MS Japanese 12

A Japanese edition of Shenxiang quanbian, a Chinese work on physiognomy attributed to Chen Zhuan and edited, and possibly also compiled, by Yuan Zhongche, a practising physiognomer. This woodblock printed edition was published in 1807 by Umemura Ihee of Kyoto and includes a number of line illustrations. Kunten punctuation, glosses and headnotes have been added to the original Chinese text by Seki Ryushi and Seki Koan. Appended at the end of the third volume is a catalogue of other books on physiognomy published by Umemura Ihee.

Shenxiang quanbian is principally concerned with the head and hands, which were thought to reveal most about a person, but also pays some attention to other parts of the body such as feet and belly. Much attention is paid to the identification and classification of physiognomic types, which are correlated with the Five Elements, the animals of the Chinese zodiac, and other systems. There are many popular reprints of the text, and also some of a more scholarly nature which seek to place it in its context of Chinese belief systems. The first Japanese edition of Shenxiang quanbian was published in 1651.

Japan, 1807

Material: paper; 3 冊 | 3 volumes (3 sections); binding dimensions: height 258mm, width 182mm, depth 31mm

Purchased from Kegan Paul and Co. in 1931.

Literary Chinese