Li chao ji shi ben mo qi zhong 歷朝紀事本末七種 [Seven Works on the Beginnings & Ends of Recorded Events of Past Dynasties]

Metal movable type. 566 juan in 48 vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. stitching. Shanghai: Shanghai shuye gongsuo Chongde tang 上海書業公所崇德堂, 1888.




An important collection of classic Chinese historical texts, all written in the jishi benmo 紀事本末 style, in which particular historical events are arranged around certain central themes. The collection comprises:



1. Zuozhuan jishi benmo 左轉紀事本末 [Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in the Zuo Tradition (of the Spring and Autumn Annals)] by Gao Shiqi (1645-1703), collated and punctuated by Min Cuixiang 閔萃祥 (1849-1904), and with a Preface by Han Tan 韓菼 (1637-1704) dated 1690.


2. Tong jian ji shi ben mo 通鑑紀事本末 [Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in the "Comprehensive Mirror (of Aid in Government)"] by Yuan Shu (1131-1205), with "explanations" (lunzheng 論正) and a Preface by Zhang Bo 張薄 (1602-41). Gu Yingtai's Preface to Ming jishi benmo, for which see below, has been erroneously reprinted here as well. A reader of our copy has corrected the running title above the fish tail to Ming shi jishi benmo 明史紀事本末 on the page with the Preface.


3. Song jishi benmo 宋紀事本末 [Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in Song (History)] by Chen Bangzhan (1567-1623), likewise with a Preface and "explanations" by Zhang Bo.


4. Xixia jishi benmo 西夏紀事本末 [Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in Xixia (History)] by Zhang Jian 張鑑 (1546-1605), with a Preface by Xu Fu 徐郙 (1836-1908).


5. Yuan jishi benmo 元紀事本末 [Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in Yuan (History)] by Chen Bangzhan, collated and punctuated by Min Cuixiang.


6. Ming jishi benmo 明紀事本末 [Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in Ming (History)] by Gu Yingtai 谷應泰, collated by Zhu Jirong 朱記榮, and with a Preface by the author dated 1658.


7. Sanfan jishi benmo 三藩紀事本末 [Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in (the History of) the Three Feudatories] by Yang Lurong 楊陸榮, with a Preface by the author dated 1717.



The seven works are arranged in chronological order, with the historical works covering ancient history first, followed by dynastic histories in sequence. Yet in terms of the time that they were written, the earliest of the works is Yuan Shu's Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in the "Comprehensive Mirror (of Aid in Government)" from 1174. This work rearranged the contents of Sima Guang's Zizhi tongjian 資治通鑒 [Comprehensive Mirror of Aid in Government], the "first universal history of China in a thousand years," into a "topical narrative" (Hartman, "Chinese Historiography in the Age of Maturity," 40). Yuan rearranged "Sima Guang's work into 239 topical categories within which 'events' were arranged chronologically to form a consistent, focused narrative." This increased the accessibility of Sima Guang's text. In addition, "the choice of topics further imposed a master narrative on Chinese history that privileged literati concerns and political values" (Hartman, 55).


The other, later works in this collection followed the general format of Yuan Shu's book. As can be seen from the uneven coverage of the history that they include, as well as from the dates of their authors, these books were not written to form a coherent whole but were brought together by the editors of this edition. Curiously, a text on the history of the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories (sanfan zhi luan 三藩之亂) in the late 17th century closes the collection.


Our copy was printed by Shanghai shuye gongsuo Chongde tang, the precursor to the Shanghai publishers' guild. Publishers in neighboring Suzhou had established the Chongde Academy (Chongde shuyuan 崇德書院) in 1668 to represent their common interests. The academy was destroyed in the Taiping rebellion in 1860, and a guild with the name Chongde tang, or "Hall of Venerating Virtue," was founded in the city in 1874. The Taiping rebellion had also pushed many of the Suzhou publishers to Shanghai, and in 1884, there were discussions on establishing a guild with the Shanghai shuye gongsuo Chongde tang, or "Hall of Venerating Virtue, the offices of the Shanghai book trade," as its name. Yet according to the scholarship available to us, no decision was reached at that time, and the guild was only properly established in 1905 (Sun Yingfang, Shi jian liu chang, 61). Our book suggests that the name, at least, was used as of 1888.


The title-page of the Beginnings and Ends of Recorded Events in the Zuo Tradition (of the Spring and Autumn Annals) in our copy has been printed in the calligraphy of Zhang Zhidong 張之洞 (1837-1909), one of the leading statesmen of the era.


Fine and fresh set, preserved in six hantao. We do not find our edition in WorldCat.



References


Hartman, Charles. "Chinese Historiography in the Age of Maturity." in The Oxford History of Historical Writing. Vol. 2: 400-1400. Edited by Sarah Foot and Chase F. Robinson. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.


Sun Yingfang 孙英芳. Shi jian liu chang: Qingmo Minchu Shanghai shiyin guci xiaoshuodechuban yu chuanbo 石间流唱: 清末民初上海石印鼓词小说的出版与传播. Shanghai: Shanghai renmin chubanshe, 2020.