World Digital Library

Poetic Rendition of the “Treatise of Birgili Mehmet”

This manuscript in Ottoman Turkish conveys the meaning in rhymed couplets of the treatise on the fundamentals of Islamic belief by Birgili Mehmet Efendi (also seen as Birgivi Mehmed). At first glance a simple catechism, a companion to Birgili’s longer Tariqat-i Muhammadiyah (The way of Muhammad), the treatise helped lay the foundations for a lasting intellectual movement, which is seen manifested today in Islamic reformism, generally termed salafism, and even in more extremist and violent ideologies. A former Sufi himself, Birgili came to believe that Sufis had strayed far from devotion to the Quʼran and the practice of the Prophet Muhammad. Some scholars regard Birgili as a fanatic in religious matters, while others point to the moderation in his preaching and writing when compared to later activists such as Qadizade Mehmet (died 1635). Birgili’s concentration on fundamentals did in fact give way to the hardened positions among his followers, which influenced the imperial court and even provoked riots in places as far away as Cairo. Birgili was born in the western Anatolian city of Balikesir, where he studied the standard curriculum and became a Sufi. His talents as a preacher were recognized, and he eventually moved to the town of Birgi, where he spent most of the remainder of his life. Popular in his own lifetime, his works were copied and widely distributed. They were among the earliest printed books in the Muslim world. The verse rendition presented here is by an unnamed writer. It is in a clear naskh hand with rubricated headings. The text is contained within a single green border. The work was composed and copied in 1642.

The Countries and Tribes of the Persian Gulf is a collection of the notes of S.B. Miles, longtime British official in the Persian Gulf generally and Oman in particular. They were compiled and published posthumously, first in 1919, and reprinted several times later. This account of Oman’s political history is still widely consulted and quoted. Miles covers pre-Islamic history, pointing out that from the very earliest times the inhabitants were masters of maritime commerce. Trade included slaves, spices, gold, precious stones, and textiles from Asia and Africa. Miles consults as well as critiques al-Izkiwi’s Kashf al-ghummah (Removing consternation) for the post-Biblical, pre-Islamic story of Oman. The second chapter deals with Islamic Oman and the eastern Arabian Peninsula. He departs from strict narrative based on Kashf al-ghummah and other Arab sources to note that the Prophet Muhammad “is entitled to applause, veneration and gratitude of the world” as a great lawgiver. In the author’s view the task of converting Oman’s Christian inhabitants to Islam was simplified because Christianity was “weighed down and encumbered by the character and example of some of its churchmen.” Miles then covers Persian Gulf trade and politics from the 16th century, as European powers Portugal, Holland, and Britain entered the region, and there is a chapter on the history of Oman’s place in the East‒West trading patterns from earliest times. He then turns to the Yaruba dynasty, which ruled Oman for about 125 years from 1624. He devotes the second volume to the Bu Saʻid family, which took control of Oman in the 1740s and remains in power. There are also notes on the geologic regions and natural history of Oman. The work ends with descriptions of the Dhofar and Beraimi (present-day Buraimi) areas of the southeastern Arabian Peninsula. Miles was first appointed political agent in Oman by the government of India in the early 1870s and remained in Musqat (also seen as Masqat and Muscat) and other posts in the region until his retirement 20 years later. Countries and Tribes of the Persian Gulf is the fruit of his many travels and observations in the Gulf and his interest in its history and ethnology.

Annals of Oman to 1728 is a translation into English of the portions dealing with the history of Oman of a much longer work on Islamic history by Sihan ibn Saʻid al-Izkiwi entitled Kashf al-ghummah al-jāmiʻ li-akhbār al-ummah (Removing consternation: Compilation of the history of the nation). The work in its entirety covers seven volumes in the published edition. The translator is Charles Edward Ross (1836‒1913), a British official in the Persian Gulf. Little is known of the author, al-Izkiwi. Scholars who have studied the text have had no success filling in the details of his life and career. The work was considered an anonymous composition until a signed manuscript in the author’s own hand was discovered in an Algerian library and published in 2012. The book opens with a list of the ruling imams of Oman from 750 to 1728. Ross’s translation includes chapters on the pre-Islamic history of Oman and the driving out of the Persians from the country in the eighth century. It moves on to the introduction of Islam, the Umayyad, Abbasid, and Carmatian periods, local dynasties, and decline of order and civil war in the decade 1718‒28, when the narrative ends. Ross served as political officer in Oman from 1872 until 1891. He was the longest-serving political representative of the government of British India in that post. The British Residency in Bushir (present-day Bushehr, Iran) performed the functions of an embassy; it represented British interests in Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the Trucial States. Annals is followed by several short historical and ethnographic documents. The first is a short history of Oman from 1728 to 1883 based on a manuscript by Hamid ibn Muhamad ibn Ruzayq (1783‒1873), translated by Anglican priest George Percy Badger (1815‒88) as abridged and updated by C.E. Ross. This is followed by “Note on the Tribes of Oman” by S.B. Miles (1838‒1914), which was later supplanted by his larger work The Countries and Tribes of the Persian Gulf (also presented in the World Digital Library). The third appendix is “Note on the sect of Ibadhiyah of Oman,” by C.E. Ross. Finally, the volume includes “On the tenets of the Ibadhi sect,” which is an extract translated into English from Kashf al-ghummah.

