Sankō kōjitsuzu 三綱行實圖 [三綱行実図]

  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 59 ORB 30/167
  • Dates of Creation
      [1624-1644]
  • Language of Material
      Japanese
  • Physical Description
      1 volume Condition: Good, apart from minor worm damage at beginning and end. Impression: An early impression, mostly sharp and clear. Illustrations: Full-page sumizuri woodcuts on each folio recto (after preface and 目録), 105 illustrations in all. In primitive style characteristic of early-Edo period, closely resembling the Korean model in layout and subject matter, but inferior to it in style, although later in date. Seals of ownership: Square red seal, Dokuto sōdō 讀杜艸堂, on first page of each maki (seal of Terada Bōnan 寺田望南). Square blue seals of the same owner on first page of maki 1 and 2. Manuscript notes: Manuscript kutōten and shubiki in red on some pages, supplementing the printed punctuation.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Sŏl Sun 偰循 (d 1435), and others. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [c. Kan'ei period, 1624-44] . Preface contains a date, 宣徳七年 (1432), reprinted from a previous Korean edition (see below). Description: 3 kan, formerly in 3 satsu, now rebound in 1 vol. western style. (1) ff. 3 (jo 序), 1 (mokuroku 目録), 35; (2) ff. 1 (目録), 35; (3) ff. 1 (目録), 35. 286 x 202 mm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame varies between 248 and 260 x 172 mm. Double-line borders all round, including illustrations. 'Flower petal' fishtail design on hanshin. Kanbun text with printed okurigana, kaeriten and kutōten. 13 lines to page, 22 characters to line. (Preface: 11 lines to page, 20 characters to line.). Renewed light-brown front cover (late-Edo period) of satsu 1 only. No title slip. Manuscript gedai: 三綱行實孝子圖. Hashiragaki: (maki 1) Kōshizu 孝子圖 + folio no; (maki 2) Chūshinzu 忠臣圖 + folio no; (maki 3) Retsujozu 烈女圖 + folio no. In a western style half-leather binding. Edition: Japanese edition printed from blocks cut in close imitation of an undated Korean edition. A copy of the Korean exemplar on which the present edition is based is also held by the British Library (15113. e. 2). It lacks preface and kanki, but may well belong to the revised edition of 1490, containing 105 entries. It is followed by a supplement, 續三綱行實, with preface containing the date 正徳九年 (1514). Blockprinted Korean text has been added in the upper margins. Contents: A Korean work, Samgang haengsilto 三綱行實圖, compiled in 1432 by Sŏl Sun and others. It comprises short biographical sketches of persons exemplifying the three main Confucian ethical virtues: filial piety, loyalty and the chastity of women. Each biographical note is printed on the verso of one folio; each illustration relating to it on the same folio recto.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Donated to the British Museum by (Sir) Ernest M. Satow 13 June 1885.

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 1. Encyclopedias 事典・類書

Bibliography

Kosen sappu 古鮮冊譜, vol. 2, pp. 661-4; The Asami Library: a descriptive catalogue, p. 188; Bibliographie coréenne, vol. 1, pp. 163-5; Nikkōzan 'Tenkaizō' shuyō kosho kaidai 日光山「天海蔵」主要古書解題, p. 49; Edo jidai shoki eiri-bon hyakushu 江戸時代初期絵入本百種, pp. 113, 185.