Author/compiler: Unknown. Formerly attributed to Lü Wang 呂望 of the Zhou dynasty. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [Fushimi, Keichō 11, 1606] . Part of the Fushimi-ban Shichisho 伏見版七書 printed at the Enkōji 圓光寺, Fushimi (Kyōto), in Keichō 11, 1606. Shikigo on back endpaper, written and signed by Kiyohara 清原 (=Funabashi 船橋) Hidekata 秀賢, reads as follows: 天師明經儒 [red seal in oblong frame] ／ 右依紀州使君幸長朝臣命借與累葉 ／ 秘本被加点然則与家本一致者也輙勿 ／ 出閫外矣 ／ 慶長十二年仲秋上澣吏部少卿秀賢 [red square seal, Kiyohara Hidekata, 清原秀賢, impressed over last two characters of signature]. Description: 6 kan, 1 satsu. (Maki 1) ff. [1] (preface, supplied in manuscript), 13; (2) ff. 7; (3) ff. 16; (4) ff. 15; (5) ff. 8; (6) ff. 10. 28.5 x 20.6 cm. Fukurotoji. Movable type. Printing frame 21.9 x 16.3 cm. Double-line borders, with 'flower petal' fishtail design on hanshin. Vertical rules between lines of text. Kanbun text with manuscript okurigana, kaeriten and some kundoku in black and other reading marks in red, all added by Hidekata. 8 lines to page, 17 characters to line. Original brick-red covers, with original manuscript title slip bearing gedai: Rikutō kan 六韜完 in the same hand as Hidekata's okugaki (see above). Gedai and naidai identical. Hashiragaki: Rikutō 六韜 + maki no. + folio no. In a modern brocade chitsu case. Edition: Fushimi-ban, printed by order of the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu at Fushimi, Kyōto. This edition does not belong to any of the three separate Fushimi-ban of Rikutō 六韜 alone, printed in Keichō 4, 5 and 9 (1599, 1600 and 1604) respectively, but is a stray volume from a dispersed set of the Shichisho 七書 (seven military classics) printed at Fushimi in Keichō 11, 1606. This edition consisted of 25 kan in 4 satsu of which Rikutō formed the third satsu. The full set contains a long kango at the end of satsu 4, concluding with a kanki signed by the Gozan monk Genkitsu 元佶, also known as San'yō 三要, who supervised the printing. The kanki (not found in this copy of Rikutō) reads: 慶長十一年龍集丙午初秋念又一日 ／ 紫陽閑室元佶叟書焉. Contents: Japanese edition of an early Chinese work on military science, Liutao 六韜, ascribed to an author of the Zhou period, but probably early Han.
Rikutō 六韜
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or.64.b.20
- Dates of Creation
- 1606
- Language of Material
- Japanese
- Physical Description
- 1 volume Condition: Slight worm damage to first 6 and last 12 folios, otherwise very good. Impression: Sharp and clear. Seals of ownership: Oblong red seal (as noted above), 天師明經儒 (seal of Kiyohara Hidekata 清原秀賢) on inner back cover, preceding shikigo. Also an oblong black seal, Hōrei bunko 寶玲文庫 (ex-libris Frank Hawley), on first page of text. Manuscript notes: See under Imprint above for Kiyohara Hidekata's shikigo dated Keichō 12 (1607), containing a reference to the warrior Asano Yoshinaga 淺野幸長 of Kishū 紀州, 1576-1613, who distinguished himself at the battle of Sekigahara and for whom the Confucian scholar Hidekata inscribed this copy of Rikutō. Hidekata was probably also responsible for having the preface hand-copied and bound in at the head of this copy.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Acquired from Kōbunsō, 15 March 1974.
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 11. Military science 兵法
Bibliography
Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 213, 215, 217-8, 385-6, 695-8, pl. 28-9; Takagi bunko kokatsuji-ban mokuroku 高木文庫古活字版目録, pp. 59-60; Ryūmon bunko zenpon shomoku 竜門文庫善本書目, pp. 175-6; Kōbunsō kohanpon mokuroku 弘文荘古版本目録, p. 176.