Shūeki 周易

This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 59 ORB 30/179
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1605
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 1 volume Condition: Very good, apart from water staining in upper margin of maki 1-3 and minimal worm damage (some repaired), confined to margins. Impression: Clear and sharp. Type comparatively unworn. Seals of ownership: None. Manuscript notes: Signature of former owner, 竹圓氏本, in a late-Edo hand on mikaeshi of maki 1. A few sideline marks in red, in batsubun only.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Unknown. Text edited with notes by Wang Bi 王弼. Imprint: [Kyōto] , Kotetsu 涸轍 (publisher), Shōun 正運 (printer), Keichō 10, 1605. Last line of batsubun by Kotetsu on final folio reads: 慶長乙巳季夏日東下洛涸轍子祖博謹跋. Kanki preceding this on fol. 24 of maki 10 reads: 關東下総住正運刋焉. Description: 10 kan, formerly in 5 satsu, now rebound in 1 vol. western style. (1) ff. 27; (2) ff. 18; (3) ff. 19; (4) ff. 24; (5) ff. 26; (6) ff. 20; (7) ff. 17; (8) ff. 15; (9) ff. 13; (10) ff. 24, [1, batsubun] . 27.6 x 19.4 cm. Fukurotoji. Movable type. Printing frame 21.2 x 14.9 cm. Double-line borders all round. Vertical rules between columns. Fishtail design on hanshin. Kanbun text without kunten or reading marks. 7 lines to page (large characters), 14 lines (small characters), 17 characters to line. Reddish-brown front cover of satsu 1 only, embossed with a geometrical and cloud design. No title slip. Manuscript gedai, added much later than printed text: 周易巻第一第二. Title from naidai. Hashiragaki: Shūeki maki 1 (etc.) 周易巻一 (等) + folio no. In a western style half-leather binding. Edition: A movable type edition, printed and / or published (刋焉) by the monk Shōun 正運 in the same year (Keichō 10, 1605) as the Fushimi-ban described above, but independently of it. The role of Kotetsu, or Kotetsushi Sohaku 涸轍子祖博, writer of the batsubun (kango) is not entirely clear, but he was evidently closely involved in the publication of this and a number of other works printed in the Keichō period. The present edition of Keichō 10 (1605) was followed by a further movable type edition, undated and without batsubun, also datable to Keichō period. Contents: Text of Zhouyi 周易 or Yijing 易經, the Book of Changes, with commentary by Wang Bi 王弼.

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. 216-7, 371, 695, pl. 26; Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 1, p. 342; Kokuritsu kokkai toshokan shozō kichōsho kaidai 国立国会図書館所蔵貴重書解題, vol. 2, p. 53; Daitōkyū kinen bunko kichōsho kaidai 大東急記念文庫貴重書解題, vol. 1, p. 60; Ryūmon bunko zenpon shomoku 竜門文庫善本書目, p. 170, pl. 148.. Also Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 217, 273, 372, suppl., p. 10, pl. 161.