SUNHŬNG AN SSI P’ABO 順興安氏派譜

[Genealogy of the Branches of the An Clan of Sunhŭng].

74; 78; 27 folding leaves (but see below). Three juan (kwŏn) in three vols. Large 4to, orig. semi-stiff wrappers, old stitching. [Korea]: 1874 (date of latest Preface).

A rare genealogy of the An clan of Sunhŭng, probably printed by wooden movable type. Clans or lineages — agnatic descent groups — had become important in the social life of Korea since the beginning of the Chosŏn dynasty (the “Confucian transformation of Korea,” in Martina Deuchler’s words), and books such as ours were important for fostering a sense of common heritage for these groups. An Wi 安瑋 explained the importance of genealogies in his Preface to our book (in trans.):

That a lineage has a genealogy is something to value highly. Without a genealogy, there is no way to know whence the ancestors came. The descendants will sleep separated from one another or do not know who is kin demanding that you don mourning attire. People meeting in the street will not know to treat one another as kin.

Our book contains, among other things, a “chronology throughout the ages” that starts in 1202 (the first year of the Jiatai 嘉泰 reign period of Ningzong of the Song dynasty); a list of members of the lineage members who have passed the highest-level civil service examination (mun’gwa 文科), “loyal officials”; “filial sons”; “martyred daughters” (it is noteworthy that women are mentioned in this otherwise male-centered genre); funerary inscriptions for prominent members; and lists of ancestors with biographical notes.

Our book contains Prefaces by An Wi, dated 1546 (Jiajing 25); An To-mi 安道微, dated 1599, 1659, or 1719 (jihai [K. kihae]); An Ch’ŏk-kyŏng 安錫儆, dated 1765 (third yiyou [K. ŭryu] after Chongzhen); An Chin 安鎮, dated the same year; An Ch’ŏk-im 安錫任, dated 1796 (bingchen [K. pyŏngjin], 153 years after the jiashen [K. kapsin] year of Chongzhen); An Hŏ 安珝, dated 1797 (dingsi [K. chŏngsa]); An Chae-muk 安在默, dated 1824 (fourth jiashen after Chongzhen); (Chae-muk also has a “small note” [soch’i 小識] dated 1830 [gengyin (K. kyŏng’in)]); An Ch’ŏk-o 安錫五, dated 1874 (jiaxu [K. kapsul], 232 years after the jiashen year of Chongzhen); and a note by An Kyu-yŏng 安奎永, dated the same year. There is a colophon by An Hyŏn 安玹, dated 1546 (Jiajing bingwu [K. pyŏng’o]).

Fine set, preserved in a new hantao. In the third volume, the pagination skips from leaf 20 to leaf 78 and again from 81 to 83 (i.e., 1-20, 78-81, 83-85) which suggests that this volume is incomplete. However, as we can find no other copy in WorldCat to compare it, we are not sure. The text seems continuous.

❧ Martina Deuchler, The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study of Society and Ideology (Harvard: 1992).