Song liu shi ming jia ci 宋六十名家詞 [Lyrics by 60 Famous Masters of the Song]

32 vols. Small 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper wrappers, orig. stitching. Shanghai: Bogu zhai 博古齋, 1921.




An anthology of lyrics, or ci (tz'u) 詞 poetry, by the most famous poets in the genre from the Song period (960-1279 CE). "One of the major poetic genres in China," lyrics were "originally song text[s] set to existing musical tunes." The genre "emerged in the T'ang dynasty in response to the popularity of foreign musical tunes newly imported from Central Asia." Titles of such poems "point to particular tz'u-p'ai 詞牌 (tune patterns) for which the poems are composed...Even today, poets still write to these tune patterns without knowing the original melodies." The early lyrics were reportedly performed by "Southern singing girls" (The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature, Vol. I, 846-49). The genre flourished and received widespread recognition in the Song period, as is reflected in the focus of this anthology.


The author, Mao Jin (1599-1659), a bibliophile and printer, used the imprint Jigu ge 汲古閣, or "Drawing from the Well of Antiquity," which appears in our book. This anthology of lyrics was originally titled Song ming jia ci 宋名家詞 [Lyrics by Famous Masters of the Song], which can still be seen on the flyleaves of this facsimile edition. The several installments of the original were published in the Chongzhen period of the Ming dynasty (1628-44) (Liu, Songci yanjiu zhi lu, 156-57).


The publisher of the reprint, Bogu zhai, or "Studio of Expansive Antiquity," was initially located in Suzhou but had a branch in Shanghai in 1917-39.


Fine set.



References


Liu Yangzhong 刘扬忠. Songci yanjiu zhi lu 宋词研究之路. Tianjin: Tianjin jiaoyu chubanshe, 1989.


Nienhauser, William H., Jr., ed. The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature. Revised edition. Vol. I. Taipei: Southern Materials Center, 1986.


Yao Ming 姚鸣. "Minguo lao shudian Bogu zhai shusi" 民国老书店博古斋书肆.