“Often Hailed as China’s First Ethnic History”

TU, Ji 屠寄.

Mengwu’er shi ji 蒙兀兒史記 [History of the Mongols].

160 juan in 28 vols. 8vo, orig. blue wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, orig. stitching. [Wujin]: seals on verso of title “Jie yi huan” & “Piling Tu shi,” 1934.

First complete edition of this “monumental” (Woolf) history of the Mongols. Tu (1856-1921), was a “Chinese historian, specialist in frontier historical geography and Mongolian history. Although [he was] not a formal member of the New Text School, Tu Ji’s scholarship was imbued with the late Qing spirit of statecraft, which stressed the practical application of learning. His early works…were written at a time when China was rethinking its frontier defense in the face of the intrusion of the West. His magnum opus was Mengwu’er shiji…Often hailed as China’s first ethnic history, Mengwu’er shiji was written with the conviction that Mongolian history should be studied in its own right, whereas scholars had hitherto shown little interest beyond the span of the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368).”–D.R. Woolf, A Global Encyclopedia of History Writing, Vol. 2, p. 901.

“The text has been compiled by Tu Ji himself and was not based on older histories on the Yuan period. Tu also added critical commentaries to historical events…These commentaries are of considerable value for the study of historiographic material about the Mongol era.”–ChinaKnowledge.de.

Fine set, preserved in four hantao.

Price: $6,500.00

Item ID: 7820