Chinese printed books
In 2016 the Library successfully bid for a grant from the College’s Annual Fund to widen access to its Chinese printed collections. The grant made it possible for us to carry out essential conservation enabling the works to be used safely by scholars, to catalogue the books online, and to digitise the three most fragile volumes. The Chinese books in St John’s span several centuries, and provide a fascinating insight into the oriental interests of English scholars, and the variety of links with the East over the centuries: through trade, scientific study, missionary endeavours, and academic collaborations. Although the collection is not large, each work has a story to tell, and some are rare survivals indeed. The College acquired its first book in Chinese early in the seventeenth century, as part of the collections of William Crashaw. It is an illustrated storybook, perhaps bought as a curiosity for its pictures, as it is unlikely ever to have been read. About half a century later, it was joined by a Chinese almanack, printed in Taiwan, of a sort that was produced in numbers to be presented to British merchants and those associated with the East India Company. A small and varied collection of works in literature, music, science and history was given to the College by James Inman in the early nineteenth century. He acquired the books in 1804 on a stop-off in China, en route home after making astronomical observations in Australia. Some volumes appear to have been bought new and most remain in excellent condition. Inman may not have had the skill to read them, but he did make efforts to learn a little of the language in order to communicate whilst in China. His manuscript vocabulary list, giving numbers and useful words and phrases, survives along with the books. A very early printing of the New Testament in Chinese, courtesy of Vincent Stanton, bears witness to the efforts of Christian missionaries in China in the mid-nineteenth century. Mathematical texts owned by Joseph Larmor complete the collection: one a gift from a Chinese colleague, reflecting the global links that scholars were forging by the early twentieth century, the other more of a curiosity - a late seventeenth-century printing of a Japanese work on Chinese mathematics.
We would like to thank the Cambridge Colleges Conservation Consortium, the Cambridge University Digital Library, and Zheng Cheng for their help with this project.
Crashaw's book S.52
A reprint of daily stories ~ Chongkan riji gushi ~重刊日記故事 S.52
This is the Library’s earliest Chinese work. Probably published around 1600 or shortly before, in Fujian as a commercial imprint, this illustrated reader of short historical tales was often used as a children’s book for moral education. This copy came to the Library as part of the collection of William Crashaw. The donation to St John’s of Crashaw’s library by the Earl of Southampton prompted the building of the Upper Library in the 1620s.
It is unknown where or why Crashaw obtained the book, or indeed how much was known about it at the time. A shelf-list of the Library’s contents compiled around 1634-35 (now MS U.3) includes an entry for ‘a booke in China language’.
The volume is woodblock printed throughout. The text is incomplete. A fragment of the last leaf of the preceding chapter (juan) bearing a different title 新刊二十四孝首卷終 "the end of Xinkan ershisi xiao (New edition of the Twenty-four Stories about Filial Piety)" and approximately two hundred leaves of the first chapter (重刊日記故事卷之上) survive. The compiler's name in chapter one folio 1a is missing. The margin of each leaf (where the pagination is normally found in Chinese imprints) has been worn away for all of the surviving leaves. The volume was bound for many years in a European hard cover, though the condition of the text block suggests that at an earlier date it was unprotected by any binding. All pages have now been disbound in order for essential paper conservation to be carried out. Due to its extremely fragile state, researchers are asked to consult the digital version, now available through the Cambridge University Digital Library and the link below.
Almanac S14
Almanac of the thirtieth year [1676] of Yongli reign era of the Ming dynasty ~ 大明永曆三十年歲次丙辰大統曆 S.14.
This almanac of 1676, published in Taiwan in 1675, was given to John Dacres, an English merchant of the East India Company, by 鄭經 Zheng Jing (1642-1681, son of 鄭成功 Zheng Chenggong) the ruler of Taiwan who claimed loyalty to the defunct Ming dynasty. The Yongli reign era is normally dated as 1647-1661, but here is extended considerably longer.
The inscription on the title-page reads: "Anno Domini / 1676 / This Almanack was given to Mr. John Dacres / merchant in ye East Indys by / Pun Poin, then King of Tyon."
The volume is wood-block printed in blue ink. It is virtually complete, just missing the lower half of the title page, which is printed on yellow paper. The single fascicle was for many years bound in a western hard-cover. Following conservation work, it is now being rebound in a more traditional Chinese paper binding using paper twists and threads to fasten it, which will allow the pages to open as they should. Whilst work on the volume continues, readers are asked to consult the digital version, now available through the Cambridge University Digital Library and the viewer below.
Links:
Christ Church Library in Oxford has a similar calendar. Their copy dates from 1671. See their website for more information.
