Ryūkyūkoku shiryaku 琉球國志略 [C. Liuqiu guo zhi lue; History of the Ryukyu Kingdom]
17 double-page & two full-page woodcuts. 46; 68; 39; 62; 68; 67 folding leaves. 16 kan in six vols. 8vo, orig. semi-stiff wrappers (wrappers rubbed), title-slips on upper covers (some slightly defective), new stitching. [Edo]: [Shōheizaka Gakumonjo 昌平坂学問所 (Bakufu Academy)], from final leaf: 1831.
First edition to be printed in Japan (1st ed.: China: ca. 1757) of this comprehensive and influential account of the Ryukyu archipelago, by Zhou (1714-85), a high Qing official and scholar who obtained his jinshi degree in 1737 and served as Minister of War and tutor to the Crown Prince Yongyan, the future Jiaqing Emperor. Acting as a deputy imperial envoy on the Qing investiture mission, he visited the Ryukyu kingdom in 1756 and published this work the following year at the request of the Qianlong Emperor. The book immediately became a primary source on the kingdom, covering the geography, history, political system, and administration; military and legal affairs; tax systems; and everyday customs of Ryukyu, with particular emphasis on its tributary relationship with China and the investiture system for Ryukyuan kings. Upon its publication in Japan, it was widely used by scholars and government officials, who considered the Ryukyu kingdom a vassal state under the control of the Satsuma fiefdom.
The fine woodcuts contain two maps (one of the entire archipelago and the second the geography of the main island, Okinawa); views of important family temples; the palace for the investiture of the new king of Ryukyu, Shō Boku 尚穆; a portrait of the king with his entourage; the residence for the Chinese envoys; eight notable landscapes (see below); the ship that carried the Chinese delegation; the route the ship took from the west coast of Taiwan and back; an hourglass, etc.
This Japanese edition created a great deal of public interest, and the famous artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), who had never visited the islands, adapted the line illustrations into a famous series of woodblock color prints entitled Eight Views of the Ryūkyū Islands (about 1832-33).
Our work is a fine example of a kanpan 官板, a book issued at the printing works of the Shōheizaka Gakumonjo, the government’s elite academy, founded by Hayashi Razan.
This book is often cited today in the territorial disputes between China and Japan for the control of the surrounding seas.
Very good set and rare; preserved in a chitsu. WorldCat lists only the Harvard copy. Some dampstaining to lower edges of several volumes, becoming more noticeable in Vol. 6.
First edition to be printed in Japan (1st ed.: China: ca. 1757) of this comprehensive and influential account of the Ryukyu archipelago, by Zhou (1714-85), a high Qing official and scholar who obtained his jinshi degree in 1737 and served as Minister of War and tutor to the Crown Prince Yongyan, the future Jiaqing Emperor. Acting as a deputy imperial envoy on the Qing investiture mission, he visited the Ryukyu kingdom in 1756 and published this work the following year at the request of the Qianlong Emperor. The book immediately became a primary source on the kingdom, covering the geography, history, political system, and administration; military and legal affairs; tax systems; and everyday customs of Ryukyu, with particular emphasis on its tributary relationship with China and the investiture system for Ryukyuan kings. Upon its publication in Japan, it was widely used by scholars and government officials, who considered the Ryukyu kingdom a vassal state under the control of the Satsuma fiefdom.
The fine woodcuts contain two maps (one of the entire archipelago and the second the geography of the main island, Okinawa); views of important family temples; the palace for the investiture of the new king of Ryukyu, Shō Boku 尚穆; a portrait of the king with his entourage; the residence for the Chinese envoys; eight notable landscapes (see below); the ship that carried the Chinese delegation; the route the ship took from the west coast of Taiwan and back; an hourglass, etc.
This Japanese edition created a great deal of public interest, and the famous artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), who had never visited the islands, adapted the line illustrations into a famous series of woodblock color prints entitled Eight Views of the Ryūkyū Islands (about 1832-33).
Our work is a fine example of a kanpan 官板, a book issued at the printing works of the Shōheizaka Gakumonjo, the government’s elite academy, founded by Hayashi Razan.
This book is often cited today in the territorial disputes between China and Japan for the control of the surrounding seas.
Very good set and rare; preserved in a chitsu. WorldCat lists only the Harvard copy. Some dampstaining to lower edges of several volumes, becoming more noticeable in Vol. 6.
Details
Title
Ryūkyūkoku shiryaku 琉球國志略 [C. Liuqiu guo zhi lue; History of the Ryukyu Kingdom]
Author
ZHOU, Huang 周煌
Condition
Unknown