Alfred Freiherr von Kremer (1828 ‒89) was an Austrian orientalist and diplomat. He studied law at the University of Vienna and classical oriental languages at the Oriental Academy (now the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna). Upon the completion of his studies, he was sent by the Imperial Academy of Sciences (now the Austrian Academy of Sciences) to Syria and Egypt in 1849‒51 to collect Arabic manuscripts. It was during this journey that he discovered Kitāb al-maghāzī (The book of conquests [of Prophet Muhammad]) by Muhammad ibn ʻUmar al-Waqidi (747 or 748‒823), one of the earliest Muslim historians and a judge in the court of Abbasid caliphs Harun al-Rashid and al-Maʼmun. Kremer later pioneered the cultural history approach to oriental studies and published his seminal work Kulturgeschichte des Orients unter den Kalifen (Cultural history of the Orient under the caliphs). In the book presented here, Über die südarabische Sage (On the South Arabian folk tales), Kremer attempts to shed light on the history of pre-Islamic Yemen, especially that of the Himyarite Kingdom, which flourished 110 BC–525 AD and was initially pagan, then Jewish for more than a century, before being overthrown by Christian Ethiopia. He does this by piecing together the ethnographic history of ancient Yemen under the different ruling dynasties, using Western and Arabic sources, as well as ancient Yemeni folk tales, their background and their evolution. Chief among these tales is “al-Qaṣīdah al-Ḥimyarīyah” (the Himyarite ode), which lists the names of the different kings of ancient Yemen. Also known as the “poem of the crowns,” it was composed by Nashwan ibn Saʿid al-Himyari (died 1178), a scholar, linguist and Yemeni historian who took particular pride in his Yemeni heritage.

Arabische Pflanzennamen aus Aegypten, Algerien und Jemen (Arabic plant names from Egypt, Algeria, and Yemen) is a book on botanical names of plants native to these three countries. It is comprised almost entirely of lists of plant names, alphabetically ordered in Latin and Latinized Arabic, but sometimes also in Arabic. The book is organized into six sections: (1) Arabische Pflanzennamen aus der Flora von Aegypten (Arabic plant names for the flora of Egypt); (2) Arabische Pflanzennamen aus der Flora von Jemen nach Forskal (Arabic plant names for the flora of Yemen according to Forskal); (3) Arabische Pflanzennamen aus der Flora von Jemen und Süd-Arabien (Arabic plant names for the flora of Yemen and South Arabia); (4) Arabische Pflanzennamen aus der Flora von Biskra (Arabic plant names for the flora of Biskra [in the northern Algerian desert]); (5) Arabische Pflanzennamen aus dem Küstenland und dem Tel-Bergland von Nordwest-Algerien (Arabic plant names from the coastland and mountains of northwestern Algeria); and (6) Arabische Nomenklatur der Datel-Palme in Aegypten und Algerien (Arabic terminology of the date palm in Egypt and Algeria). An introduction discusses the writing of the Arabic alphabet with Latin letters. The author is Georg August Schweinfurth (1836−1925), a Baltic German botanist, who studied at the universities of Heidelberg and Munich. He is mostly known for his travels in Sudan and the Congo-Nile watershed regions, and his discovery of the Uele River (a tributary of the Congo). Some of his Central Africa travel is preserved in his Im Herzen von Afrika: Reisen und Entdeckungen im centralen äquatorial-Afrika während der Jahre 1868 bis 1871, translated into English as The Heart of Africa: Three Years' Travels and Adventures in the Unexplored Regions of Central Africa from 1868 to 1871. The book presented here, however, is the result of Schweinfurth’s later travels and research in other regions, namely North Africa and Arabia, including the period 1875−88 when he lived in Cairo, where he established a geographical society with the support of Khedive Ismail. Peter Forskal (also seen as Forsskål, 1732−63) was a Swedish naturalist who accompanied German explorer Carsten Niebuhr on his expedition to Arabia, arriving in Yemen in 1762. Forskal began working diligently on area plants but died of malaria seven months later.

The King of Hedjaz and Arab Independence, with a Facsimile of the Proclamation of June 27, 1916

The King of Hedjaz and Arab Independence is a booklet with 14 pages of main text, published during World War I, which concerns contemporary political developments in Arabia and Iraq. After a short introduction giving the context of events, the first text is a facsimile of the original Arabic and an English translation of the proclamation of June 1916 by Sharif Husayn ibn ‘Ali, in which he rejects Turkish rule and asserts his own rule over the Hejaz (present-day western Saudi Arabia; also seen as Hijaz). The proclamation was one of many dramatic political events in the Middle East that occurred during the war. The British supported Arab aspirations for independence from Ottoman Turkey as a way of weakening Germany, which was allied with Turkey. British backing and the predations of Turkey’s rule in its eastern Arab territories led Husayn to declare the Arab Revolt. This uprising contributed to the defeat of the Turks, the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, and the creation of the states of the Middle East as they exist to the present day. The second document, dated March 19, 1917, is the proclamation by Lieutenant General Sir Stanley Maude to the people of Baghdad that the British army was in control of the city following the surrender of Turkish and German forces. General Maude assured the notables of Baghdad that the British came not as conquerors but as liberators. He recalled that the Hejaz and other Arabian provinces also had gained their independence from the Ottomans and expressed hope that the liberated territories would bind together in “unity and concord” to restore Arab greatness.

