Baichuan xuehai 百川學海

Baichuan xuehai 百川學海

Baichuan xuehai 百川學海 is a series of collectanea (congshu 叢書) compiled by the Song-period 宋 (960-1279) scholar Zuo Gui 左圭 (fl. 1273). It includes 101 books with a total length of 177 juan. Zuo Gui 左圭, courtesy name Yuxi 禹錫, style Gumao Shanren 古鄮山人, hailed from Zhejiang, but his dates of life are unknown.

The name of the series is derived from a sentence in the chapter Xuexing 學行 of Yang Xiong's 揚雄 (53 BCE-18 CE) book Fayan 法言 from the Han period 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) in which it is said that "one hundred rivers learn to be the sea, and they flow towards the sea".

The Baichuan xuehai is often called the first congshu in the history of Chinese publication. It is divided into ten series (ji 集) numbered according to the Heavenly Stems (tiangan 天干). Most of the books included were written during the Tang 唐 (618-907) and Song periods, but there are also some dating from the Jin 晉 (265-420) and the Southern Dynasties 南朝 (420~589) periods. The greatest part of the books included in the Baichuan xuehai is also to be found in the vast Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) series Siku quanshu 四庫全書.

In his preface Zuo Gui says that the one hundred books he assembled in this series served to be the best manuals for the education of any scholar. The number of collectanea included in the Baichuan xuehai is much larger than that of the Ruxue jingwu 儒學警悟 that was compiled somewhat earlier, but Zuo Gui underwent less editorial work for the books, so that the texts included in the Baichuan xuehai have a more original wording. The Baichuan xuehai therefore often served as a text basis for later editions.

The series of Zuo Gui was so paradigmatic that the Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) scholars Wu Yong 吳永 and Feng Kebin 馮可賓 (jinshi degree 1622) published two continuations called Xu baichuan xuehai 續百川學海, and Guang baichuan xuehai 廣百川學海, respectively. There are also two further supplements compiled by the Ming-period collector Sima Tai 司馬泰 (jinshi degree 1523), the Sanxu baichuan xuehai 三續百川學海 with a length of 30 juan, and Zaixu baichuan xuehai 再續百川學海 with a length of 80 juan.

Of the first Song period print of the Baichuan xuehai from the Xianchun reign-period 咸淳 (1265-1274) only fragments have preserved as facsimile in an edition from the Ming period. It includes 102 books and was first printed in 1927 by Tao Xiang 陶湘 (1871-1940) from Wujin 武進, Jiangsu, yet some of the books had to be reconstructed with the help of a second Ming-period print, the edition of Master Hua 華氏 from Wuxi 無錫 with 101 books that was published in 1921 by the Boguzhai Studio 博古齋 in Shanghai. The Tao/Hua version was printed in 1930 and served as the base for the table below because it is the most widespread version of the Baichuan xuehai. The books in Master Hua's version are arranged in a different order that is closer to the Ming facsimiles.

Xu baichuan xuehai 續百川學海

Xu baichuan xuehai 續百川學海 is a series of collectanea (congshu 叢書) compiled by the Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) scholar Wu Yong 吳永 (dates of life unknown). It is modeled after the Song-period 宋 (960-1279) series Baichuan xuehai 百川學海 by Zuo Gui 左圭 and includes 104 books with a total length of 117 juan. Wu Yong assembled important books from the Tang 唐 (618-907) and Song periods that were not included in Zuo Gui's series. Some of the titles are, nevertheless, included in both. The Xu baichuan xuehai is divided into ten collections (ji 集), following the Heavenly Stems (tiangan 天干), and is arranged in 12 volumes (ce 册).

Practically all of the books are also included in other series, like the Shuofu 說郛, so that the Xu baichuan xuehai is not a collection of rare titles. The most important edition of the Xu baichuan xuehai is the print of the Xinyuan Studio 心遠堂 from the Ming period.

Guang baichuan xuehai 廣百川學海

Guang baichuan xuehai 廣百川學海 is a series of collectanea (congshu 叢書) compiled by the Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) scholar Feng Kebin 馮可賓 (dates of life unknown). It is modeled after the Song-period 宋 (960-1279) series Baichuan xuehai 百川學海 by Zuo Gui 左圭 and includes 132 books with a total length of 155 juan.

Feng Kebin assembled important books from the Tang 唐 (618-907) and Song periods that were not included in Zuo Gui's series, but also includes books written during the Yuan 元 (1279-1368) and Ming periods. The Guang baichuan xuehai is divided into ten collections (ji 集), following the Heavenly Stems (tiangan 天干), and is arranged in 12 volumes (ce 册).

Practically all books included in the Guang baichuan xuehai are also to be found in other series like Shuofu 說郛 or Baoyantang miji 寶顏堂秘笈, so that the Guang baichuan xuehai is not a collection of rare titles. The most important edition of the Guang baichuan xuehai is the print of the Xinyuan Studio 心遠堂 from the Ming period.