MS Japanese 7

A Japanese translation of Shisijing fahui, a study of the theory and practice of acupuncture focusing on the fourteen bodily tracts, with black and white illustrations. This woodblock print copy is a reprint from the original blocks of a copy published in 1805. The work was first written in 1341 by Hua Shou (1304–1386), a physician of the Yuan dynasty, and printed in 1364. It was first printed in Japan in 1596 and was one of the first books to be printed with movable type. Later movable-type editions are recorded from 1604, 1618 and 1625; block-printed editions are recorded from 1631, 1649 and 1665, and on numerous other occasions up to 1805. It is clear, then, that there was a very considerable market for this work in Japan in the Edo period.

Japan, c.1805

Material: paper; １冊 3巻 | 1 volume (divided into 3 sections); binding dimensions: height 226mm, width 156mm, depth 17mm

Purchased by the Wellcome Library at Probsthain’s booksellers in 1911.