Mémoire sur les Carmathes du Bahraïn et les Fatimides (A study of the Carmatians of Bahrain and the Fatimids) is a history of two Shia political and theological movements that shook the Islamic world between the ninth and 12th centuries. Both the Carmatians (also seen as Qarmatians or Karmathians) and Fatimids were offshoots of mainstream Shia Islam. While each looked to the descendants of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (died 661) for spiritual and temporal leadership, they differed over the line of descent to be followed. The Carmatians established their power center in the northeastern Arabian Peninsula and on the islands of Bahrain. They were finally eclipsed in the 1070s after a period of rivalry with the Fatimids in Cairo and the Abbasids in Baghdad. The Fatimids, on the other hand, made a larger contribution to the Islamic cultural legacy and posed a more permanent threat to Baghdad. Their empire arose in Algeria and Tunisia in the early tenth century. Eventually, they established their capital in Cairo, where a Fatimid caliph ruled until the last of the line died out in the mid-12th century. This book is the first volume of Michael Jan de Goeje’s series Mémoires d’h̓istoire et de géographie orientales (Studies on Oriental history and geography). Orientalist research of the period is generally characterized as the study of the Islamic Middle East, particularly the early and medieval periods, by scholars rooted in the philological and textual traditions. Its goals were revolutionary at the time, namely to correct the unfortunate “cleavage between Orientalists and [Western] historians—as though there were two kinds of humanity and not a common history,” in the words of French scholar Jean Sauvaget. De Goeje was a standard-bearer of this early revolution. He concentrated on the editing of Arabic historical and geographical texts. Mémoire sur les Carmathes du Bahraïn et les Fatimides is one of his few excursions into analysis. In his interpretation, the Fatimids played a larger role in Carmatian ideology and politics than more recent research has supported. From his position as librarian for manuscripts at the University of Leiden, he supervised the editing of al-Tabari’s monumental Tarīkh al-Ṭabarī (The history of al-Tabari), a project that took 22 years and covered 10,000 pages. He was the first general editor of the Encyclopaedia of Islam.

Historia Jemanae sub Hasano Pascha (History of Yemen under Hasan Pasha) is the translation into Latin, and a critical edition, of an Arabic history of the reign of Ottoman governor Hasan Pasha in Yemen in the 16th century, written by his contemporary, ʻAmir ibn Muhammad al-Ruʻami (or al-Du’ami). The original work in Arabic is entitled al-Rawd al-hasan fi akhbar sayir mawlana sahib al-sa’adah al-Basha Hasan fi ayyam wilayatih bi-iqlim Yaman (Agreeable gardens or the sojourn of Lord Hasan Pasha during his governorship of Yemen). The work was translated by Antonius Rutgers (1805−84), a Dutch biblical scholar and professor of oriental languages. Hasan Pasha was one of the most successful Ottoman governors of Yemen. His mission was to restore Yemen to firm Ottoman control and maintain peace against rebellious local rulers, which he accomplished during his 24-year rule (1580−1604). The events of the period are chronicled by the historian al-Ruʻami, about whom little else is known. He was clearly a partisan of Hasan Pasha and never missed an opportunity to praise him with the highest honorifics. Antonius Rutgers based his translation on a manuscript now at the University of Leiden. His work is annotated with historical, linguistic, and cultural commentary. He also supplied many examples of al-Ruʻami’s original Arabic text. The book contains an index containing lengthy descriptions of locations mentioned in the text. Rutgers taught theology and oriental languages at the University of Leiden and elsewhere, and is considered the founder of Sanskrit studies in the Netherlands.

Arabia Felix, Memoirs of Travels in Africa and Asia

L’Arabie heureuse, souvenirs de voyages en Afrique et en Asie (Arabia Felix, memoirs of travel in Africa and Asia)purports to be an account of the author’s adventures in Arabia. It is claimed that Louis du Couret (1812‒67) was a French adventurer who converted to Islam and took the name Hajji ʻAbd al-Hamid. He was commissioned with the military rank of bey (roughly colonel) by Muhammad ‘Ali, ruler of Egypt. Details of his life and the authenticity of his travel books are in doubt. The life of adventure and discovery he recounted in his writings are regarded as fabrications, probably by the famous French author Alexandre Dumas (1802‒70), who is credited with editing this publication. L’Arabie Heureuse details the author’s Red Sea wanderings south from Jeddah in the 1840s. His harrowing trip is full of episodes of storms at sea, pirates, and the romance of desert travel. The pace of the story-telling is brisk and the characters exotically oriental. He says of himself, “I’ve become Arab. I don’t travel for business, but out of curiosity and for my own pleasure.” Much of this three-volume work is devoted to his stay in the coastal town of Abu ʻArish, in present-day Saudi Arabia, where he advises the sharif (local headman) on the advantages of European military architecture and a local youth on his love life. In his work Voyageurs et écrivains français en Égypte (French travelers and writers in Egypt), French literary critic Jean-Marie Carré is emphatic in ascribing the entire work to Dumas. In a scene mirroring Dumas’s own mixed-race heritage, Du Couret tells of the unhappy fate of a creole girl from Réunion who is sold to the sultan of Oman. Dumas is well-known for his literary entrepreneurship. In an age when many novels were first serialized before publication in book form the author, in the person of ‘Abd al-Hamid Bey, likes to leave a tale unfinished, requiring the reader to buy the next instalment to learn how the story ends. Modern scholars have argued persuasively that Du Couret never existed, and that he was a complete invention by Alexandre Dumas. Dumas published another book that purported to be by Du Couret, Les Mystères du Désert (published in English as Life in the Desert, or, Recollections of Travel in Asia and Africa), which also appears to have been an elaborate literary hoax.

