RareBooks in National Palace Museum, Yuan dynasty

Welcome to the National Palace Museum's collection of rare books from the Yuan dynasty! This collection includes some of the most important works from this period, such as the Literary Collection of Fan Zhongyan, The Analects and its Collected Exegeses, Classified Draft of the Yuan-feng Era, Essentials to the Collected Meaning of The Four Books, Dynastic Regulations for Sagacious Rule of the Great Yuan, and Painting Catalogue of the Hsuan-ho Collection. These documents provide us with a unique insight into the culture and politics of the Yuan dynasty, and are an invaluable source of knowledge for anyone interested in Chinese history. Come explore these incredible artifacts today!

1. Literary Collection of Fan Zhongyan

Fan Zhongyan was born in 989 in Wuxian, Jiangsu province. He was a diligent student who was very ambitious and had a strong sense of social duty. Fan Zhongyan's collected writings were originally called "Tan-yang chi" (Tan-yang Anthology), but after he died

2. The Analects

The Analects is a book of sayings by Confucius and his followers. The Collected Exegeses of the Analects is a book of commentaries on the Analects.

3. Classified Draft of the Yuan-feng Era

Zeng Gong was a native of Nan-feng in Chien-ch'ang (modernday Nanfeng County, Jiangxi Province). He was a lifelong collector of books and assembled a library of rare works that he also collated himself, becoming noted at the time for his wide learning.

4. Essentials to the Collected Meaning of The Four Books

Liu Yin (1249-1293) was a scholar who lived in seclusion after the fall of the Song dynasty in 1279. He was highly respected by his contemporaries and was backed by the Yuan government.

5. Dynastic Regulations for Sagacious Rule of the Great Yuan

This Yuan imprint is one of the earliest examples of this text, and it is an important source for the study of the Yuan government. The editor(s) and date of printing are unknown, but the style of the characters in the imprint suggests that it is from Chien-yang.

6. Painting Catalogue of the Hsuan-ho Collection

This book is a catalogue of the imperial collection of paintings from the Jin dynasty to the Northern Song dynasty, including Japanese paintings. It is composed of 20 chapters and was completed in 1120. The editor(s) remain unknown, but it appears to have been composed by officials at court and submitted to Huizong.