Under the direction of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China, China-CEEC Libraries Union was established in October 2018 in Hangzhou, China, with its secretariat permanently set in Hangzhou Public Library. 60 libraries from China and CEEC, on a voluntary basis, seek common progress made on the principle of "equality, mutual benefit, inclusiveness and openness".
The Very Collection in My Library aims to introduce treasures kept in each member library to audience in China and Central and Eastern European countries and bring ancient books into the limelight, through of which people could enhance their understanding of cultures and histories of other countries.
This episode here is presented by Liu Pingqing, the vice director of Guangzhou Library, introducing you the rare ancient book New Descriptions of Guangdong.
(The Very Collection in My Library is updated on Cooperation between China and CEEC official website http://www.china-ceec.org/ and CHINA CULTURE.org https://cn.chinaculture.org/.)
Guangzhou Library has a collection of 28 books of the New Descriptions of Guangdong, 10 volumes in total, which is an edition of Shuitian House during the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, written by Qu Dajun in the Qing Dynasty. At the beginning of each book, there is a preface by Qu Dajun and a preface by Pan Lei in the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1700). Covering multiple fields like nature, humanities, society and technology, the books are arguably encyclopedic works of Guangdong sketches as important historical materials for studying on the local history of Guangdong during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Qu Dajun (1630-1696), originally named Shaolong, with a courtesy name Wengshan, and another Jiezi. A native of Panyu, Guangdong Province. As a famous scholar and poet in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, he was one of the “Three Great Masters of Lingnan”. He authored such books as Wengshan Yi Wai, Wengshan Shi Wai and Wengshan Collectanea, and compiled such anthologies as Selected Poems of Eighteen Dynasties, Guangdong Anthology and Selected Works of Guangdong Writers.
New Descriptions of Guangdong is a sketch of the Qing Dynasty, written in the seventeenth year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1678). Making up for the shortcomings of General Annals of Guangdong, the stylistic rules and layout of the books are different from those of local annals, with each book describing one kind of thing, the so-called “One Description”, consisting of 28 books, Description of Climate, Description of Geography, Description of Mountains, Description of Water, etc., 869 articles in total. That’s why it is called the New Descriptions of Guangdong. Covering the astronomy, geography, economic products, customs and traditions of the Lingnan Area, the content is rich and informative. For example, Description of Climate mainly describes the climatic characteristics of Guangdong, Description of Geography describes landform, Description of Mountains describes mountains and rocks, Description of Gods describes various gods, Description of People describes celebrities, filial sons and people of all nationalities, Description of Essays describes famous masters and essays, and Description of Foods describes grain, rice, wheat, beans, tea, wine, sugar, oil, salt, etc.
Banned during the reigns of Emperors Yongzheng and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, Qu Dajun’s works, including these books, were banned and destroyed for three times, which made it difficult for them to survive. So they are of great historical materials, edition and bibliography values.
2024-06-24