The Overflowing River in the Science of Inheritance and Patrimony

This small book preserves both the Arabic original and the German translation of Al-nahr al-fāʼiḍ fī ʻilm al-farāʼiḍ (The overflowing river in the science of inheritance and patrimony) by Yemeni author ʻAbd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad al-Naqshbandi, also known as al-Makki or al-Makkawi. Written for beginner students in a question-and-answer format, the 16-chapter book also provides examples after each question for further elucidation, earning it praise from four Yemeni judges who wrote at the beginning commending its ease of use. The book covers the different aspects of inheritance in Islamic jurisprudence, with a clear focus on the interpretations of the Hanafi and the Shafi’i schools. Not much is known about al-Naqshbandi, other than that he was from a learned family in Aden and that his forebears were probably from Mecca. The Arabic original of this book was first published in 1886 by al-Haj Abbadi bookshop, the first of its kind to be established in Aden in 1884. The German translation was made by Leo Hirsch, a German Arabist and South Arabia scholar and traveler. Al-Naqshbandi and Hirsch met in Aden in 1888, and a friendship ensued. Known as the first European to penetrate the valley of Hadhramawt in 1893, Hirsch is also the author of Reisen in Süd-Arabien, Mahra-Land Und Hadramut (Journeys in South Arabia, Mahra and Hadhramawt), in which he described al-Naqshbandi as his “intelligent Arab” friend. In a note at the beginning of the book, al-Naqshbandi gives Hirsch the exclusive right to translate the book into “German or other European languages,” due to the latter’s “good command of Arabic and his intelligence.” But he reserves the right to English translation to himself. A revised and expanded version of the Arabic text with English translation was published in 1899, paired in the same volume with al-Naqshbandi’s work on “The Rights of Women and the Laws of Matrimony.” That work is also presented in the World Digital Library.

A Treatise on the Muhammedan Law, Entitled, “The Overflowing River of the Science of Inheritance and Patrimony,” Together with an Exposition of the “The Rights of Women, and the Laws of Matrimony”

A Treatise on the Muhammedan Law contains two works, Al-Nahr al-fa’id fi ‘ilm al-fara’id (The overflowing river of the science of inheritance and patrimony), and Al-Idah fi huquq al-nisa’ wa ahkam al-nikah (The rights of women, and the laws of matrimony). Written in English and Arabic, it is a textbook on Islamic law for judges and attorneys in the courts of Aden. The strategically important territory of Aden in the Arabian Peninsula became a British possession in 1839. The population was ethnically mixed, with Muslim Arabs predominating. British administrative policy aimed at allowing each community to adjudicate disputes according to its own laws. Thus, judges, who were British, needed guidance on complex issues of inheritance and marriage according to Islamic jurisprudence. The Treatise was written to fill this need. The author, Qadi (judge) ‘Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad al-Naqshbandi, also known as al-Makki or al-Makkawi, presented the topic according to the Hanafi and Shafiʻi schools of law, satisfying the requirements of Muslims of Arab and Indian origin. Little is known of the author. From his names, it can be surmised that he or his forebears were from Mecca and that he was an adherent of the Naqshbandi Sufi fraternity. He is termed “judge,” but his role in the court system was as teacher and advisor. He writes in the introduction that he, his son, and brother taught Arabic to British judges and provided them background on Islamic personal status law, as when he argues the case for polygamy. His Treatise may have found acceptance in Aden’s courts for its clear presentation, but it probably took second place to Minhāj al-tālibīn (The method) by al-Nawawi (1233‒77), a manual of Shafiʻi inheritance law. The first part of this work was published in 1886. In the 1899 edition shown here, the first text is revised and expanded, and the second half of the book, “The Rights of Women, and the Laws of Matrimony,” is published for the first time. There is also an Egyptian edition, and a German translation by explorer Leo Hirsch, published in Leipzig in 1891 together with the original Arabic text. The German translation is also presented in the World Digital Library.

Kao gong ji yao (Essentials on industrial technology) has no title page. The heading at the front of Juan 1 reads: “Kao gong ji yao, written by Matisheng of England; translated by Fu Lanya of England and Zhong Tianwei of Huating; edited by Wang Zhensheng of Liuhe.” At the beginning is a preface written by the author in London, on June 1, 1881, which was the seventh year of the Guangxu reign of Qing emperor Dezong. The script at the end of each juan reads: “illustrated by Zhao Hong of Yanghu; proofread by Shen Shanzheng of Tongxiang.” “Matisheng” is Ewing Matheson (1840−1917), a British civil engineer. “Fu Lanya” is John Fryer (1839−1928), who was born in England and, after graduating from university in 1861, taught English in China and was the editor of Chinese newspapers. In 1868 he became a translator at the Translation Department of Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau in Shanghai and worked there for 28 years. In 1896 he was appointed a professor at the Department of Eastern Languages and Literatures, University of California, and later became an American citizen. Fryer’s collaborator, Zhong Tianwei (1840−1900), was a renowned translator during the Qing dynasty. He was appointed a translator in 1881 at the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. The work has 17 juan in eight stitch-bound volumes, each with illustrations. At the end are photographic plates, for a total of 195 illustrations. This work is a second volume of the author’s 1878 work, Gong cheng zhi fu lun lue (Aid book to engineering enterprise), originally published in London and New York, which focused on essential issues relating to public works and engineering projects, including cost estimates. This volume was intended to complement the earlier one. The book discusses the equipment and materials necessary for various engineering projects, methods of writing contracts and agreements, and specifications on format, size and color of machines, and materials to be acquired. The preface, table of contents, and Juan 1−2 are presented here.

