JIAGT6 Jiao Bingzhen: YUZHI GENGZHI TU. (Pictures on Tilling and Weaving). Shanghai, 1888. 3 pp. text plus 46 fullpage b/w lithographic illustrations each with an accompanying page of descriptive text. 2 vols. 26x15 cm. Stitched. GBP 1,600.00 An lithographic version of one of the most famous Chinese illustrated books, the Gengzhi Tu, first commissioned by the Kangxi emperor and produced in 1696. This lithographic version is taken from the later Qianlong edition of the work, believed to have been produced in the 1740s. This edition is in two volumes, the first describing Rice Growing, the second volume on Sericulture. There are 23 illustrations of rice growing in its various stages from the initial soaking of the seeds through to the harvesting and threshing. These are followed by 23 pictures of sericulture from the preparation of silkworm eggs through to cocoon sorting and silk spinning, the weaving of silk and making clothes. The illustrations show a Song influence and contain poems by the 12th-century magistrate Lou Shu who commissioned the original Song edition. Apart from the popularity of the work itself (it spawned several editions), it provided inspiration and a template for Chinese decorative arts in other media, including domestic and export porcelain, painting, lacquer screens and jade carving. The 'Gengzhi Tu' presents itself as important on a number of levels: the most famous example of Qing illustrated printing, an important example of western (Jesuit) influence on Qing art, an insight into court and literati interest and taste at the end of the 17th and early 18th centuries, a popular and influential work whose appeal spread beyond the confines of woodblock printing. This is the second lithographic edition of the work (first edition 1876) produced by Shanghai's famous Dianshizhai lithographic press. Unobtrusive worming that intrudes onto, but does not detract from, the lithographic images. Otherwise clean. Some marks and wear to covers. Rare. Subjects: Rare Books Illustrated Books Available, as of: 03/07/2008 Was item 196 in printed List 140. Record produced by Hanshan Tang Books, www.hanshan.com.