Catalog of Chao's Baowen Tang Catalog of Xu's Hongyu Lou --A Series of Catalogs and Inscriptions of Chinese Dynasties

Author: (Ming) Chao Ting, (Ming) Xu Huobo
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-11-01
Features: Another feature of the "Baowen Tang Catalogue" is that it often notes the printing plate below the book title, which is sufficient to trace the origins of Ming Dynasty printed books. The Chao family's collection is extensive, and there are many famous calligraphy and painting works in their records that are not found or rare in other catalogs. For example, in the "Miscellaneous" category, it records "Dongxuan Brush Records Continued Green," which, apart from appearing in the "Yiwen Zhi of the Song History," is rarely seen elsewhere. In the "Yuefu" category, it records "Jiaxuan Yuxing," which is likely another edition of Xin Qiji's works, and this edition is almost exclusively recorded in this catalog. In the "Medical Books" category, it records "Dongpo Collection Yuefang," which may be the source for the medical recipes of Su Shi in "Su and Shen's Two Inner Scholars' Good Recipes." The source for Shen Kuo's medical recipes is clear, but the source for Su Shi's recipes has never been fully understood. This material helps to clarify this issue. The "Hongyu Tower Catalogue" includes a large number of Ming Dynasty collections, and the "Selected Poems of the Ming Dynasty" section provides detailed information about the authors' biographies, making it a valuable resource for Ming Dynasty art and literature. If compared with Huang Yujisi's "Qianqing Tang Catalogue" in the Ming Dynasty collection section, the two catalogs complement each other. This is another important value of this catalog.