Yu xuan li dai shi yu 御選歷代詩餘 [Imperial Selection of Lyrics of All Ages].
48 vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. stitching. [Shanghai]: Yinyin lu 蟫隱廬, ca. 1920-31.
Fine edition of this selection of lyrics, compiled on the order of the Kangxi emperor (1654-1722), by Shen Chenyuan, Wang Yiqing, and other court officials. The phrase shiyu, “what remains beyond poetry,” refers to ci (tz’u) 詞 poetry, or lyrics, “one of the major poetic genres in China.” Lyrics were “originally song text[s] set to existing musical tunes.” The genre “emerged in the T’ang dynasty in response to the popularity of foreign musical tunes newly imported from Central Asia.” Titles of such poems “point to... More