Karye (or Garye; Ch.: reading jia li) 家禮 [Family Rituals]

26 pages of illus. & diagrams. 79; 47 folding leaves. Seven juan in two vols. Large 8vo (286 x 200 mm.), orig. semi-stiff wrappers (wrappers tired & upper wrapper of first vol. partly defective), new stitching. [Korea]: Chosŏn period.



The organization of family and clan life was an important part of East Asian Confucianism. The topic accordingly occupied Zhu Xi (1130-1200), one of the most influential thinkers of the past millennium. He was among a number of scholars who wrote treatises that outlined family rituals under the Song dynasty. These treatises were in part a reaction against Buddhism and other belief systems that to a large degree determined social life in the period. Zhu Xi's book in this genre was the most important of them all. According to Patricia Ebrey, "upon its publication in the early thirteenth century, [Zhu Xi's] Family Rituals quickly became the standard reference work on the proper way to perform family rituals, not merely displacing earlier books...but largely eliminating the need to write any more such books." The fact that we find the book printed in Korea attests to its great impact.


The thick covers, stitching, and appearance of the characters strongly indicate that it is a Korean edition. With 12 columns per page and 22 characters per column, it differs from the two copies with this title held at Columbia University and the one copy held at the Japanese Imperial Household Agency. Our covers carry the date guisi 癸巳 in manuscript, which could correspond to 1713, 1773, 1833, or 1893. In addition, the outside covers carry the longer title Chuja karye (Juja garye; Zhuzi jiali) 朱子家禮 [Master Zhu's Family Rituals].


The woodcut illustrations and diagrams depict buildings, floor plans, religious garments, accessories including headwear, procession diagrams, positions of participants in ceremonies, furniture, funeral attire, belts, ceremonial vessels, tents, tombstones, coffins, etc.


The commentary added to this edition appears to follow Xingli daquan 性理大全 [Great Collection on Human Nature and Principle], commissioned by the Yongle emperor of the Ming in 1415.


Very good set. Minor staining.



References


Ebrey, Patricia. "Education Through Ritual: Efforts to Formulate Family Rituals During the Sung Period." In Neo-Confucian Education: The Formative Stage, 277-306. Edited by William Theodore de Bary and John W. Chaffee. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.


Hanguk haeoe chŏnjŏk munhwajae chosa mongnok: Ilbon kungnaech'ŏng sŏnŭngbu Han'gukpon mongnok 海外典籍文化財調査目錄 : 日本 宮內廳 書陵部 韓國本 目錄. Seoul: Hanguk haeoe chŏnjŏk chosa yŏn'guhoe, 2001.


Hanguk haeoe chŏnjŏk munhwajae chosa mongnok: Miguk Columbia sojang Han'gukpon mongnok 海外典藉文化財調查目錄 : 美國Columbia大學東亞圖書館所藏韓國本目錄. Seoul: Han'guk sŏji kakhoe, 1994.