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Book/Printed Material Mu tian zi zhuan 穆天子傳

About this Item

Title

  • Mu tian zi zhuan

Other Title

  • 穆天子傳

Translated Title

  • Biography of King Mu, Son of Heaven: Six Juan

Summary

  • Presented here is a manuscript copy of Mu Tianzi zhuan (Biography of King Mu, Son of Heaven) by Yang Yi of the Ming dynasty, produced at his library Wanjuanlou (Studio of Ten Thousand Volumes) around the time of the Jiajing reign (1522-66). It has a preface written by Wang Jian in the tenth year (1350) of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty. According to Jin shu (Book of Jin), in the second year (281) of the Taikang reign of Western Jin, during the robbery of the tomb of Wei Xiang Wang, king of Wei, in Jixian (in present-day Henan), a large number of bamboo slips with inscriptions was discovered. Among them were five documents of Mu Tianzi zhuan and 19 miscellaneous pieces of writing. Thus it can be assumed that the composition of the work could not postdate Wei Xiang Wang, who died in 296 BC. The work describes the journeys of King Mu of Zhou, who ruled in the tenth century BC. Although the records in the work have both the character of an imperial diary and of fantasy, it is nevertheless an ancient work and has documentary value. During the Western Jin, Xun Xu (died 289) edited the work and Guo Pu (276-324) added annotations. It became a work in six juan. It has a postscript by late-Ming scholar and book collector Feng Shu, in which he wrote that Yang Yi was the owner of Wanjuanlou. Yang Yi, courtesy name Mengyu, style name Wuchuan, was a native of Changshu, Jiangsu. He received the jinshi degree in the fifth year (1526) of Jiajing and took various official posts, reaching the rank of vice judicial commissioner of Shandong. A renowned book collector and publisher, Yang built his library and named it Wanjuanlou.

Names

  • Guo, Pu, 276-324 Annotator
  • Wang, Jian, active 1350 Author of Introduction, etc
  • Xun, Xu, died 289 Editor
  • Yang, Yi, 1488-1564 Compiler

Created / Published

  • Changshu, Jiangsu : Wan Juan Lou, [1522 to 1564]

Headings

  • -  China
  • -  296 B.C
  • -  Biography
  • -  Chinese classics
  • -  Chinese literature
  • -  Kings and rulers
  • -  Zhou Muwang, Emperor of China, active 11th century B.C.-10th century B.C

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 1 volume : stitch-bound ; 27.2 x 16.2 centimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: National Library of China.
  • -  Content in Chinese.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
  • -  Title revised per Asian Division.--cc28 2023-01-06

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021667494

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Guo, Pu, 276-324 Annotator, Jian Wang, Xu Xun, and Yi Yang. Mu Tian Zi Zhuan. [Changshu, Jiangsu: Wan Juan Lou, to 1564, 1522] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667494/.

APA citation style:

Guo, P., Wang, J., Xun, X. & Yang, Y. (1522) Mu Tian Zi Zhuan. [Changshu, Jiangsu: Wan Juan Lou, to 1564] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667494/.

MLA citation style:

Guo, Pu, 276-324 Annotator, et al. Mu Tian Zi Zhuan. [Changshu, Jiangsu: Wan Juan Lou, to 1564, 1522] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021667494/>.