Beijing: San huai tang shu fang,, [c.1830]. An exceptionally scarce bilingual edition of the canonical texts of Confucianism A rare early bilingual edition of the four canonical works at the heart of Confucianism: the Analects, Mencius, Great Learning, and Doctrine of the Mean. This translation, sponsored by the munificent Qianlong emperor - China's Louis XIV - was thought to surpass the work of all previous exegetes. The present example was one of several undated editions printed in the decades following the first (1755); WorldCat records copies of these editions in just seven locations. The Four Books of Confucianism were first translated into Manchu in the 1640s and 1650s by Asitan and Miao Cheng, two scholar-officials working at the behest of the Qing court. The first full translation appeared under Miao's direction in 1654, but in the Qianlong era (1735-1796), in the words of a contemporary essayist, "the way of the sage kings... reappeared in the unified mind of the emperor" (Crossley, p. 230). For Qianlong, "translating China's classic texts became an important way to master the art of dominion over a large empire and a crucial means of disseminating this political worldview to subordinates" (Xu, p. 70). Under Qianlong's fiat, Ortai (1680-1745), the most powerful official in the imperial court, supervised the revision of former Manchu translations of the Four Books to remedy many inaccuracies, adopt more explanatory vocabulary, and align the result with the linguistic evolution of Manchu during the preceding century. The project, completed and published in 1755, was to become the standard against which future Manchu translations of important philosophical and literary texts came to be judged. Typically for many mid-Qing dynasty publications, compiling the bibliographic history of this bilingual version is made more complex by the fact that editions and printings were routinely undated. The present copy carries a preface dated the twelfth month of the 20th year of Qianlong (1755-56) - a feature of all editions from the palace edition onward - but no reprinting statement of the kind found in late-Qing editions such as those printed in 1888 (Ju zhen tang) and 1890 (Zhu fang fan yi zong xue). The present copy's printer, the San huai tang shu fang, opened its doors opposite Beijing's Longfu Temple during the early Daoguang era (1820-1850). This evidence, combined with the overall appearance of the paper and the woodblock printing, places this copy among the rarer early editions. 6 vols, octavo (237 x 153 mm). Mid-19th-century paper wrappers, recently renewed xianzhuang-style white stitching, spine ends reinforced with purple silk. Housed in original blue cloth folding case with title label and bone clasps. Wrappers and contents evenly browned, purple silk worn, a few chips and closed tears not affecting text, faint stain to rear wrapper of vol. I, internally clean. A very good copy of this delicate publication in like case with light soiling to cloth, couple of small losses to title label, lining split at folds, unusually retaining both clasps. Recent bookseller annotations, overlaid price ticket, and residue of two other labels to inner panel. Pamela Kyle Crossley, A Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Imperial Ideology, 2002; Xu Li, "Qianlong chao qinding sishu wujing manwen chong yi gaoben yanjiu", Minzu fanyi, no. 74 (2020), pp. 62-70.
