Important

the

dfirm that kave been asepted as belonging in the Bod Gas Wok. The copy word by the Library of Congress is the last Cirese reprint made at Shanghai in org at the erne da milthy merken. It is bound in ju võtmes. Thh work ʼn treated as a to ung shu by the Chinese bibdingrapher. The Library of Congress has had for some years part the Japanese reprint of the Buddhist canon made at Tokyo in 1825, and has secured this year the latest Japanese edition translated into Japanese, as is noted below in the paragraph on Japanese books.

Five of the six parts of the Ssu pu ts'ung k'an noted in the last report of the Librarian of Congress have been received. This monmuental collection of reprints will be completed by December, 1922, and can then be indexed and arranged for binding.

The Si yang fa li shu was noted in the last report of the Librarian as a very interesting collection of astronomical treatises published with the approval of the Board of Rites, near the end of the Ming Dynasty, by a number of Jesuit missionaries. The copy secured last year was incomplete, but the book dealer has fortunately been able to secure a more complete set which he has exchanged for the incomplete set. After careful study it has been found that the copy now in the Library of Congress is apparently complete. It contains 100 books.

Among the more interesting of the many valuable Chinese history of printing books received during the past year may be noted the Nung shu of Wang Chên, a treatise on agriculture published during the Yuan or Mongol Dynasty. The original work was lost by the time Emperior Ch'ien Lung began his search for rare and valuable books in the latter half of the eighteenth century. His commission of scholars was so impressed with the value of this work that they ordered it copied out of the great encyclopedic dictionary Yung loh ta tien, in which the work has been incorporated, chapter by chapter and paragraph by paragraph. The reconstructed Nung shu was then printed by Imperial order at the Wu ying tien press. An excellent copy of this edition was secured for the Library of Congress; it is in 22 books and 8 volumes. The original preface is reprinted; it is dated Huang Ch'ing, kuei ch'ou

or 1313 A. D. This work is of great interest to the student of Chinese agriculture not only for the text cited by all subsequent authors but especially because of the many excellent illustrations showing the agricultural implements in use in China early in the fourteenth century.

In an appendix of supreme interest the ingenious and original Wang Chên tells of his experiments in making movable type, mentioning a newly used method of making movable type by casting them out of metal poured into matrices. He made his set of type, however, out of wood and then invented a new type case made of two revolving tables divided into very many boxes to hold the multitudinous different characters of the Chinese written language. By sitting in the middle between the revolving tables the typesetter was able to reach without trouble any desired character. When it is realized that the Nung shu was published in 1313 A. D. and that it was not the first work that the author had printed with his movable types (he had previously issued a gazetteer of the district for which he was magistrate) it is clear that evidence of the greatest significance regarding the discovery of printing from movable types is here forthcoming. Through the cooperation of the University of Nanking, a copy of a Ming Dynasty reprint of the Nung shu has been located in a Chinese library in Nanking and the effort is now being made to collate the reprint with the reconstructed Ch'ien Lung edition. The finding of a copy of the original Yüan Dynasty edition of the Nung shu or of Wang Chên's gazetteer printed directly from his font of movable type would mark an epoch in the history of the art of printing. With the cooperation of the faculty and especially of those of the student body of the University of Nanking, whose home districts lie in or close to those wherein Wang Chên lived when he printed his two works with movable types, it may yet prove possible to bring to light these two precious works. It is becoming increasing evident that not only the making of paper but all the ordinary devices for printing such as blocks to print whole pages, movable type engraved on wood or metal or molded on soft clay afterwards baked hard, movable type cast of metal in matrices, printing ink, multicolor presses, in fact, almost everything we have now except the linotype were

historical records.

discovered by the Chinese. That the whole world owes to the Chinese the discovery of the basic art of civilization, printing on paper, can not longer be doubted.

As usual a number of Ming Dynasty historical records Ming Dynasty have been added to the Chinese collection during the past year. Perhaps the most interesting of these works is the Huang Ming tien li chih by Kuo Chêng-yü, a treatise on the court ceremonials of the Ming Dynasty. The copy secured is an original edition published in 1610 A. D.; it is in 12 books and is bound in 8 volumes.

Japanese books.

A work of some interest classed by Chinese bibliographers as belonging to the class of "Miscellaneous Writers" is the Lü shih ch'un ch'iu, by Lü Pu-wei who lived during the third century B. C. It is said by Wylie to contain a great amount of historical data not found in any other book. Kao Yen-hu, a Hanlin scholar, has annotated this copy in red ink and certifies that it was formerly the property of Yao Yuan-chih, a noted scholar and artist of the Chia Ch'ing period (1796-1821). This copy seems to be a Ming edition but has only the cyclic date of printing (chia hsü); it is in 26 books and is bound in 6 volumes.

