Juhachi Shiryaku Ko Hon [Eighteen Histories of Ancient China, Jyuhasshi ryaku] (7 volumes)

Ssu-ma Kuang; Sima Guang; various

Japan, Osaka: Meiji 18, 1885

[Eighteen Histories of China in Brief] 7 volume set. 253 x184 mm (10 x 7 in). Japanese stab binding. Original yellow wrappers.  Xylographically printed on double leaves. 10 hand-colored lithographed maps on China on 5 sheets.  The Eighteen Histories was a first used in China during the Song dynasty (960-1279). The Histories were continued during the Yuan Dynasty and spread to Japan during the Ming era.  It fell out of use in China during the Manchu period.  The Histories were widely read in Japan in the 19th century as the country turned its attention to foreign expansion and the ailing Qing Empire.  These books are partially an abridgement of Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian ('Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance'). The history was further compiled during the Yuan dynasty as "Shi Ba Shi Lue". Refs: Qiao Zhizhong (2016) Eighteen Histories in Brief and its influence in Japan, Chinese Studies in History, 49:1, 3-18.  Christies, Exploration and Travel, 9/25/2008. (Ju Hachi Shiryaku; Jyuhasshi ryaku)

[This is an oversized or heavy book, which requires additional postage for international delivery outside the US.]