Yūsenkutsu shō 遊仙窟抄

This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 59 16107.b.36
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1690
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 5 volumes Condition: Fair to good, but with some brown stains, soiled corners, and minor worm damage in maki 1 and 5. Impression: An early impression, sharp and clear. Illustrations: A total of 12 double-page and 7 single-page sumizuri illustrations in Chinese style. 3 double-page and 2 single each in maki 1 and 2; 2 double-page and 1 single each in maki 3, 4 and 5. Seals of ownership: Circular red seal, Yoshikawa (or Kikkawa) Genseki / Nagano 吉川玄碩 ／ 永野, on first page of maki 1, 3, 4 and 5. This may possibly be a kashihon'ya stamp and not an ex-libris. Another circular black stamp on the first page of each maki, Mikawaya of Echigo 越後 ／ 三河屋 ／ 嘉茂, is certainly the stamp of a kashihon'ya.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Zhang Wencheng 張文成, author of original text, 660-732. Identity of Japanese commentator unknown. Imprint: Setsuyō [Ōsaka] , Tanaka Seizaburō, Genroku 3, 1690. Okuzuke on final endpaper of maki 5 reads: 元禄三龍次庚午仲秋上弦月 ／ 攝陽書肆 田中清三郎 ／ 仝 貫器堂重之藏板 ／ 彫刻 村上治兵衛. Description: 5 kan, 5 satsu, in a slip-case. (Maki 1) ff. 6, 31; (2) ff. 31; (3) ff. 28; (4) ff. 29; (5) ff. 29. 22.4 x 14 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 18.7 x 12.1 cm. Double-line borders. Horizontal rule on most pages, separating main text from commentary. No fishtail design on hanshin. Kanbun text (本文), with printed kunten, in lower half of page; katakana-majiri text (commentary) above, with printed furigana. 7-14 lines to page (main text); 14 lines to page (commentary); 11 characters to line (main text); 16-18 characters to line (commentary). Original light brown covers, now badly scuffed, with parts of original title slips surviving on maki 2-5. Printed gedai: Gōtō zuga (tsunogaki) yūsenkutsu [shō] 鼇頭圖畫 (角書) 遊仙窟 [抄] . Naidai at head of each maki: Yūsenkutsu 遊仙窟. Title from naidai at head of preface. Hashiragaki: 頭書 遊仙窟 + maki no. + folio no. Edition: The only recorded pre-modern edition of kanbun text with commentary. An edition of Yūsenkutsu alone, without commentary, was published in Keian 5 (1652). Contents: A romantic Chinese novelette of the Tang period, dealing with love and the supernatural, written in a harmonious blend of poetry and prose. Introduced at an early date into Japan, it was subsequently lost in China and survived only in Japan. Chinese title: Youxianku 遊仙窟. The present work contains an extensive commentary in Japanese by an unknown author.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired from Hakurinsha, 25 April 1962.

Other Finding Aids

Kenneth Gardner, Descriptive Catalogue of Japanese books in the British Library printed before 1700 (London and Tenri, 1993). A. Chinese works 漢籍 7. Chinese literature 中国文学

Bibliography

Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 6, p. 117; for an English translation see The dwelling of playful goddesses.