The most important acquisitions of Japanese books during the past year are the two noted below:

The Kokuyaku dai-zo-kyo is a translation into Japanese of the Buddhistic Canon heretofore published only in Chinese, both in Korea and Japan. The Library of Congress has had for some years the last Japanese reprint of the Buddhistic Canon published (in Chinese) at Tokyo in 1885. Together with the latest Chinese reprint made at Shanghai in 1913, the Library of Congress has three copies of this great work. The Kokuyaku dai-zo-kyo is in 116 volumes and 29 portfolios, old Japanese style.

The Shisho saku-in by K. Morimoto, in 2 volumes (western style), is a valuable index to the Four Classics of Confucianism and a good sample of the application of the Japanese system of indexing to the old literature of China. The Japanese phonetic syllables permit readily of the indexing of Chinese and Japanese books, but unfortunately such indexes can only be used by those having a thorough knowledge of the often arbitrary Japanese pronunciation of

Chinese characters and consequently are of little use to the great mass of western or Chinese scholars.

On the other hand the systems of indexing Chinese characters used by the Library of Congress can be used by all students of the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Annamite languages, and can easily be made to fit the needs of any special group of scholars having already learned a system of finding Chinese characters.

Through the continued help of Dr. James S. Gale, of Korean works. Seoul, Korea, an interesting and valuable old Korean work

was added to the Library of Congress in addition to the three noticed in last year's report.

It is the Kan i chip, a collection of the official memorials and dispatches and the miscellaneous literary writings of Choi Rip, who was born in 1539 and died in 1612 A. D. Choi Rip was exceptional among the great writers of Korea in that he belonged to the lower classes and consequently did not have a literary education during his youth. Doctor Gale sent with the Kan i chip a translation from the Korean work Ha tam rok giving an account of Choi Rip's first appearance as a literary celebrity. It runs in substance as follows: At a gathering of scholars in his village the youthful Choi Rip asked permission to engage in an essay writing competition. Astounded by his audacity the scholars at first refused to admit him to the trial on the grounds of his lack of knowledge of literary form. Upon his continued insistence they finally yielded and Choi Rip became the eighth member of one of two competing teams. When the essays were judged by Minister No Susin all eight of one team were graded, but only seven of those in Choi Rip's team, his essay being returned untouched. His team mates scolded him roundly for having joined them and caused their defeat and the rival team was correspondingly elated. Then suddenly the coming of the minister was announced by a messenger; in consternation the scholars ordered Choi Rip to hide in the kitchen and scarcely had he done so when the minister himself appeared.

The fifteen then went out and met the minister in the most respectful way. As he came in they all bowed and when the greetings were over he said, "I have seen what you gentlemen have written and the compositions are very good indeed, some better, some not quite so

14863°-22--13

good. I foresee that you will make your mark in days to come. I would like to ask who is this Choi Rip?" One of the scholars answered, "He is a choongin middle class mar gifted indeed, but with little notion of literary form.”

Minister No said, "I'd like to see him."

When summoned, he came and took the lowest place. but the minister called him close up beside him, took him by the hand and said. "For five hundred years we have had no great writers in Korea. Who would have guessed that you were the man destined to restore our honor? This is not a matter for 'I or 'thou.' it is a matter of unbounded congratulation for the State. You will be the man to write our dispatches to the Emperor and win glory for our nation. Go forward in your studies with all diligence.”

The fifteen looked on with faces pale as "dry earth.”

Following this Minister No was frequently heard to say, “Our coming literatus is Choi Rip. He wil. undoubtedly win first place in the examination, and be the man for the country to depend on in days to come."

Choi became a great literary master. Though of the lower classes he was Vice Governor of Seoul. Governor of Whang-hai and when he diec was honored with the tit of Minister of Home Afians.

The copy of Kan i chip secured by Doctor Gale for the Library of Congress was published in 1623 A. D. by order of King in Jo with Government funds. It consists of a preface by Chang Ye and nine books of the writings of Cho: Rip. It is bound in nine large volumes. Three of the nine books consist of official memorials, dispatches, and correspondence with the Ming court and the Chinese errors The other books contam prefaces, inscriptions, poems etc.. usual in Korean literary collections as in Chinese literary collections upon which the Korean works of this character are modeled.

As in case of the other works secured by him for the Library of Congress Doctor Gak has prepared for the Kan

chir & manuscript table of contents and an index to the more important matters treated The index covers eleven pages and is arranged by the radical under which falks the initia, character at the phrase indexed. This index is a great keit in consulting the writing of Cho: Rir.

During the past weat & provisional catalogue has been made at al the Korear, hooks in the Library of Congress, a cart, bein, made for each work in the title author, date

Dibloation number a books and 11. some cases other intomation al n. Chinese characters written in vertical