Plum Hi Theogony "version Of The Test

Although the Shuanggui Studio's publication of Meihua Xishen Pu dated from 1261 is a reimpression of a former work, one of its copies survives all the original ones, and now this earliest and only existing copy of the known first plum-painting woodcut is among the most treasurable of Shanghai Museum's collections. During the Qing dynasty, at least seven reproductions have been propagated from this copy. And later since 1921, more and more reproductions have been presented by technology of photo facsimile, thus Meihua Xishen Pu becomes very well-known and has been studied by scholars all over the world. This thesis is trying to make its own contributions by adapting methods of Chinese classical bibliography, Chinese classical edition studies and Chinese classical text criticism to study all its editions thoroughly.This thesis consists of three chapters, each one focuses on one prominent edition of Meihua Xishen Pu. Chapter I studies the Shuanggui Studio edition. This chapter first describes in details the outward aspects of the only existing copy itself, and then traces features of its original work. This chapter also deals with the origins and influences of all the elements of Meihua Xishen Pu, including the poems, the pictures and the poem-picture format. There are still doubts about the date of this print, and they will be discussed in the end of this chapter.ChapterⅡstudies the Guni Garden edition. Depending on seven repetitions which the author has already seen, this chapter describes in details the outward aspects of the Guni Garden's print of Meihua Xishen Pu and examines in what extent this edition follows its precedent. This chapter also traces the original work of the Guni Garden's print and the events leading up to its occurrence.ChapterⅢstudies the edition included in Zhibuzu Senctum Series. Studies of this edition also begin with description of its outward aspects, and then the procedure of its print. In addition, this chapter pays much more attention on all the copies of this edition and discovers many differences among them.This thesis also has a coda with considerable length. All the other woodcut or manuscript editions, including some photo facsimiles of importance are listed here, with introductions of their outward aspects, originals and backgrounds.