The New Edition, with Sound Notations and Illustrations, of the Story of Han Peng and Ten Righteous Men

Xin kan yin zhu chu xiang Han Peng shi yi ji (New edition, with sound notations and illustrations, of the story of Han Peng and ten righteous men) is a Ming poetic drama by an unknown author. Qu hai zong mu ti yao (Abstracts of the repertoire of ancient operas), compiled by Dong Kang (1867−1947), affirms that this is a Ming work, but states that it is a composition without a known source or author. The play tells a story set at the time of Huang Chao, a ninth-century rebel leader, who sought to overthrow the Tang dynasty. Infatuated with the beautiful Li Cuiyun, wife of Han Peng, Huang fabricated a charge against the couple. Luckily, ten righteous persons, including Huang’s sworn brother Li Changguo, along with Zhang Yi, Han Fu, and others rescued the maligned couple and upheld justice, hence the title of the work. The story is based on two sources. One was the tragic love story of Han Ping and his wife in Sou shen ji (In search of gods) by Gan Bao of the Eastern Jin (317−420). In this story, King Kang of the state of Song forcibly took the wife of Han Ping, and the couple later committed suicide. The other source was the story of Ba yi ji (Eight righteous men), adapted by Xu Yuan, the Ming dramatist, from the Yuan play Zhao shi gu er (The orphan of Zhao). The latter play is about eight righteous men, including Cheng Ying and Gongsun Chujiu, who rescued the orphan of Zhao Dun, a nobleman in the state of Jin. Tang Fuchun (active in the early 17th century) owned the publishing house Fuchuntang, where he published approximately 100 poetic dramas. The script under the heading of each juan of this copy indicates that it was printed by Tang Fuchun of Duixi, Jinling (Nanjing). The pages are printed with frames in stylized cloud patterns. The table of contents lists 27 scenes, but the text ends with a 28th scene in a few lines. The work has 18 illustrations, with each covering a half leaf, placed in between the text. Juan 1 has 11 illustrations and Juan 2 has seven. The engraving is simple and unadorned. The complete work is presented here.

The New Edition, with Sound Notations and Illustrations, of the Story of Shang Lu Earning Triple First Place in the Civil Examinations

The author of this qu (song drama) is unknown. Historically there have been two versions of the story of an individual’s winning triple first place in the civil examinations. One was entitled Feng Jing san yuan ji (Feng Jing earning triple first place in civil examinations), which was written by Shen Shouxian, who lived around 1475. The National Central Library has a Jiguge edition of Ming, with Qing dynasty repairs, in which a script indicates that it was a work by Shen. That story begins with Feng Jing’s father who, after many years of childlessness, did many good deeds that moved the gods. He was rewarded with a son, who achieved triple highest degrees in the provincial, national, and palace civil examinations. The story ends when the emperor orders an honorary title bestowed on the Feng family. The other version, from which the copy shown here derives, was entitled Shang Lu san yuan ji (Shang Lu earning triple first place in civil examinations). It was also called Duan ji ji (Breaking the weaving loom). It tells the story of Shang Lu who, after his father died, was raised by Qin Xuemei, his father’s fiancé. As Shang Lu’s mother, Xuemei broke the loom in order to teach her son to study. At the end he achieved the three highest degrees in the civil examinations and brought honor to the whole family. The main theme in the story is of a chaste woman who taught her son to study. The two stories are not the same, but both versions promote good deeds, belief in the heavenly gods, and the importance of accumulating good deeds to the doer's credit in the nether world. This work, comprised of 38 scenes in two juan and two volumes, was published in Jinling during the late Ming period. During the Ming dynasty, the Jinling area of Nanjing produced the largest number of fiction, drama, and illustrated books of any place in China. Jinling also had the highest number of publishers who specialized in poetic dramas. Fuchuntang, the publishing house that produced this edition, paid particular attention to the quality of the illustrations. The images cover single pages, with the titles placed above. The length of the illustration titles vary; some have six, others seven characters. The style is simple and unadorned. The illustrations are closely related to the text, and include such scenes as Shang Lin dying of lovesickness after seeing beautiful Xuemei, Xuemei bidding farewell to her parents and moving to live with the Shang family to preserve fidelity, Xuemei breaking her weaving loom to instruct her son, Shang Lu taking civil examinations, and Shang Lu’s triumphant return and reunion with his family. Several illustrations, such as “Lord Superior Wen Chang rewards the hidden merits of the Shang family” and “Xuemei meets her husband in the nether world in her dream,” appear naturalistic, with square-shaped interwoven lines for the floor forming an inverted V-shaped space, an attractive visual effect. This was a traditional style used in Jinling woodblock engraving. The complete work is presented here.

