AU$1,500.00
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19th century.
12 separate volumes of wooden fish books or Mu-yu song books. The 12 volumes vary in condition but all show wear. Four volumes appears to lack the last 3 or 4 leaves, most lack either both wrappers or one of its wrappers, there is also some insect damage which has caused some occasional loss of text. The final leaf of most volumes is damaged generally with some chipping and tearing with loss. One volume has blacked edges apparently caused by exposure to a flame but fortunately this exposure has not caused any damage to the text. The mu-yu songs were a variety of popular 'ballad', a product of Kwangtung [Guangdong], especially of the areas adjacent to the Pearl and Hsi-chiang rovers and of Nan-lu. Mu-yu-shu (the written form of the songs) had once a great influence on persons of limited education, especially on women, who were able to derive much pleasure from them even without being literate. The stories of mu yu shu are derived from the Chinese classics, the Histories, the Buddhist Sutras; or they are about love situations and military feats. . . . The mu-yu-shu are believed to have influenced Goethe's Chinesisch-deutsche Jahres-und Tageszeiten through his reading of 'Chinese Courtship', a translation of one of the songs which was published in London in 1824. During the late Ming, when the mu yu shu first were published, the songs were associated with the ts'ai-tze (the men of genius) literary tradition. (From Wooden-Fish Books by Leung Pui-Chee). Cantonese is the only Chinese dialect to have developed a widely used and known written form. Mu yu shu are among the earliest published examples of the Cantonese language in written form. Some of the mu yu sha in this collection come from Guangzhou and Fóshan and others come from Chiu On and Chiu Chau (Chaozhou) in the north east Guangzhou prefecture. These latter are particularly scarce. For many years there was little interest in these important cultural records, and that lack of interest, combined with their ephemeral nature meant that not very many mu yu shu or wooden fish books have survived. Although the volumes in this collection are not in good condition their scarcity makes them worthy of attention. (When referring to this item please quote stockid 117968)
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Mu Yu Shu Collection. Wooden Fish Books. (Image linked with this item)
Mu Yu Shu Collection. Wooden Fish Books. (Image linked with this item)
Mu Yu Shu Collection. Wooden Fish Books. (Image linked with this item)
Mu Yu Shu Collection. Wooden Fish Books. (Image linked with this item)
Mu Yu Shu Collection. Wooden Fish Books. (Image linked with this item)
Mu Yu Shu Collection. Wooden Fish Books. (Image linked with this item)
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