Li chao ji shi ben mo qi zhong ???????? [Seven Works on the Beginnings & Ends of Recorded Events of Past Dynasties]

GAO, Shiqi ???; YUAN, Shu ??; CHEN, Bangzhan ???; et al.

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Metal movable type. 566 juan in 48 vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. stitching. Shanghai: Shanghai shuye gongsuo Chongde tang ?????????, 1888. An important collection of classic Chinese historical texts, all written in the jishi benmo ???? style, in which particular historical events are arranged around certain central themes. The collection comprises: 1. Zuozhuan jishi benmo ?????? [Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in the Zuo Tradition (of the Spring and Autumn Annals)] by Gao Shiqi (1645-1703), collated and punctuated by Min Cuixiang ??? (1849-1904), and with a Preface by Han Tan ?? (1637-1704) dated 1690. 2. Tong jian ji shi ben mo ?????? [Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in the "Comprehensive Mirror (of Aid in Government)"] by Yuan Shu (1131-1205), with "explanations" (lunzheng ??) and a Preface by Zhang Bo ?? (1602-41). Gu Yingtai s Preface to Ming jishi benmo, for which see below, has been erroneously reprinted here as well. A reader of our copy has corrected the running title above the fish tail to Ming shi jishi benmo ?????? on the page with the Preface. 3. Song jishi benmo ????? [Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in Song (History)] by Chen Bangzhan (1567-1623), likewise with a Preface and "explanations" by Zhang Bo. 4. Xixia jishi benmo ?????? [Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in Xixia (History)] by Zhang Jian ?? (1546-1605), with a Preface by Xu Fu ?? (1836-1908). 5. Yuan jishi benmo ????? [Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in Yuan (History)] by Chen Bangzhan, collated and punctuated by Min Cuixiang. 6. Ming jishi benmo ????? [Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in Ming (History)] by Gu Yingtai ???, collated by Zhu Jirong ???, and with a Preface by the author dated 1658. 7. Sanfan jishi benmo ?????? [Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in (the History of) the Three Feudatories] by Yang Lurong ???, with a Preface by the author dated 1717. The seven works are arranged in chronological order, with the historical works covering ancient history first, followed by dynastic histories in sequence. Yet in terms of the time that they were written, the earliest of the works is Yuan Shu s Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in the "Comprehensive Mirror (of Aid in Government)" from 1174. This work rearranged the contents of Sima Guang s Zizhi tongjian ???? [Comprehensive Mirror of Aid in Government], the "first universal history of China in a thousand years," into a "topical narrative" (Hartman, "Chinese Historiography in the Age of Maturity," 40). Yuan rearranged "Sima Guang s work into 239 topical categories within which events were arranged chronologically to form a consistent, focused narrative." This increased the accessibility of Sima Guang s text. In addition, "the choice of topics further imposed a master narrative on Chinese history that privileged literati concerns and political values" (Hartman, 55). The other, later works in this collection followed the general format of Yuan Shu s book. As can be seen from the uneven coverage of the history that they include, as well as from the dates of their authors, these books were not written to form a coherent whole but were brought together by the editors of this edition. Curiously, a text on the history of the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories (sanfan zhi luan ????) in the late 17th century closes the collection. Our copy was printed by Shanghai shuye gongsuo Chongde tang, the precursor to the Shanghai publishers guild. Publishers in neighboring Suzhou had established the Chongde Academy (Chongde shuyuan ????) in 1668 to represent their common interests. The academy was destroyed in the Taiping rebellion in 1860, and a guild with the name Chongde tang, or "Hall of Venerating Virtue," was founded in the city in 1874. The Taiping rebellion had also pushed many of the Suzhou publishers to Shanghai, and in 1884, there were discussions on establishing a guild with the Shanghai shuye gongsuo Chongde tang, or "Hall of Venerating Virtue, the of. Seller Inventory # 9591

Bibliographic Details

Title: Li chao ji shi ben mo qi zhong ???????? [...
Binding: Soft cover