Shidetang liuzi

Shidetang liuzi (; "Six Masters of the Shidetang") is a collection of classical Chinese philosophical works published during the Ming dynasty. The edition was printed in 1533 (the 12th year of the Jiajing era) by Gu Chun () under the imprint of his study hall Shidetang (, “Hall of Traditional Morals”). The work is also known under the title Liuzi quanshu (, “Complete Works of the Six Masters”).

Editor Gu Chun (; courtesy name Yuanqing ) was from Wujun (; today Suzhou, Jiangsu Province). His study hall was named “Shidetang” ( Shìdétáng), which also served as the publishing imprint for the edition.Shidetang liuzi (Shenzhen Museum)

Contents The collection belongs to the tradition of the so-called Zhuzi compilations (), collections of classical philosophical texts from various schools of thought. It includes the following works with traditional commentaries:

Laozi (), commentary by Heshang Gong (), Zhuangzi (), commentary by Guo Xiang (), Liezi (), commentary by Zhang Zhan (), Xunzi (), commentary by Yang Liang (), Yangzi Fayancf. Nicolae Cristian Statu: Contributions to the Study of Yang Xiong’s Fayan (Diss. Universität Heidelberg, 2015) (), commentary by five scholars, including Li Gui (), Zhongshuo (), commentary by Ruan Yi ().

1533 Edition

The surviving edition from the 12th year of the Jiajing era (1533) is considered particularly carefully edited. Each work is preceded by a preface. According to tradition, the text was collated with reference to numerous comparative works and checked multiple times. The woodblock printing is of high technical quality and was already appreciated by contemporaries. Several later reprints appeared. At the end of the volume, there is a postscript (ba ) written by Gu Chun in 1533.Shidetang liuzi (Shenzhen Museum)

Significance The Shidetang liuzi edition represents an important example of the editorial work of private scholars in the Ming period. It reflects both the continuing interest in classical philosophical texts and the high quality of commercial book printing in the 16th century. For example, the Hanyu da zidian uses the Sibu congkan edition with a photographic reproduction of the Shidetang edition () for the Zhuangzi text.Hanyu da zidian, bibliography, no. 16

The Zhuangzi of the Shidetang edition was, according to Harold David RothIn: Michael Loewe (Hrsg.): Early Chinese texts: a bibliographical guide. Berkeley, California: The Society for the Study of Early China & the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 1993 (Early China special monograph series; no. 2), ISBN 1-55729-043-1, S.61 the basis for 37 subsequent editions, including the Sibu congkan and Sibu beiyao.

Shidetang liuzi

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