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Youju yabian 游具雅編

Mar 22, 2025 © Ulrich Theobald

Youju yabian 游具雅編 is a brief book on the handicrafts with wood and reed for travel equipment written during the Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Tu Long 屠隆 (1542-1605). It is the last book in Tu's collection Kaopan yushi 考槃余事.

The text discusses the manufacture and quality of hats, canes, fishing rods, boats, leaf rafts (yedie 葉戕), objects made of gourds, dippers (piao 瓢), medicine baskets (yaolan 藥籃, clothing cases (yixia 衣匣), folding tables (diechuo 疊桌), carrying boxes (tihe 提盒), portable stoves (tilu 提爐), supply cases for travel (beijuxia 備具匣), wine vessels (jiuzun 酒尊), and more items designed for convenience during travel.

The author provides a detailed introduction to a case of essential travel equipment and its method of construction, making this book highly practical:

以輕木為之,外加皮包,厚漆如拜匣。高七寸,闊八寸,長一尺四寸,中作一替,上淺下深。 It is made of lightweight wood, covered with leather on the outside, and coated with thick lacquer like a tribute box. Measuring seven inches (cun 寸, see weights and measures) high, eight inches wide, and fourteen inches long, it is divided into two compartments—shallow on top and deep below.
置小梳匣一,茶盞四,骰盆一,香爐一,香盒一,茶盒一,匙筯瓶一,上替內小硯一,墨一,筆二,小水注一,水洗一,圖書小匣二,骨牌匣一,骰子枚馬盒一,香炭餅匣一,途利文具匣一,內藏裁刀、錐子、挖耳、挑牙、消息、肉乂、修指甲刀、銼、髮刡等件。 Inside, it holds a small comb case, four tea cups, a dice tray, an incense burner, an incense box, a tea box, a spoon-and-chopstick container, a small inkstone, an ink stick, two brushes, a small water dropper, a water dish, two small book cases, a domino box, a dice and horse game box, a scented charcoal case, and a traveling stationery box containing a paper knife, an awl, an ear pick, a toothpick, a scraper, a small knife for trimming meat, a nail clipper, a file, and a hairpin.
酒牌一,詩韻牌一,詩筒一,內藏紅葉各箋,以錄詩。下藏梳具匣,以便山宿。 Additionally, it includes a set of drinking game plaques, a set of poetry rhyme plaques (see Shipaipu 詩牌譜), and a poetry tube filled with red-leaf slips for recording poems. Below, there is a comb and grooming kit for convenience during overnight stays in the mountains.
外用關鎖以啟閉,攜之山游,亦似甚備。 The case is secured with a lock and key, making it a well-equipped companion for mountain excursions.

At the end of the book, there are four accompanying illustrations: one depicting a portable stove (tilu shitu 提爐式圖), one showing a Taiji-style wine vessel (taiji zun shitu 太極樽式圖), one illustrating a gourd-shaped wine vessel (hulu zun shitu 葫蘆樽式圖), and one featuring a mountain travel carrying case (shanyou tihe shitu 山游提盒式圖). While the book provides a detailed introduction to various travel accessories, the inclusion of these diagrams enhances the clarity of the explanations. It serves as an excellent reference book for those who enjoy mountain excursions.

Sources:
Li Xueqin 李學勤, and Lü Wenyu 呂文郁, eds. 1996. Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典, vol. 2, 2000. Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe.
Zeng Kang 曾抗. 1996. "Youju yabian 游具雅編." In Zhongguo xueshu mingzhu tiyao 中國學術名著提要, vol. Keji 科技卷, edited by Zhou Gucheng 周谷城, 828. Shanghai: Fudan daxue chubanshe.