held in Eugene, Oregon, from October 19-21, 2015, and had the theme Greater Together: PRRLA Libraries at the Network Level.

Their presentation, entitled “Collaboration to Reveal Hidden Treasures at PRRLA Libraries: UW-UBC CLIR Project on Chinese Materials”, focused on our project’s collaborative nature.  It addressed issues and challenges facing the collaborative work, such as those of working with policies, laws, and regulations of different countries; shared what was learned in terms of project planning and management, resource sharing, staff exchange and training between the two institutions across national boundaries, and with academic libraries in China; and demonstrated how international collaboration can optimize libraries’ capacity and resources to accomplish difficult tasks, and how we become greater when putting our efforts together.

Click to view the slides from this presentation.