[琉球板]論語 上巻 / Analects of Confucius, Vol. 1 (Ryukyu Reprint)

The title on the cover of this book is Rongo jyōmaki (Analects of Confucius, vol. 1). Both its publisher and year of publication are unknown. Inside, we can see the imprints of the seals that indicate who owned the book: Xiàng Yuánmó, Mutō, Zankasho'oku, Togawa-shi zōsho in (ownership seal of Togawa), and Hin'nan. In addition to the book Rongo (Analects of Confucius), the books Daigaku (Great Learning), Chūyō (Doctrine of the Mean) and Mōshi (Discourses of Mencius) were selected by the founder of Neo-Confucianism, Zhū Xī, to create the basic texts of Confucianism called Shisho (Four Books). Neo-Confucianism was a designated teaching in Japan, the Tokugawa shōgunate published many kuntenbon (books with punctuation marks for reading Chinese). In Ryukyu, the book Rongo shicchū (Commentary on the Analects of Confucius) which included Bunshiten (Bunshi Nampo’s punctuation system) was highly respected after being introduced by Jochiku Tomari (Bunshi Nampo’s disciple) who visited in 1632. The book Shisho shicchū (Commentary on the Four Books) with Nampo’s punctuation system is said to be Japan’s first kuntenbon—its source being the Shisho shicchū (Commentary on the Four Books) published by the Yú Míngtái bookstore in Fujian at the end of the Ming Dynasty. The woodblocks used for this book is believed to have been carved in Fujian as well, and then brought to Ryukyu for printing.