Rongo 論語

Archive Unit
  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 59 ORB 30/173
  • Dates of Creation
      1533
  • Language of Material
      Japanese
  • Physical Description
      1 volume Condition: Very good, apart from a few stains, worm damage to first and last few folios, and slight soiling of paper due to handling. Impression: An early impression, sharp and clear. Numerous copies of this edition survive, but except for two or three, all are atozuri. Seals of ownership: Three small square red seals, all used by Terada Bōnan 寺田望南, on first page, as follows: (1) 寺田盛業; (2) 字士弘号望南; (3) 讀杜艸堂. Also a fourth, oblong red seal (inkoku) reading: 向黃邨珍藏印 (seal of Mukōyama Kōson 向山黃村). Manuscript notes: Shubiki and kutōten in red throughout the text. A few headnotes in the same hand as the kunten noted above, and written at the same time, recording results of collating the text with a variant, 'i' (イ). Signature: 山直詩 (associated with Yoshida Kōton 吉田篁墩 in the study of early printing), following batsubun on last folio.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Kong Qiu 孔丘, popularly known as Kongzi 孔子 or Confucius. Imprint: N.p. [Sakai 堺?] , Asaino 阿佐井野 [家] (see batsu mentioning name of this publisher, on last folio of the present edition), Tenbun 2 天文二年, 1533. Date and writer's name following the batsu on last folio verso reads: 天文癸巳八月乙亥 ／ 金紫光禄大夫拾遺清原朝臣宣賢法名宗尤. Description: 10 kan, formerly in 2 satsu (continuous foliation), now rebound in 1 vol. western style. 27.7 x 21.1 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 21-21.4 x 18.8 cm. Thick single-line borders all round. Vertical rules between columns. Fishtail design on hanshin. Kanbun text, with manuscript kunten and kaeriten added soon after date of printing. 7 lines to page, 14 characters to line. Original dull-red (formerly tan 丹?) front cover of satsu 1 only, with fragments of an early title slip remaining. Gedai obliterated. Title from naidai. Hashiragaki: [no title] , folio no. only. Text paper: thick kōzo. In a western style half-leather binding, badly scuffed. Edition: Gozan-ban. A fine early copy of the Tenbun 天文 edition of the Analects of Confucius, printed (almost certainly at Sakai 堺) by an unidentified member of the Asaino 阿佐井野家 family, whose name appears in the batsubun (line 1) as follows: 泉南有佳士厥名曰阿佐井野一日･･･ . This batsubun, dated Tenbun 2 (1533), is written and signed by the classical scholar Kiyohara Nobukata 清原宣賢, who assisted Asaino in the editing and publication of this edition. The text is believed to be closely related to that of the sōbatsu 双跋本 edition of the Shōhei-ban Rongo 正平版論語, although it contains no commentary on the Confucian text. Contents: Plain text of the Confucian Analects (Lunyu 論語), without commentary, but based on that used in the Lunyu jijie 論語集解 of He Yan 何晏.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired from Ernest M. Satow, 22 Sept. 1884.

Other Finding Aids

Kenneth Gardner, Descriptive Catalogue of Japanese books in the British Library printed before 1700 (London and Tenri, 1993).A. Chinese works 漢籍 2. Chinese classics 経書

Bibliography

Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 75, 87, 110-1; Gozanban no kenkyū 五山版の研究, pp. 200, 274-5, 493, pl. 350; Kyūkan eifu 旧刊影譜, no. 58, pl. 105-6.