Qinding tongwen yuntong ("Imperially Commissioned Manual of Transliteration").
by CHINESE MULTILINGUALISM - YUNLU (ed.)
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
London, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Beijing: Lifan bu,, 1910. Qianlong's uncompromising pursuit of perfection over popularization Second imperially sanctioned edition, first printing, of this quadrilingual work conceived by the Qianlong emperor, China's Louis XIV, to standardize transliterations between Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, and Manchu. This edition was published by the court's Office of Territorial Affairs after the layout of the 1750 first edition. Both are now rare: we have traced complete copies of the present version at Columbia and SOAS only, as well as one with a variant title page printed in red at Princeton. The harmonization of disparate languages was at the centre of the Qing dynasty's system of political control and its promotion of cultural influences from India and Mongolia. "Using tables and glosses, the book systematically gave Chinese equivalents to letter combinations found in Tibetan and Sanskrit... Since Chinese characters, as single syllables, could not precisely represent the consonant clusters found in Tibetan and Sanskrit, the book's editors devised a system of combining up to three Chinese characters into a single compound 'character' that, if pronounced as a single syllable according to certain rules, would theoretically mimic the multi-consonant syllables of other languages. The attempt to shoehorn Chinese into an alphabetic mould in the pursuit of phonetic correctness, without attention to the difficulties these innovations would pose for all but a trained elite, is characteristic of Qianlong's uncompromising pursuit of perfection over popularization" (Mosca, pp. 72-3). On publication, Qinding tongwen yuntong would become the basis for all future official systems of multilingual transcription. The first edition can be found in the most important Chinese rare book collections, including in the library of the Palace Museum (Beijing), Harvard, and the Berlin State Library. WorldCat records that Leiden possesses a copy of part VI of the present edition. 6 parts in 5, quarto (294 x 173 mm). Original brown paper wrappers, gold thread xianzhuang binding, spine ends capped with yellow silk, front covers with xylographic title labels. Housed in original blue cloth folding case with xylographic title label and bone toggles. With 3 red ink seals in vol. I as issued; contents partially printed in red. Wrappers well-preserved with just a few nicks and chips, spine ends worn in places, internally bright with just a little staining and foxing. A very good copy indeed, pleasingly with the original thread binding, in the like case with light rubbing and wear, traces of old label on inner folding panel. Matthew Mosca, From Frontier Policy to Foreign Policy: the Question of India and the Transformation of Geopolitics in Qing China, 2013.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Peter Harrington (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 161626
- Title
- Qinding tongwen yuntong ("Imperially Commissioned Manual of Transliteration").
- Author
- CHINESE MULTILINGUALISM - YUNLU (ed.)
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Place of Publication
- Beijing: Lifan bu,
- Date Published
- 1910
Terms of Sale
Peter Harrington
All major credit cards are accepted. Both UK pounds and US dollars (exchange rate to be agreed) accepted. Books may be returned within 14 days of receipt for any reason, please notify first of returned goods.
About the Seller
Peter Harrington
Biblio member since 2006
London
About Peter Harrington
Since its establishment, Peter Harrington has specialised in sourcing, selling and buying the finest quality original first editions, signed, rare and antiquarian books, fine bindings and library sets. Peter Harrington first began selling rare books from the Chelsea Antiques Market on London's King's Road. For the past twenty years the business has been run by Pom Harrington, Peter's son.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Wrappers
- The paper covering on the outside of a paperback. Also see the entry for pictorial wraps, color illustrated coverings for...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Worldcat
- Worldcat is a collaborative effort produced by OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) and supported and used by 72,000 libraries...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Quarto
- The term quarto is used to describe a page or book size. A printed sheet is made with four pages of text on each side, and the...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....