5. Structural Notes: Commentary on the Book of Documents
This edition of Commentary on the Book of Documents is composed of twelve fascicles and 58 chapters. Each fascicle is 27 cm high, 15.5 cm wide, and the text frames are 12.2 x 17 cm with nine columns and nineteen characters per half leaf. The thickness of each fascicle ranges between 1 and 1.5 cm. This is a six-hole stab binding with light-yellow silk wrapped corners. Many of the silk corners have been lost, but there are remnants of the material and clear indications that all of the corners were once wrapped.
The title label on the cover of each fascicle is handwritten on paper that has been decorated with gold. A similar but smaller gold label appears at the end of the last fascicle, which marks an area for other scholars to add their comments. The title labels for Commentary on the Book of Documents were handwritten by Lu Xuan. The label of the twelfth volume contains two square intaglio seals of Lu Xuan’s studio name, Plum Valley (Mei Gu). The contents are numbered on each label using the Twelve Earthly Branches.1
Ten of the twelve fascicles are bound with “betel nut and tiger skin” patterned paper covers; one fascicle is bound in a sky-blue silk cover adorned with cloud and phoenix graphics, while one volume uses the “betel nut and tiger skin” paper as the front cover and the sky-blue silk as the back cover.
The book pages are printed with a black text frame (bankuang). The frame is single-lined at the head and tail while the vertical lines of the text frame are double-lined. The center of the block (banxin) is white and does not include the fish-tail mark that is commonly found in other printed and handwritten works from this time.
The only writing on the banxin are the chapter title (juan) and page number. In addition to the ownership stamp for the Fung Ping Shan Library of the University of Hong Kong that appears on the cover of each fascicle, the beginning of chapters, and the first page of each fascicle, also contains seal impressions from multiple collectors, including Liu Chenggan, courtesy name Zhenyi, pen name Han yi (square relief seal); the “Wu Xing Liu Family Jiayetang Collection” (square intaglio seal); “Zhu” and “Shao” (square intaglio seals); “Jia bin Collection” (oblong intaglio seal); and “Zhang Shuping” (square intaglio seal).
The manuscript is written in a neat kai script on a mixed-fiber paper (Luowen Xuan2) with fine chain lines. The chain lines appear 2–3 mm apart, which is closer than on most standard xuan papers. The binding style incorporates an interleaving paper in the center of each folded leaf. The words “Long Tai Yu Factory Fan Paper” are printed on the edge of the interleaving paper at the bottom of the last fascicle, providing evidence of the specific paper used for interleaving the binding. Stamps from the paper mill were commonly included on the end of the ream of paper, and are seen in both printed and handwritten manuscript volumes from the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty.3
The title label is missing on the second fascicle, but can be found on all others. On the final page of the last fascicle there is a small square intaglio seal that bears the words “Hand bound by Floating Fragrance (Piao Xiang)”. This is believed to be a studio name for Shen Cai,4 indicating that Shen Cai was both the scribe and binder.
Fascicle number ten with the cover of sky-blue silk appears to be the only fascicle to have been preserved in its original binding. The binding seems original and there is very little damage. Aside from a small water stain on the last pages of the volume, and slight discoloration along the top and bottom edges of the fascicle, there is no evidence of mold, foxing or insect damage.
All of the other fascicles have been repaired and rebound. Insect damage has been skillfully repaired and the original covers are encased in the betel nut tiger skin paper, either by wrapping the paper around the original fraying or worn blue silk covers, or by adding the new cover on top of the original silk.
The original labels were transferred to the new covers. During the repair process, the original endsheets were used to mend insect holes. This practice of taking blank pages from the original binding in order to repair damage to other areas of the text block was common practice. Also of interest is a handwritten note affixed to the last page of the last fascicle. The note was written by Zhu Shao (Jia Bin). From the pattern of insect damage and evidence of previously used sewing holes, it was discovered that this piece of paper was once bound as the front endsheet (huye) of the first fascicle. It could be that Zhu Shao removed this paper to write the note and had it bound into the back of the book when repaired. Another possibility is that Zhu Shao wrote the note while the page was still attached as the first endsheet of the first fascicle, and that it was later moved to the last fascicle by the next collector who may not have appreciated having the note from an earlier collector at the front of his book.
We may never know precisely when and why the page was relocated from the first to last fascicle, but it can be inferred that the restoration and rebinding period dates from the time that it was in the collection of Zhu Shao, or shortly after; and since it was not repaired after being acquired by the Fung Ping Shan Library,5 the repairs must have taken place between 1942 and 1949.
The book is in good condition. In general, the paper is still somewhat flexible and remains bright with little overall discoloration. There are water and mold stains in some volumes, and the previously repaired insect damage does not hinder the reading of the text. Only the upper left corners of the seventh to twelfth fascicles are worn away in an identical pattern, indicating that the damage occurred while they were stacked on top of each other. The original enclosure is unknown.
After becoming a part of the Fung Ping Shan Library, two enclosures made of hard press board and a plastic impregnated cloth were made for the set. These materials, commonly used during the mid-20th century by Hong Kong binderies, are highly acidic. They not only change in color as they deteriorate, but they are also particularly ill-fitting. HKUL Preservation staff rehoused this item in six-sided enclosures made of acid-free and lignin-free corrugated board. The archival custom enclosures were fabricated in the Preservation Centre using a style reminiscent of a traditional Chinese book enclosure that will protect and preserve the manuscript for use by future scholars.
Notes
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The Twelve Earthly Branches are often used as a numbering system. They are: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai. 地支，也是中华民族用来纪录时间的文字，叫做十二地支。分别为：子、丑、寅、卯、辰、巳、午、未、申、酉、戌、亥。 ↩︎
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羅紋紙 luowen is a handmade paper commonly produced during the Qing dynasty. There are two main types: one made from blue sandalwood (Pteroceltis tatarinowii Maxim) bark combined with other fibers, and the second made from a bleached bamboo pulp. 罗纹纸，清代纸名，中国手工纸种之一。主要分为两种：一种是由青檀皮等为原料制作；另一种是用漂白竹浆制成。 ↩︎
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Chang Pao-san, “Paper Manufacturers’ Marks Stamped in the Rare Chinese Books of the Qing Dynasty,” National Library Journal, 2015, vol. 2 張寶三（2015）：紙廠印記在清代中文善本古籍 Tai版本鑑定之運用，國家圖書館館刊 一零四年第二期。 ↩︎
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Li Yu An, Huang Zheng Yu. Chinese Bibliophiles’ General Code. China International Culture Press, 2005. 中国藏书家通典/李玉安，黄正雨：中国国际文化出版社，2005年版 ↩︎
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Ying Changxing, Li Xingzhong. Jiayetang Zhi. National Library of China Press, 2008. 嘉業堂志/應長興，李性忠主編，北京：國家圖書館出版社，2008.10版 ↩︎