Japanese Works : Hyōsen Kōshi Kego

Japanese Works

Hyōsen Kōshi Kego (標箋孔子家語) is a collection of discussions Confucius had with his disciples and others. The earliest publication under this title can be found as early as the Han Dynasty (200AD). The original work would have had 27 volumes, but only ten are extant. Cambridge's copy is a Japanese imprint of this classical Chinese work. Accoding to the page inside the front cover, this work was annotated by Dazai Shundai (太宰春台, 1680-1747), a well-known Confucian and Sinologist who lived in the early to mid- Edo period (1603-1867). He studied under Okyū Sorai (荻生徂徠), with Sorai's student Hattori Nankaku (服部南郭), who was known as an authority in Chinese verse. Shundai was known for his administrative theory (経世論). Also this work has headnotes by Chiba Unkaku (千葉芸閣, 1727-1792), another well-known Confucian who lived in the mid-Edo period. This work was owned by Sir James Stewart Lockhart K.C.M.G. (1858-1937), a British diplomat and scholar, who spent half of his life in China. Born in Argyll, Scotland, Sir Lockhart spent his childhood in Scotland. He studied Greek in the University of Edinburgh but left there without graduating. In 1878 he passed the civil service test. He spent one year in London and then spent two more years for further language trainning in Canton (Guang Dong). He took his first appointment in the colonial office of Hong Kong in 1882, where he served until 1902. In 1902 he was appointed as the first H.M. Commissioner of Weihaiwei, and he served in that post until he retired in 1921. After his retirement, he continued his academic career. He was appointed as a governor of the School of Asian and African Studies in 1925 and as the Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Soceity in 1927. After his death his book collection was dispersed. In 1937, the best part of his library was bought by the British Museum, Sir Percival David, and Cambridge University Library. The rest of his library was still in the possession of his family until 1948, when it was purchased by Cambridge University Library. Because this purchase was made by a special grant from H.M. Treasury, a <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(319);return false;'>bookplate</a> can be found behind the front western cover. A note on the flyleaf, "Presented to me by Chou Fu, Govenor of Shantung, J.H. Stewart Lockhart, Weihaiwei, 1903", shows that this work was a gift to Sir Lockhart. The name mentioned in the notes "Chou Fu" (周馥, 1837-1921), was a Chinese offical in the late Qing Dynasty. Accoding to Qing Shi Gao (清史稿) & Min Guo Zhou Yu Shan Xian Sheng Zi Ding Nian Pu (民國周玉山先生馥自訂年譜), he was the Governar of Shan Dong (山東巡撫) from 1902-1904, the Viceroy of Liang Jiang (両江总督) from 1904–1906 and Viceroy of Liang Guang (両広總督) from 1906–1907. There are other <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://www.hpcbristol.net/visual/na07-047'>records</a> showing this meeting. <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='http://dbrec.nijl.ac.jp/KTG_W_53827'>The Union Catalogue of Early Japanese Books</a> (日本古典籍総合目録) lists 38 copies of this work, but this is the only copy in Europe. The <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(316);return false;'>colophon</a> gives the date of publication as Kansei 1 (1789), the date of annotation as Kanpō 2 (1742), and the date of completion for the headnotes as Tenmei 7 (1787). Also there are 2 different seals that can be found on the <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(5);return false;'>first page</a>. These show that there were multiple previous owners before the book was gifted to Sir Lockhart.