Gu Hutou Hua Lienu Zhuan (Xin Kan Gu Lienu Zhuan) [An Ancient Edition of Biographies of Virtuous Women ] Liu Xiang; images attrib. to Gu Kaizhi

Gu Hutou Hua Lienu Zhuan (Xin Kan Gu Lienu Zhuan) [An Ancient Edition of Biographies of Virtuous Women ] Liu Xiang; images attrib. to Gu Kaizhi,  Published by Yangzhou,, 1825

8 juan in 2 ce: prelims and juan 1-4 in vol. 1; juan 5-8 in vol. 2. Various paginations of folded leaves, Chinese style. Woodcut illustrations throughout in an upper register, many designed across the leaf, but some for single pages or part pages. 15 columns of 27 characters (variable) or 15 columns of 10 characters (variable: for pages with illustrated upper register), heikou , two fishtails, double rule left and right only, printed area of each page 18 x 12.8 cm. Size of both volumes including margins: 27 x 16.3 cm. 2 vols. Stitched. A fine woodcut early 19th century illustrated edition of the Lie Nu Zhuan (Biographies of Virtuous Women), originally written by Liu Xiang (79-9 BC), the earliest Chinese book devoted exclusively to the moral education of women. This is a good copy of an edition produced by Ruan Fu (b. 1801) faithfully recutting a highly-regarded Southern Song edition that purportedly came from the Ming imperial collections (according to the preface). This edition was provided with illustrations that Ruan considered to be Tang or Song period copies of designs by Gu Kaizhi (c.344 c.406), one of China s earliest named artists and a major culture hero. Ruan s preface makes great play of the antiquity clothing design, architecture of the imagery reproduced and he is also at pains to say the the book exactly matches its Song period original wth images above and text below. This edition, in its format and typography, certainly does give a faithful, striking and pleasing sense of Song printing, especially its Fang Song (Song style) characters. The Song edition was published by a Mr Yu of Jian an in Fujian province, a major cultural centre during the Song dynasty. There are a number of small red seals on the first pages of both volumes one and two, likely applied at the time of printing. One of the seals reads: Tian Zi zhi Bao (A Treasure of the Son of Heaven) presumably incorporated at the behest of Ruan Fu to underline the imperial association and enhance the antiquity of the work. Dated Daoguang 5 (1825). The records of some other copies refer to a cover page, which is not present here. Apart from this, this copy is absolutely complete with the full title page and colophons, and has been well preserved in two recent Chinese paper bindings. The red title slip on the cover of the first volume is recent and done in calligraphy. The white title slip on the cover of the second volume is woodblock-printed and probably original. The stitching is new. The impression is generally good and clear. There are repairs to a couple of the first pages in the first volume and loss and repair to a number of pages elsewhere, predominantly in the blank margins. A few minor tears. The last four characters on the last page of the first volume are done in calligraphy, possibly replacing printed characters where a collector s seal has been removed, as there is a newer paper insert. Provenance The collection of an eminent Chinese family long resident in the UK with historical connections to the town of Shaoxing in Zhejiang province