A Korean made an official in China.

Poems of a famous Korean woman.

Korean books printed from earthenware plates.

A work of more than passing interest is the Nam-bok san-in sul-lok, a biography of the famous scholar and official Kim To, who was executed in 1379 A. D., shortly before the close of the Koryu period in 1392 A. D. Kim To, the son of a farmer in Nan-bok, in southern Korea, won second place in the literary examination in 1362 A. D. and immediately was appointed chief censor. A few years later he went to China, and passing the examination there was made an official in Tung Ch'ang Fu in Shantung Province. He also received gifts of silk and rice from the Chinese Emperor. After two years he retired and returned to Korea. The Korean King, Kong Min, said of him, "Through him China has been made aware that our country has brilliant scholars." The King, with his own hand, wrote an inscription in his honor and presented it to him.

This work was unknown to Courant, and, curiously enough, the name of Kim To does not appear in the Dictionary of Korean Biography. The copy secured for the Library of Congress is a manuscript of 25 folios bound in one volume. It is well written with good black ink on fine white Korean paper.

Little is known by western people of the women of Korea, and in consequence the Nan-sul hun is of unusual interest. It is a beautiful manuscript copy of the poems of Hu Yup's daughter, Hu Si, who, Dr. Gale says, was the literary wonder of the reign of King Sun Jo (1568–1608 A. D.). The copy secured for the Library of Congress is in the caligraphy of Hu On, a sister of the authoress. The work is in one volume of 31 folios and is beautifully written on white Korean paper. It has a preface by Cha Chih-fan, a Chinese scholar who came. to Korea as envoy about 1600 A. D.

The Sang-rye pi ryo, compiled by Sin Eui-kyung and revised by Kim Chang-sang (1548-1631 A. D.) in five books, bound in two volumes, was according to Dr. Gale, printed in 1812 A. D. from earthenware blocks. It is a treatise on the ceremonies that attend death and mourning. The text is not very clear, doubtless because of its being printed from earthenware plates. Courant

(Bibliog. Coréenne) refers to printing of his copy of the work as being of recent date, but not clear; apparently he did not realize that it was printed from earthenware plates. This work is a very welcome addition to the material illustrative of the development of the art of printing in the Orient, as it illustrates a method of printing recorded in China as early as the Sung dynasty (9601127 A. D.), but of which up to now no examples are known to have found their way into western libraries.

history of

The Tong-kook tong-kam, by Su Ku-jung (1420-1488 comprehensive A. D.) in 56 books bound in 28 volumes, a voluminous Korea up to history of Korea up to 1392 A. D., was written because 1392 A. D. of the desire of King Soo Cho (1455–1467 A. D.) to have a Korean historical work on the plan of the famous Tz,u chih t'ung chien of Ssu-ma Kuang. He ordered the official historiographer to prepare such a work, but this was not completed until the reign of Sung Chong (14691493 A. D.), who ordered Su Ku-jung and nine other men to compile and correct the material. This was done and the work was finished in 1484 A. D. It is said to be the most complete history of Korea up to the end of the Koryu dynasty, 1392 A. D.

Only imperfect copies of this work were in circulation until a perfect copy was obtained for the governor general's office in Seoul, whereupon Governor General Saito, in December, 1921, ordered it reprinted, and wrote a preface for it.

Dr. Gale notes that this edition was printed from blocks cut in Japan in 1660 A. D. and preserved at Kyoto, Japan. The text has Japanese endings and connectives throughout. The preface to the original edition dated 1485 A. D. and that to the Japanese reprint dated 1660 A. D. are given in this new edition.

A Korean book of unusual value is the Cho sun ko keum myung hyun jun, or Lives of Noted Korean Scholars, compiled and published by the Hong Moon Literary Society of Tokyo, Japan. It is printed in western style in one volume. The first edition appeared in 1922; that of which a copy was secured for the Library of Congress

ples of Korea.

is the fifth edition, published in 1926. This work contains about 1,000 brief biographical sketches and 78 reproductions of famous Korean portraits taken, according to Dr. Gale, from their shrines. Elsewhere in this report this work is cited as the Korean Biographical Dictionary. Another work of a biographical nature is the Kongpoo-ya sung juk to sung hak yun wul lok, compiled by Kim Won soo and 21 others and published by Yi Sok-re in one volume. It contains a list of famous Korean Confucianists with brief biographical details, usually briefer than the sketches in the Korean Biographical Dictionary. This work was printed at Tokyo in 1924. It has no preface or postface.

