Kunlun ji 崑崙集 [The Kunlun Collection]

48 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. stitching (somewhat loose). Changsha: Ye shi 葉氏, n.d. but 1899 (date of Prefaces).



[with]:



-. Kunlun bi yong ji 崑崙皕詠集 [Two Hundred Chants from Kunlun]. 43 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. stitching (somewhat loose). Changsha: Ye shi guan gu tang 葉氏觀古堂, 1904.




Two collections of classical Chinese poetry by a prominent editor and publisher of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Classical Chinese verse matured in the medieval period, but poems written according to its conventions continued to be produced into the 20th century. Exchanging poems was an important part of elite sociability and many of the poems in our collections were offered to others.


Kunlun ji contains verse by Yi Shunding 易顺鼎 (1858-1920), Zhu Yijun 朱益濬 (1847-1920), Li Xianglin 李祥霖, and Ye Dehui (1864-1927), who edited and published them. There is an appendix with verse by more individuals, including the monk Jing'an 敬安 (1851-1912) and prominent scholar Wang Xianqian 王先謙 (1842-1917). Kunlun bi yong ji contains verse by Ye only.


Kunlun bi yong ji has an epigraph by Japanese official and poet Nagai Kyūichirō 永井久一郎 (1852-1913). Kunlun ji has a Preface by Wu Shixuan 吳士萱.


In the Preface to Kunlun ji, Ye refers to the work as Kunlun bai yong 崑崙百詠 [A Hundred Chants from Kunlun]. The name of the second collection appears to be a reference to this. Kunlun is a mountain in Chinese mythology.


Fine copies.