Book (1) - Paper - Confucius- Les Quatre Livres : Les Entretiens – Fujian – Début XVIIème siècle - China - Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

Confucius - The Four Books : The Talks - Fujian - Early 17th century 鐫提章分節鄒魯正韻四書正文 / 存: 卷三、四(上論、下論) . 一冊. Literal translation: An edition of the standard text of the Four Books divided into sections and with the standard pronunciations of Zou and Lu (Juan ti zhang fen jie zou lu zheng yun si shu zheng wen) This volume is a typical example of books imported in the 17th century as items of interest by the merchants of the Dutch East India Company. These books were then divided and auctioned in Amsterdam, before being disseminated throughout Europe. Of this edition of the Four Books of Confucius, only one piece of evidence was known at the time: the 6th chapter (2nd part of the Mencius) , in the same format and in 45 sheets, which is preserved in the library of New College, Oxford, under the number Ms324. Peter Kornicki writes in ''A Sad Case of Neglect: The First Chinese Book in New College Library Notes No. 3 (2018) that ''this solitary volume was originally part of a multi-volume edition of the Four Books. It was a popular rather than a scholarly edition, and in all likelihood was printed in the sixteenth century in Jianyang in Fujian province, where commercial printing was concentrated in the late Ming dynasty (1368-1644) . So far, no other copies of this edition have come to light elsewhere, so this solitary volume may be the only surviving witness. " (So far, no other copies of any part of this edition have come to light anywhere else, so this lonely volume may be the sole surviving witness to it.) The copy presented here, which has been kept in a private collection until now, is a discovery because it contains chapters 3 and 4, i. e. the complete text of the Talks. On his blog serica. ie where are listed all the Chinese books of the 17th century preserved in Europe, the great expert David Helliwell states in its commentary about this book and the Oxford book that "it is possible, but extremely improbable that these two books come from different copies, very much so from different editions. " (It is possible, but extremely unlikely, that these two papers will come from different copies, or even different editions.) Note that Ye Xianggao 葉向高 (1559-1627) , Grand Advisor to several Ming emperors, is mentioned as an editor or sponsor of this edition. When Ye retired in 1624, he invited the Jesuit Giulio Aleni to live in Fujian. It was probably during these last three years of his life that he would have edited this book, and then the book would have been distributed abroad through the Jesuits. (Information provided by Huayan Wang, in charge of Chinese documentary resources at the IHEC of the Collège de France) , However, it is highly unlikely that such an important person could have any connection with this commercial edition. Description: 43 sheets folded on the front 25 x 13. 5 cm - the page with the printing and dating indications is missing. Text in full. Cardboard cover. Origin: This book was bought in the 1950s from a bookseller in Besançon, along with another Chinese book, a copy of which in Harvard is dated 1611 and another in Peking 1617. (金剛般若波羅蜜經) Condition: The book itself is in very good condition, there are only 2 pages cut out in the front, there is a small hole on the last page. The cardboard sleeve may not be from the same period.