Windy and Moonlit Satchel Inscription

Author: Sun Chongtao
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2000-08-01
Features: Over 500 pages of fine manuscript materials, akin to a richly endowed mine, holding much that needs to be explored. Since the 1950s of this century, a few overseas scholars have begun to write articles reviewing and introducing fine manuscripts. Since the mid-1980s, with the return of fine manuscript reproductions to mainland China through various channels, some scholars on the mainland have started to pay attention to the study of fine manuscripts, and a small number of papers have been published (for details, see Chapter 5 of "The Origin and Development of Fine Manuscripts," titled "The Discovery and Research of Fine Manuscripts"). However, a comprehensive and holistic examination and study of fine manuscripts, with research findings compiled into specialized works, have yet to be seen. In the early 1990s, after the author read the fine manuscript microfilm, they were amazed and excited, and since then, they have spent years researching and writing a series of thematic papers, which were published in the serial publication Zhonghua Xiqu (sponsored by the Chinese Opera Society and the Institute of Opera and Cultural Relics at Shanxi Normal University, and published by Shanxi People's Publishing House and Shanxi Ancient Books Publishing House). In the autumn of 1994, the author went to Europe for research and teaching. At the Royal Library of San Lorenzo, they witnessed the original fine manuscripts and meticulously proofread the manuscript draft of A Critical Edition of Feng Yue Jin Nang, co-authored with Dr. Huang Shizhong of the Institute of Ancient Chinese Manuscripts at Sun Yat-sen University. They also read some documents related to fine manuscripts, deepening their understanding of them. The author felt that certain parts of the old draft needed to be revised and supplemented, and at the same time, following the good suggestions of academic colleagues, they compiled and edited it into a book to be presented to readers, in order to promote further research on fine manuscripts.