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Featured Texts 4: Other collections of Chinese poetry
More poems by ancient Chinese poet such other than major poets in example #1.
The fourth category we look at is poetry collections by individual Chinese poets. Bai Juyi was by far the most popular Chinese poet in Japan during the Heian period (794-1185). His collected works, Hakushi bunshū (1), continued to be read by Zen monks during the medieval period, but they were never published, which suggests that the demand for his works was lower than for other poets such as Du Fu, Su Shi, and Huang Tingjian. Among the Tang poets whose works were published as Gozan-ban editions are Han Yu (768-824) and Liu Zongyuan (773-819). The collected poems of various other poets from the Song, Jin, and Yuan dynasties were also printed, read, or used as sourcebooks for producing encyclopedias and commentaries.
There is the Collected Writings of Han Yu(2), the poetry collection of Han Yu. This was produced in China. Here you can see the Japanese Zen temple’s name. Here is the Tang Song shi xian qian jia shi xuan(3). A collection of Tang and Song poetry organized by content. It also contains a section of the Xin xuanji which I will introduce later.
The fourth category we look at is poetry collections by individual Chinese poets, such as Bai Juyi (772-846), Han Yu (768-824) and Zongyuan (773-819). Watch Prof.Horikawa introduce 2 examples.
Keio University books introduced in the video:
- Hakushi bunshū (Ch. Baishi wenji) (The collected works of Bai Juyi), Gen’na 4 (1618) old-movable-type
Click to see the image and information - Zhu Wengong jiao Changli xiansheng wenji (J. Shubunkōkō shōreisensei bunshū, The Collected Writings of Han Yu, Annotated by Zhu Xi), Yuan-period edition (some volumes from the Ming-period), 14th-15th c.
Click to see the image and information - Tang Song shi xian qian jia shi xuan (J. Tōsōjiken senkashisen, Selected Poems by One Thousand Excellent Poets of the Tang and Song Dynasties), Late Song-early Ming edition, second half of the 13th c.
Click to see the image and information
Keywords introduced in the video
Share your findings
So far, we’ve reviewed four types of Chinese books based on Chinese works. What kind of role do you think these books played in the education of monks? Please share any interesting comments/findings in the comments area.
This article is from the online course:
Sino-Japanese Interactions Through Rare Books
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Sino-Japanese Interactions Through Rare Books
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