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群書治要

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Text ID
KR3k0078
Date
631–631
Dynasty
唐

Qúnshū zhìyào 群書治要

Essentials of Governance Drawn from the Books

by 魏徵 (Wèi Zhēng, 580–643, 等奉敕撰); with Yú Shìnán 虞世南, Chǔ Liàng 褚亮, Xiāo Déyán 蕭德言 (et al.)

About the work

A 50-juan Táng-imperial statecraft anthology compiled by 魏徵 and colleagues by imperial command of Táng Tàizōng 唐太宗, completed in Zhēnguān 5 (貞觀五年, 631). The work extracts politically relevant passages from the classics, histories, and philosophical masters to provide a portable curriculum in good governance. See the primary catalog entry at KR3j0082 for full description.

This Kanripo record (KR3k0078) represents a distinct textual witness from the SBCK edition cataloged under KR3j0082. The KR3k0078 file preserves a Japanese printed edition from the Tenmei 天明 era (1781–1789), as evidenced by its multiple Japanese prefaces and editorial postfaces:

  1. 考例 (Kōrei / Examination of Textual Rules): a collation note by Hosoi Tokutami 細井德民 dated Tenmei 5 (天明五年, 1785), describing the Owari-han 尾張藩 collation project.
  2. Wèi Zhēng’s original preface (魏徵序): the autograph preface explaining the rationale for compilation.
  3. Two Japanese prefaces (Inaba nobunori 林信敬, dated Tenmei 7 / 丁未 April 1787): summarizing the transmission history and endorsing the Owari project.

The Owari-han 尾張藩 (one of the go-sanke 御三家 domains, descended from Tokugawa Ieyasu’s ninth son) compiled this edition from multiple Japanese manuscript copies, supplementing against the original sources where possible, and had the text carved in 1786–87. The Tenmei reprint is the conduit through which the Qúnshū zhìyào re-entered Chinese circulation in the 19th century.

Prefaces

See content summary above. The collation note (考例) records the chain of transmission from the Kanazawa Bunko 金澤文庫 (Hōjō Sanetoki 北條實時, late 13th c.) through Tokugawa Ieyasu’s acquisition, to the Kō-katsu-ji-ban movable-type imperial reprint, and finally to the Owari Meirin-dō 明倫堂 academy edition.

Abstract

See KR3j0082 for full description and scholarly literature. The present KR3k0078 file is the Tenmei 天明 (1785–87) Owari-han block-print edition, distinguished from the SBCK base by its collation apparatus, Japanese prefaces, and the name-by-name reading-assistance annotations added by the Owari scholars.

Translations and research

  • Kelly Ngo. 2024. Ordering Tang China: Cultural memory, Emperor Taizong, and the Essentials. Lever Press / Michigan Publishing (OA). Analyzed with translated excerpts.
  • See further literature under KR3j0082.
  • Primary catalog entry: KR3j0082 Qúnshū zhìyào 群書治要 (SBCK edition).
  • Wikidata: Q3177399.

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