A Compilation of Divinations from the Tianyuan Jade Calendar and the Big Dipper Scripture

Shown here is a facsimile of a handwritten copy of Tianyuan yu li xuan ji jing zhu zhan zheng ji (A compilation of divinations in the Tianyuan Jade Calendar and the Big Dipper Scripture). A rare copy in eight juan and six volumes, it has the main text on blue-lined pages and with color illustrations. Calendars such as the Tianyuan Jade Calendar recorded natural and geographical phenomena, which were used as sources of prognostications about people and events, and the bright stars of Ursa Major (also called the Big Dipper or Great Bear), believed by Chinese to be of great significance to the celestial order. The compiler of this work was Zhan Bin of the Ming dynasty. A postscript by an unknown author, placed in front, notes that Ming authors enjoyed writing works on the military arts, that Zhan Bin lived after the Wanli period (1573−1620), and that many of the divinations included in this work were from Song zhi (Song gazetteers). The divinations are written in fu verse. Juan 1 covers divinations of sky and earth and of rain and frost, beginning with sky and earth, which were considered the most valuable. It also discusses changes in sky and earth, such as split skies, sudden changes in the color of the sky, sunken earth, and earthquakes. Juan 2, also with illustrations, contains sun divinations and introduces various solar metamorphoses. Juan 3 concerns moon divinations, introducing the good and then the ill fortunes of the moon. This juan also covers the theory of the primordial state of nothingness with congenital qi, and contains rhyme songs relating to weather patterns, the sun, moon, Ursa Major, and so forth. Juan 4 contains the five star divinations, listing sequentially Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus, and Mercury. Juan 5 discusses divinations of various lucky and evil stars, dealing with changes of the five planets and miscellaneous evil stars, novas, comets, and meteors and their unusual ways of rushing, flying, and crashing out of the sky. Juan 6 discusses vapor and mist divinations, mainly for the military, including those for emperors; valiant generals; military victories and failures; conquering cities; ambushes, filibusters, skirmishes, and plots; meteorological phenomena of mixed atmospheres in military camps; good and ill luck; drizzling mist; and rainbows. Juan 7 consists mostly of wind divinations, such as those relating to wind and rain, winds of the eight directions, and five-sound winds. Juan 8 contains miscellaneous divinations relating to sky, sun, moon, stars, wind, rain, clouds, fog, dew, frost, snow, thunder, lightning, rainbows, pink clouds, earth, mountains, springs, seas, tides, grass and trees, dragons and snakes, birds, animals, fish, and insects. Attached at the end is a work by Fan Shifu on wind and rain poetry. The preface, table of contents, and Juan 1−2 are shown here.

Li Wei Gong wang jiang nan (Gazing south of the river by Li Jing, Duke of Wei) was a work attributed to Li Jing (571−649). Li Jing, courtesy name Yaoshi, a native of Sanyuan, Yongzhou (in present-day Shaanxi), was a famous military strategist and general at the end of the Sui (581−618) and the beginning of the Tang (618−907). He also had considerable literary ability. He was posthumously bestowed the title of duke of Wei and was known historically as Duke Li of Wei. Li was the author of numerous military treatises, many of which are now lost. This text was written in ci verse, and Wang jiang nan (Gazing south of the river) in the title refers to one of the tunes used in ci poems. This copy is a facsimile edition, in two juan, and two volumes. It lacks pagination. At the front is the original preface of Li Jing, written on the day before the middle of autumn, in the seventh year (633) of the Zhenguan reign of the Tang, in which the author pointed out that since ancient times military leaders relied first on strategy and second on adapting to changing circumstances. Li assembled important and abstruse military strategies and divination practices from various schools of military knowledge, from Emperor Huang-di, family name Kung sun, to the Han and Jin histories. Students of his works were taught to practice and recite, make prognoses, face enemies, and use military force suitably. The postscript was written by Liu Xun (861−925) in the third year (917) of the Zhenming reign of the Later Liang (907−23); a note in smaller characters states that he wrote the postscript after reading Bai yuan qi shu (Strange book of the white gibbon), a military divination book in ci verse. An inscription at the end of the postscript indicates that Liu Xun was a famous general during the Later Liang, who received this work as a present from an old peasant during the war against the state of Jin, one of the Five Dynasties (907−60). Liu Xun praises Li Wei Gong wang jiang nan as “the most remarkable” work he has ever read. Juan 1 has 14 small chapters, which discuss military appointments; wind divinations; and prognostication by clouds, vapors, fog, rosy clouds, rainbows, rain, thunders, sky, sun, moon, stars, and the Big Dipper. The wind divinations were considered of the utmost importance. Juan 2 consists of 16 chapters on divinations by earth, trees, bees, rats, snakes, beasts, aquatic animals, birds, strange phenomena, sacrificial offerings to exorcise evils, dreams, Zhou yi (a collection of divination texts and commentaries), Taiyi (a concept of Chinese cosmology), da liu ren (six yang waters technique), medical formulas, and medical formulas for horses. Under the heading of Juan 2 is a notation that reads: edited by Ha Feng’a, the Manchu regional military commander of Liangzhou, Gansu. The work contains seal impressions, including “Nuo lü zhi yin” (Seal of Nuolü), square-shaped with characters in white; “Min zhai zhen wan” (Minzhai’s treasure), square-shaped with characters in red; “Xing yun liu shui” (Floating clouds and flowing water), rectangular-shaped with characters in red; and “Yang tian da xiao” (Throw back my head to laugh loud), square-shaped with characters in white. The complete text of this edition is presented here.

