Qing zhen ji 清真集 [The Pure and True Collection]

[with]: Qing zhen ji wai ci 清真集外詞 [Lyrics Not Included in The Pure and True Collection]. 79 folding leaves. Small 8vo., orig. wrappers, orig. stitching. [China]: Siyin zhai 四印齋, [1893-96].




Two collections of lyrics (ci 詞). This genre, with origins in folk songs, are poems that were originally set to musical tunes. In later ages, lyrics were written to the patterns of older songs for which the music had been lost. The genre was particularly popular during the Song dynasty.


Zhou Bangyan (1056-1121) was a writer and musician of the Northern Song. He called himself the "Pure and True Hermit" 清真居士.


The book has a colophon by Wang Pengyun 王鵬運 (1840-1904), who published it. Dated 1896 (Guangxu bingshen), the colophon explains that the edition was produced by tracing the text of a "pocket-size edition" (jinxiang ben 巾箱本) from the Yuan period, which Wang collated against other witnesses.


Wang's studio name Siyin zhai [Studio of the Four Kinds of Self-Cultivation] is seen on the centerfold. Wang published a series (or collectanea) of lyrics with this imprint, of which our book is part. The table of contents for the series (not included here) advertises that the blocks were carved between 1893 (shangzhang dahuangluo 尚章大荒駱) and 1896 (youtao tuntan 游桃涒灘). Cf. WorldCat 46637714.


Fine copy.