Still another Korean work giving biographical data regarding Korean Confucianists is the Cho too rok, or List of Confucian Temples, Schools, etc., a beautifully written manuscript work in two volumes, apparently compiled by the order of King Chung-Jon, who reigned from 1776– 1800 A. D. and who wrote the preface to the work. In this preface reference is made to the fact that the Chosen or last Korean dynasty, 1392-1910 A. D., had "always promoted the study of Confucian doctrines and had caused temples to be erected even in remote frontier villages, so that the ancient sages might be honored thereby.

from which it may be realized what part our Confucian tem dynasty has played in promoting culture and molding and planting deep the seeds of benevolence and kindness." As a result of this, King Chung-Jon goes on to say, "these men were loyal to their country, performed their filial duties to their families, worked diligently to improve their characters, cultivated self-control, and influenced their people. While living they enjoyed a good reputation and after death they are honored in these temples."

The work itself consists of a list of Confucian temples, schools, chapels, etc., in all parts of Korea, giving the detailed account of each edifice and very brief biographical details as to these Koreans honored therein. In all, 649 people are so honored, 266 had their tablets placed in temples, and 383 more were entitled to official recognition.

In addition, various kings and high officials are honored in the royal temples. Courant, in his Bibliographie coréenne, states that the copy of this work that he saw was a small volume of 24 folios in ordinary printing. The copy secured for the Library of Congress must be a much more voluminous work. This copy was for many years one of the treasures of Dr. James S. Gale's private library in Seoul, Korea, and was frequently consulted by him. He has generously presented it to the Library of Congress after retiring from his literary work in Korea. The Cho too rok is extremely important in any study of Korean philosophers, since they are almost without exception Confucianists and many of them are honored in the Confucian temples.

JAPANESE ACCESSIONS

to the Pên ts'ao

The Library of Congress has received as a gift from Japanese index Prof. Tyôzaburô Tanaka, of the New University of kang mu. Taiwan (Formosa), Japan, the Honzo komoku shinan (in Chinese Pên ts'ao kang mu chih nan, "Guide" (literally, compass) to Pên ts'ao kang mu), an index to the famous Chinese herbal of Li Shih-chên, compiled by an anonymous author in Japan probably about the beginning of the eighteenth century. It is in six volumes, divided into two parts. The names of plants, animals, minerals used as drugs in China, are all listed according to their Sino-Japanese sound in the i-ro-ha order. The citation after each name gives the book of the Pên ts'ao kang mu where the item is found and classes such references into original headings, synonyms, comments, appendices, innovations, and supplementary names, each class of names being separated and arranged in the order of the books of the Pên ts'ao kang mu except the last three classes, which are lumped together. The Japanese names are given in Katakana syllabary characters at the side of the Chinese characters whenever the Japanese name was known. Japanese synonyms are given under the Chinese names in smaller Chinese characters used phonetically to spell in the names in Japanese. This

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index seems to be based on the small-sized Japanese editions of the Pên ts'ao kang mu published in 1672 A. D., as the Japanese equivalents for the Chinese names almost always agree with those given in this edition and often do not agree with those in the larger Japanese edition of this herbal printed in 1714 A. D.

The Chinese names in the complete i-ro-ha order fill five volumes. The sixth volume gives the purely Japanese names of such items as were known to have Japanese names, also arranged in i-ro-ha order. The Chinese names occupy 134 folios, bound in five volumes, and the Japanese names 33 folios, bound in one volume. There is no title-page, no preface, no post face, nor colophon usual in Japanese books; no date nor publisher is indicated. It is very well printed in large, very black characters on strong white paper and the volumes are bound in deep blue plain stiff paper covers in Japanese style. The volumes are 1034 by 75% inches and average one-fourth inch in thickness. The former owner of the book attempted to efface his name but it can still be read as Katsuo Yoshitomo. Professor Tanaka states that the Katsuo family is well known in Omi Province, whence came Katsuo Yoshitomo, the founder of the Japanese Navy. Professor Tanaka purchased the book in 1918 in an old-book store in Osaka, Japan, and thinks it was probably published by some feudal lord for the benefit of a small circle of scholars and doctors. The work was not known even to Prof. M. Shirai, who has written a chronological history of the progress of natural history in Japan, and no other copy of the work is known.

Professor Tanaka has written on the flyleaf of the first volume a dedication to the Library of Congress, and in a letter accompanying the gift says:

I have the honor of presenting the present work to the Library of Congress, which possesses probably the largest collection of different editions of the Pên ts'ao kang mu in the world. I hope this index will be found useful to persons who study this celebrated work of Li Shih-chên.

This is without doubt a very rare work and at the same time a very useful one, for it lists phonetically all the