Manuscript on paper. 95 folding pre-printed leaves. One kwŏn in one volume. Small folio (353 x 215 mm.), orig. wrappers (lower cover a little wormed), handwritten title & table of contents in black ink on upper cover, later stitching. [Korea]: [between 1775 & 1848].

This fine Korean manuscript is a rare sola scriptura version of the Classic of Changes, with the canonical “Ten Wings” (Ch. shiyi 十翼) commentary.

An unusual, and in its time revolutionary, edition of the Confucian Classics was commissioned by King Chŏngjo (1752–1800) of the Chŏson dynasty in 1775. As his edict to the officials observed, “many... More

Printed with wooden & metal movable type. 69; 87 folding leaves. Two kwŏn in two volumes. Small folio (295 x 178 mm.), orig. wrappers (wrappers a little stained), handwritten titles in black ink on upper covers, new stitching. [Korea]: [Kyosŏgwan], [before 1748].

A rare movable-type edition of a 15th-century primer on Neo-Confucian philosophy, printed in the first half of the 18th century.

The Chuja hakchŏk — or in Chinese, Zhuzi xuedi — is a thematically organized collection of sayings attributed to the great Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200), compiled by the eminent scholar-official Qiu Jun (1421-95) and given to... More

All sheets with woodblock diagrams. Ten woodblock-printed sheets (each ca. 1045 x 580 mm.). [Korea]: 18th or 19th century?

A very rare woodblock-printed broadside edition of the influential Sŏnghak sipto, by Yi Hwang (1501-71), “Korea’s greatest philosopher.”–Pratt & Rutt, Korea. A Historical and Cultural Dictionary (Curzon: 1999), p. 517. Yi, a child prodigy, was a scholar and government official. He served four kings in a number of high positions, but his integrity and stand against corruption caused him to be relieved of his posts and sent into exile a number of times.

“Yi Hwang, better known by his penname, T’oegye... More

One full-page woodcut diagram. 80 folding leaves. Large 8vo, orig. semi-stiff patterned wrappers, new stitching. Korea: 1750.

A Neo-Confucian work by Yi Sang-jŏng (1710-81), a scholar of the late Chosŏn period, who systematized and explicated various interpretations of Kyŏngjaejam [Admonitions for the Study of Mindfulness and Orderliness] by the Chinese philosopher Zhu Xi (1130-1200).

This work represents a transhistorical and international synthesis of Neo-Confucian moral philosophy, bridging Song and Ming Chinese and Chosŏn Korean intellectual traditions. Throughout the ten chapters, Yi expounds on Zhu Xi’s Admonitions, which consisted of only 160 characters but had gained numerous annotations and interpretations since... More

Edited by Ye Cai 葉采. 14 juan in four vols. Small folio, orig. semi-stiff wrappers, old stitching. [Chosŏn Korea: ca. 1668-1724].

Kŭnsarok is one of the most influential Neo-Confucian compendiums, compiled by the Song dynasty scholars Zhu Xi (1130–1200) and Lü Zuqian (1137–81). The work distills passages from foundational texts into a series of hypothetical dialogues, with questions regarding the pursuit of everyday scholarship and Northern Song masters answering them. We find no copy of this edition in WorldCat.

Zhu Xi, whose interpretation of Neo-Confucianism shaped early modern East Asian thought, wrote one of the three Prefaces, explaining that Kŭnsarok... More