There is an article by David Helliwell on Southern Ming calendars on the Serica blog.
James Inman's books
James Inman graduated from St John’s College in 1800 as Senior Wrangler and first Smith’s prizeman and was elected to a Fellowship. His initial plan was to pursue mission work in the East and he set out for Syria, but got no further than Malta, where he studied Arabic. On his return to England, the Board of Longitude appointed him astronomer on board the discovery ship Investigator captained by Matthew Flinders. He joined the vessel on her return trip to Port Jackson [later Sydney] Australia in June 1803. When Flinders set out for England on the Porpoise, Inman remained on land with the scientific instruments, but after the Porpoise was wrecked, he joined Flinders on the Rolla to find the wreck site and then proceeded to China. Inman bought a small collection of books whilst staying in Guangzhou. He had time in China to attempt to learn a little of the language, as this extract from his manuscript vocabulary list shows.
Whilst Inman’s academic interests focussed on navigation, the subject matter of the books is varied, including science and mathematics, history, geography, literature, and music. Some of the volumes are illustrated and most are in excellent condition, suggesting that he may have bought them new. They are signed by Inman and dated February 1804. The books were presented to St John’s Library on his return to England, after an eventful voyage.
For more information on the works given to the Library by James Inman click on the individual titles:
Xiandi pipa pu
Wushuang Pu
Wanxiao tang huazhuan
Xinke Shujing Tizhu
Sancai fami
Liuhe neiwai suoyan
Digital copies of correspondence and other documents relating to James Inman's astronomical observations and travel, may be found on the Cambridge University Digital Library.
Chinese New Testament
New decrees of the Saviour Jesus ~Jiushizhu Yesu xinyi zhaoshu~ 救世主耶穌新遺詔書, 1839.
An early Chinese New Testament came to the Library from Vincent Stanton. Vincent John Stanton (1817-1891) matriculated at St John’s in 1835. He became interested in missionary work whilst still a student, and first travelled to China as a tutor during the Opium War when he was captured and held prisoner for four months. On his return to England he was ordained and began to raise funds for the establishment of a school in Hong Kong to train Chinese clergy to spread Christianity in China. Stanton was one of the first British settlers to arrive in Hong Kong, and had a vision for establishing a permanent settlement there. The year following the founding of the city in 1843 the Church of England appointed Stanton its first colonial chaplain, to serve the European community and develop ministry in the colony. He founded St Paul’s College, and was also responsible for the building of St John’s Cathedral. Ill health forced him to return to England in 1850.
Stanton presented this book to St John’s College Library in 1844, the year after his appointment as colonial chaplain in Hong Kong. This Chinese translation of the New Testament dates from 1839-40, and was published by the Press of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in Singapore. The American Board for Commissioners for Foreign Missions was the largest and most significant of the American missionary organisations in the nineteenth century. It was founded in 1810 and licensed to send missionaries overseas from 1812. Its first mission to China began in 1830, and the organisation had a presence in Singapore 1834-43.
Joseph Larmor's books
Sir Joseph Larmor (1857-1942) was a physicist, admitted to St John’s in 1876, he graduated Senior Wrangler and 1st Smith’s Prize in 1880. He was a Fellow of the College from 1880 until his death in 1942. He held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics 1903-32, was Secretary of the Royal Society 1901-12, and his work Aether and Matter (1900) was awarded the Adams Prize. Larmor corresponded with many of the physicists and mathematicians of his age, and his connections spread widely across the world.
Larmor presented two oriental mathematical works to the College Library:
Xingshu xianguan fa. 形數顯觀法 by Zhao Zengchou. 1928.
This mathematical treatise was self-published by the author in Shanghai. It is a stereotype edition consisting of a single fascicle, bound in a hard cover; copies are rare. The volume was signed by the author and presented to Joseph Larmor in May 1929. An accompanying note from another Chinese colleague, W.M. Cheo dated May 7th 1929 details arrangements for a meeting with Larmor in Cambridge, presumably the occasion on which the volume was given.
Sanhō tengen roku (Chi. Suanfa tianyuan lu). 算法天元錄 by Nishiwaki Toshitada. 1697.
The second work is a Japanese mathematical work relating to Chinese mathematics. This is an antiquarian volume dating from the late seventeenth century. How and why Larmor came to acquire it is unknown. One known link with Japan is his correspondence with another Johnian, Edward Ernest Foxwell, who spent several years lecturing on economics in Tokyo in the 1890s and corresponded with Larmor throughout his stay there.
Two of the three fascicles of this work are present (fascicle 2 is missing from the set). This is a Japanese mathematical work on tengen-jitsu or tianyuan shu, which is a Chinese system of algebra for polynomial equations.
