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.
四體合璧文鑑: 三十二卷
(清)佚名撰
清[1644-1911]刻本
4冊
“Four-Script Textual Mirror: 32 chapters”
Anonymous compiler from the Qing dynasty
Published between 1644 and 1911
Woodblock printing
4 volumes
正文首列滿文詞語，其右側類蒙文譯詞，再次列藏文譯詞，藏文譯詞左下角列漢文譯詞，漢文譯詞右側標註滿文切音字。該辭典收詞豐富，為清代滿、蒙、漢、藏文字的互譯提供了較為全面的資料，其標註的滿文切音字對研究清代滿漢語音學也有重要價值。
This is a dictionary of Manchu, Chinese, Mongolian, and Tibetan. The Manchu words are written in the first column on the left, followed by the Mongolian words in the second column, and the Tibetan words in the last column. The Chinese words are written in the lower left corner of the last column. Each Chinese word is also annotated (to the right of the word) using the Manchu phonetic alphabet.
This dictionary contains a very large number of words and provides nearly comprehensive translations among the Manchu, Mongolian, Chinese, and Tibetan languages from the time of the Qing dynasty. Additionally, the inclusion of the pronunciation in the Manchu alphabet for the Chinese words provides important and valuable information for the study of Manchu-Chinese phonetics.
Item description and Chinese explanation by Boyue Yao; English translation by Xinyi Xu, edited by Emily Jantz.
至聖先師像（民國拓片）
允禮繪
清雍正十二年[1734]繪刻
原碑現藏陝西西安碑林
“Portrait of the Most Honored Teacher” (Rubbing, Republic of China period)
Original painting by Yunli
Stele engraved in 1734, now held in the Xi’an Forest of Steles
This rubbing is from a Qing dynasty stele that portrays Confucius in the center. On the top, the title reads “Zhi sheng xian shi xiang,” which means “portrait of the most honored teacher”—that is, Confucius (551-479 BC). Inscriptions in the upper right corner are followed by the artist’s seal in both Chinese and Manchu. The portrait was painted by Prince Yunli, also known as Guoyi qinwang, who was the 17th son of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing (reigned 1662-1723). The original stele was erected in 1734, and is now preserved in the Forest of Steles in Xi’an.
This beautiful book was found in our first search through materials with traditional East Asian binding. (Although this one has a different style than the the majority of our string binding.) Fortunately, the item, published in 1936, and its case are in great condition, not marred by insect or other damage. This book consists of a number of Buddhist prayers and incantations, and includes text in Chinese and Tibetan, as well as sections where the Tibetan pronunciation is shown in a romanized form.
The record for this item was one of the very first that I enhanced—adding subject headings and a call number, as well as notes detailing the contents (in vernacular and roman scripts), language information, etc—for this project. Larry Epstein, retired professor of anthropology at UW, graciously transcribed the Tibetan title, and spotted several typos in it. (With such a gorgeous cover, what a shame that it should have typos!)
OCLC WorldCat shows only one other holding for this book—truly, a treasure!
—Emily
This book, although not particularly old or rare, was one of my personal favorites. It contained two stories: 送茶壶 (roughly, “Delivering a pot of tea”), and 送雨衣 (“Delivering a raincoat”). In both, good patriotic children bring the titular items to Chinese soldiers. In the first, a young girl and her auntie bring tea to a grateful group of soldiers (patriotically) working out in the fields. In the second, a little boy and girl walking home in the rain come across a soldier whose motorbike has broken down; the girl holds her umbrella over the man, while the boy runs away (?!)—only to return shortly with the rainslicker that he proudly gives to the soldier.
The book measures only 13 cm tall. Each page is illustrated in vivid, full color (which is also an enchanting change of pace from the vast majority of the materials). Moreover, having been published in 1973 in Beijing, it provides a very interesting window on attitudes and behavior (and also fashion) of the time. According to OCLC Worldcat data, the book is held by only three other U.S. institutions, and to me it was a very enjoyable and interesting find.
—Emily