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YŎNGJO (or YEONGJO) 英祖, King of KoreaABAA

Munmyo hyangsarok 文廟享祀錄 Record of the Sacrifices at the Confucian Temple

Best.-Nr. 9430Four leaves of illus. 30 folding leaves. Large 8vo 305 x 208 mm. orig. yellow semi-stiff wrappers upper wrappers somewhat soiled both wrappers with some worming new stitching. Korea: 1765. First edition of this book published on royal command by King YÅngjo of ChosÅn. The book was compiled by Kim Kwi-ju 金龜柱 1740-86 the older brother of Queen Consort ChÅngsun 1745-1805. The royal Preface is furthermore written in Kim’s standard script calligraphy. Years after the compilation of this book factional intrigue under YÅngjo’s successor ChÅngjo led to Kim being exiled after which he soon died. Our book outlines sacrifices at the Confucian temple in Seoul including the KyesÅng å•“è–ç¥ and SongjÅl 崇節祠 shrines. The KyesÅng shrine built in 1669 was the site of sacrifices to the fathers of several Confucian sages including Confucius and Mencius. At the temple as a whole a number of Chinese and Korean Confucian sages and worthies were worshipped. The book contains illustrations outlining the layout of the shrines with the placement of the tablets for the various Confucian scholars marked with their names. The royal Preface is dated 1765. Ordering the compilation of a record of past exemplars apparently made the king reflect on his own character and actions. He wrote “when I with my shallow learning recite the writings of the sages and worthies but remain unable to learn the Way of the sages and worthies and when I admire the deeds of the sages and worthies but cannot act in their manner it is like knowing what something tastes like but not get to eat it or like knowing the road but being unable to follow it. Even though I might laugh at people of the past why would people of the future not laugh at me too” Minor worming mostly marginal towards end. See WorldCat 855527023 for a digital copy. unknown books

Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc. · Vereinigte Staaten4.950,00 $≈ 4.413,73 €

YŎNGJO (or YEONGJO) 英祖, King of KoreaABAA

Ŏje hunsÅ or Oeje hunseo 御製訓書 Royally Commissioned Exhortations

Best.-Nr. 942941 folding leaves. Large 8vo 337 x 206 mm. orig. semi-stiff wrappers new stitching. Korea: Simdo æ²éƒ½ 1756. First edition and rare; WorldCat lists only one printed copy at Berkeley. This book of exhortations on good government with striking royal calligraphy was written by King YÅngjo or Yeongjo of ChosÅn 1694-1776 in 1756. At this time YÅngjo was commemorating the death of his father the previous king. According to Fang Chaoying 1908-85 YÅngjo then in his 65th year “could not foresee that he was to live twenty more years and so it appears that he was trying to justify himself in his own mind with regard to posterity as well as to the ancestors whom he expected to face any day” The Asami Library 115. YÅngjo offered three main principles for a king to follow: “to venerate Heaven to love the people and to treat the officials with respect” ibid. Large standard script characters written by the king himself are reproduced in the beginning of the book. The king’s brush records Confucian assertions such as “the following of human nature is called the Way / the cultivation of the Way is called instruction.” Accepting the Mencian dictum that human nature is inherently good the king continues: “I possess the good human nature / to realize the bright mandate of Heaven.” The main text of the book is reproduced in the handwriting of the important scholar-official SÅ MyÅng-ŭng or Seo Myeong-eung å¾å‘½è†º 1716-87. SÅ wrote in many genres and had a cosmopolitan outlook. For example he wrote a Preface to one of the major multilingual lexicographical works produced in ChosÅn in the 18th century see Söderblom Saarela “Mandarin over Manchu” 379-80. Very fine and fresh copy beautifully printed. References Fang Chaoying. The Asami Library: A Descriptive Catalog. Edited by Elizabeth Huff. Berkeley: University of California Press 1969. Söderblom Saarela Mårten. “Mandarin over Manchu: Court-Sponsored Qing Lexicography and Its Subversion in Korea and Japan.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 77.2 2017. unknown books