Jing shi zheng lei Daguan ben cao (Daguan classified and practical basic pharmacopeia based on historical classics) was compiled by Tang Shenwei, courtesy name Shenyuan, a native of Huayang, Chengdu, and a medical practitioner active in the 11th−12th centuries, who came from a family of physicians. Daguan refers to a reign period (1107−10) of Emperor Huizong of Song. During the reign of Yuanyou (1086−94), Tang’s tutor was the famed physician Li Duanbo. Tang collected and recorded every medical formula and theory from classical and historical works. His prime source was Jiayou ben cao (Materia medica of the Jiayou reign of the Song), and Tang compiled his work after he had consulted 247 works. Tang’s pharmacopeia is listed in Zhizhai shu lu jie ti (Explanatory notes on titles in the Zhizhai studio)by Chen Zhensun as Jing shi zheng lei bei ji ben cao (Classified materia medica for emergencies) in 30 juan. Junzhai du shu zhi (Records of books read in the Junzhai studio) by Chao Gongwu lists it as Zheng lei ben cao (Classified materia medica) in 32 juan. Both of these works list Tang Shenwei as the compiler. During the Qing dynasty several editions were available. One was the Zongwen Shuyuan edition of the sixth year (1302) of the Dade reign of the Yuan. The other was the 1468 Ming Chenghua edition, a reprint of the 1204 Jin edition. The Jin edition was printed by imperial order by Yang Jian at Huimingxuan, in the sixth year of Zhenghe of the Song (1116). It was edited by and contained a preface written by Cao Xiaozhong. The title was changed to Zhenghe ben cao (Materia Medica of the Zhenghe reign). The 1577 edition of the fifth year of the Wanli reign of the Ming was a reprint of the Zongwen Shuyuan edition, with a preface written by Ai Cheng, magistrate of Renhe County, according to which the work had 31 juan plus one juan of tables of contents. This copy is the 1302 edition, published by Zongwen Shuyuan, in 31 juan. However, in the front of this copy is a handwritten note by bibliographer and collector Yang Shoujing (1839−1915) of the late Qing, in which he dates the copy as a Southern Song edition, pointing out as proof that there is no trade mark or seal of publisher Zongwen Shuyuan at the end of the preface. The text describes categories of jade and stone, grass, trees, human, animals, birds, insects and fish, fruits, grains and vegetables. Each category has three grades. Jiayou ben cao contained 1,118 medicines, to which Tang Shenwei added 628, bringing the total number of medicines discussed in the book to 1,746. The work’s rich contents, great practicability, and popularity among physicians led to its widespread distribution. The preface, tables of contents, and Juan 1 are presented here.

Bao ying quan shu (Complete book on infant care) was compiled by Xue Kai and expanded by Xue Ji, his son. This edition was printed in the 17th year (1589) of the Wanli reign by Zhao Kehuai (died 1603), a circuit inspector in Shaanxi. It has three prefaces: by Wang Ji, dated 1583; by Zhao Kehuai, dated 1582; and by Gong Yiqing, dated 1584. In his preface, Wang Ji indicated that the work had two juan, called internal and external juan. Zhao Kehuai stated in his preface that he acquired first, the internal juan, while on inspection in eastern Guangdong and had it printed under the title Bao ying cuo yao (Essentials of infant care). He acquired the external juan later. Initially he wanted to give it the title Bao ying xu ji (Sequel to infant care). Upon the suggestion of Wang Ji, the title was changed to its present form, and the work was printed in Fujian, in 20 juan, and 20 volumes. During a posting to the Guanzhong region, Zhao was told by provincial government officials that the Shaanxi region lacked good physicians, whereupon he requested the regional office of the provincial administration commission to reprint the work. The compiler, Xue Kai, courtesy name Liangwu, a native of Wuxian, served at the Imperial Academy of Medicine during the Hongzhi reign (1488−1505). He held in high esteem Jin physician Zhang Yuansu (1151−1234) and Song pediatricians Chen Wenzhong and Qian Yi (1032−1113). Xue Kai’s son, Xue Ji, expanded and supplemented the work, which was printed in the 35th year (1556) of the Jiajing reign. Xue Ji (1487−1559), courtesy name Xinfu, style name Lizhai, carried on the family profession and became a member of the Imperial Academy of Medicine in the early Zhengde reign (1506−21). He was later promoted to Imperial Physician at the academy and appointed administrative assistant at the headquarters of the academy in 1519. He retired to his home in 1530. He became well known in internal medicine, especially for his focus on the spleen, kidneys, and stomach. He followed the tradition of warm tonifying (using herbs that were sweet flavored and warming), of other Chinese herbal remedies, and treatments that included raising the qi,as represented by Song physician Li Gao (1180−1251), and he emphasized the important roles in the body of the spleen and stomach. He was the author of a number of works, including Nei ke zhai yao (Essentials of internal medicine), Wai ke fa hui (Views on external medicine), Wai ke xin fa (The inner essence of external medicine), Nü ke cuo yao (Essentials on women’s diseases), and Kou chi lei yao (Classified synopses of oral and dental diseases). The prefaces, table of contents, and Juan 1 are presented here.

Li dai di li zhi zhang tu (Handy geographical maps through the ages) is the earliest existing historical atlas of China, first printed during the Song dynasty. This edition was printed during the Ming, but the text has been changed in places to make it look like an older, Song edition. Exactly when and by whom the original work were made are unclear. The original inscription reads “Compiled by Su Shi of the Song dynasty.” But the inscription is undated and the work is obviously not by Su Shi (1037−1101), as was recognized already during the Song dynasty, specifically in Juan 138 of Zhuzi yu lei (Analects of Zhuzi), a famous 12th-century work. In Juan 6 of his work Liangxi man zhi (Notes of Liangxi) the Southern Song scholar Fei Gun provided more detailed information about the atlas, noting that the work contains a “map of established and abolished prefectures and counties during the dynasty.” Some of the prefectures depicted in the atlas were abolished after the Chongning reign (1102−6) and during the Jianyan (1127−30) and Shaoxing (1131−62) eras of the Southern Song, thereby proving that the work could not have been by Su Shi. The simple writing in the atlas also differs from Su Shi’s unrestrained and exuberant style. Moreover, Si ku quan shu (The complete library of the four treasures)did not include this work, although it was listed in the geography section of Si ku cun mu (Catalog of books not included in the general catalog of the Si ku Collection). The edition presented here was supplemented with additions by Zhao Liangfu of the Southern Song. At the heading of juan 1 is a script which reads: “By Zhao Liangfu, Maode, of Junyi [present-day Kaifeng, Henan], at his studio Jingzhitang, on the 15th day of the first month of the 12th year of Chunxi (1185).” This is followed by a preface attributed to Su Shi, followed by the table of contents. The work begins with Diku, one of the five legendary emperors, and ends with the Song dynasty. It has a total of 44 maps. Each map has a title and is accompanied by explanatory text. For each dynasty there is at least one map; for some there are more, up to five maps. The first two maps are “Summary of Chinese and Non-Chinese Territories from the Past to the Present” and “Names of Mountains and Rivers from the Past to the Present.” They are followed by maps of the nine regions of Emperor Diku, 12 regions of Yushun, and, at the end, the territories beyond Chinese civilization during the Song dynasty. The last map was originally entitled “Map of Established and Abolished Prefectures and Counties during the Current Imperial Dynasty.” Li dai di li zhi zhang tu went through a number of printings during the Song, but most surviving editions are from the Ming, in which the term “current imperial dynasty” is changed to “Song dynasty.” This copy also bears such changes. This is one of two Ming editions in the National Central Library; the other is a reprint of this copy. This work has no juan designation. The numbering of the pages is continuous, for a total of 127 leaves, including maps, but excluding the cover and protective wraps. At the end of this work is an essay in five leaves, Li dai di li zhi zhang tu zong lun (Introduction to handy geographical maps through the ages). The prefaces, table of contents, and the first 22 maps with texts are presented here.

The book label on the cover of this work reads: Taiwan yu tu bing shuo (Atlas of Taiwan with explanations). The title page title reads: Quan Tai yu tu (Complete atlas of Taiwan). The script on the upper right reads: “Printed in the fifth month of the sixth year (1880) of the Guangxu reign.” The script on the lower left reads: “The printing blocks are in the custody of the Taiwan Provincial Administration, Fujian.” The central column of each page bears the title and the subtitle, with leaf number in the V-shaped single “fish tail” in the lower portion. The script on the verso reads: “Engraving began in the autumn of the fifth year (1879) of Guangxu reign.” The copy has 54 leaves, including the text and the maps. The extent of the atlas is not large, but the contents are rich. They detail the coastlines, rivers and streams, roads, government offices, military installations, streets, villages, tribal sites, and ordinary geographical names of Taiwan, and thus are a good source for the study of Taiwan’s history and geography. At the front is the 1879 postscript of Zhou Maoqi (1836−96) of Jixi, the designated prefect of Taiwan Prefecture, Fujian Province, followed by the preface by Xia Xianlun (died 1879), Military Commander of the Military Defense Circuit and the Provincial Surveillance Commission. In his preface, Xia provides some details relating to the compilation of this atlas. Xia was appointed the administrator of Taiwan Dao in 1873. A script in smaller characters states that the printing was supervised by Yu Chong, an official rank nine, lower class, and a member of the mapping team. The atlas contains a total of 12 maps. The first map, entitled “Map of Qianshan and Houshan,” is the only one that does not have a textual explanation. The other maps depict the counties of Taiwan, Fengshan, Jiayi, Zhanghua, Xinzhu, Danshui, Yilan, Hengchun, Penghu Ting, Puli She, and Houshan. Each map has a heading. The drawing is exquisite. Even though they are executed in the traditional Chinese painting style, they provide compass directions and latitude and longitude lines. Each square represents ten square li (one li = 500 meters). At the end of each map are brief notes and route distances. The explanations for the maps of Puli She and Houshan are particularly detailed. At the time, Taiwan was not yet a province, only a prefecture under Fujian. Its administrative divisions were very different from those of the present day. Yet the atlas is simple and clear and easy to understand. It is one of the most representative and most valuable atlases of Taiwan made during the Qing dynasty, especially the Houshan map, which is one of the most important maps of eastern Taiwan. The complete work is shown here.

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A Compilation of Divinations from the Tianyuan Jade Calendar and the Big Dipper Scripture

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