明万历间牛津大学博德利爵士中文藏书故事

<p>Chinese books formed part of the Bodleian Library’s collections from its very beginning, when the Library opened in November 1602. Sir Thomas Bodley not only built the Bodleian Library and donated his personal collection of books and manuscripts, but also assembled 49 Chinese volumes by the time of his death in 1613. This was by far the largest collection of Chinese books anywhere outside East Asia at the time. Bodley paid particular attention to these books, keeping them in a specially locked cupboard in the newly opened library (now the Old Bodleian Library).</p><p>The first dated Chinese book acquisition by Bodley was in 1604, the 42nd year of Emperor Wanli (also spelled Wan Lee) of the Ming dynasty. Bodley wrote on the end flyleaf of the Chinese book, noting the year of acquisition and the donor who funded the purchase. In a letter to his Librarian Thomas James dated 5 April 1603, Bodley wrote, “My Lord of Northumberland gave 100 pounds to the Librarie.” This money was likely used for the purchase of that Chinese book and others.</p><p>Coincidentally, 1604 was the Chinese Year of the Dragon, the most auspicious year in the Chinese zodiac, symbolizing prosperity, wisdom, and good fortune—qualities befitting a great institution like the Bodleian. The year 2024, which we celebrated last year, was also a Year of the Dragon. It marked the seventh full 60-year cycle since the acquisition of that book in 1604, a particularly meaningful milestone in the Chinese lunar calendar.</p><p>Interestingly, the image of the book from 1604 shows that Bodley held it upside down when writing in it. He clearly did not read Chinese—nor did anyone else in the United Kingdom at that time. Yet that did not deter the Bodleian from acquiring more Chinese books, often at considerable expense, both during Bodley’s lifetime and in the years that followed.</p><p>The 四書 (Four Books) volume that Bodley signed and dated may not have been the first Chinese book in his possession. A leaf from a unique 16th-century edition of the famous Chinese classical novel 水滸傳 (Water Margin) may have arrived even before the Library officially opened. At the end of the sixteenth century, an unknown English visitor paid a visit to Paulus Merula, a historian and librarian at Leiden University (1597–1607). On that occasion, Merula presented his guest with a fragment of a Chinese book—a rare and precious item at the time. An inscription on the cover of the fragment records this event: “A book of China given me at Leiden by Doctor Merla [sic], professor in Histories.”</p><p>Bodley actively encouraged donations of books or funds. Monetary gifts were used by Bodley or his librarian to purchase books, which were then entered into the benefactors’ register as acquisitions attributed to the donor. After the 1604 Chinese book purchase, Bodley continued acquiring Chinese volumes through such donations.</p><p>In 1607, Katharine Sandys donated £20 to the Library. Among the acquisitions made with her gift were eight Chinese volumes, recorded in bold type as Octo volumina lingua Sinensi (“eight volumes in the Chinese language”)—the first item listed on that page. No further details were given.</p><p>Katharine Sandys was a businesswoman and the fourth wife of Edwin Sandys, a politician and one of the founders of the Virginia Company of London, which in 1607 established the Jamestown colony in Virginia, USA. Edwin Sandys, also a fellow of Corpus Christi College, had donated 30 books to the Library in 1603. He was also involved in founding the English East India Company.</p><p>The first recorded arrival of Chinese books in the Bodleian was in 1607, when 36 volumes were acquired. In a letter dated 24 June 1607, Bodley wrote to Thomas James about a consignment of books sent from London: “Of the China books, because I cannot give their titles, I have written on every volume the name of the giver.” Indeed, he had written the donors’ names—but holding the books in the wrong reading order and often upside down. These books were rebound in limp vellum bindings, and the donors’ names were inscribed on the vellum in the same way as Bodley had written them.</p><p>Monetary donors to the Library during Bodley’s lifetime included Matthew Chubbe and John Clapham (1606), Sir Charles Danvers, Martin Lumley, Lady Katherine Sandys, and Francis Vere (1607), William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke (1609), and Sir Francis Cleere and Owen Wood, Dean of Armagh (1610). Records suggest that each Chinese volume cost about one pound in the early 17th century.</p><p>In several cases, volumes from the same edition were purchased using different donors’ funds over several years. This may suggest that booksellers sold volumes separately to maximize profits—and that Bodley, who could not read Chinese, was unaware of the duplication or separation.</p><p>In terms of subject matter, only two of the early works were on Confucianism; the rest were medical texts. This reflects publishing trends in Ming China, where Confucian and medical books were the most commercially printed and widely circulated.</p><p>Notably, the books acquired before and after 1613 differ in binding and subject matter. Early acquisitions often retained their original Chinese paper wrappers or were rebound in European paper without altering the original string binding. Literary works, such as Journey to the West (known in the West as Monkey King), arrived later—during the Kangxi era (1670s). This particular volume, printed in the Ming dynasty, is one of the earliest surviving illustrated editions of the novel, and it is written in vernacular Chinese rather than classical Chinese.</p><p>The arrival of Shen Fuzong, the first recorded Chinese visitor to the UK, in 1687 (during the Kangxi era of the Qing dynasty), marked a turning point. Shen catalogued about 170 volumes of Chinese books in the Bodleian and introduced Chinese language and culture to Thomas Hyde, the fifth Bodley’s Librarian. The two men spent seven weeks together in the summer of 1687, working through the collection in the same library we sit in today. They discussed not only the books but also Chinese culture, religion, geography, language, food, and even wine. Shen received a generous payment of £7—considered a high salary at the time.</p><p>Their collaboration fostered both personal friendship and intellectual exchange. Thomas Hyde’s interest in Chinese language and culture continued throughout his life. Seen in another light, Shen Fuzong was the first Chinese scholar to teach Chinese in Oxford (and the UK), and Hyde was the first English student of the language—though not fluent after seven weeks of study.</p><p>Their correspondence reveals mutual respect and a shared desire for cultural understanding. Their encounter exemplifies Oxford’s enduring spirit of inclusive intellectual pursuit, transcending origin or background.</p><p>Later, the Library acquired two major collections of Chinese books: one in 1882 and another in 1913. These consisted of 17,000 and 27,000 volumes, respectively, and belonged to the missionary-scholar Alexander Wylie and the sinologist Sir Edmund Backhouse.</p><p>Sir Thomas Bodley laid the foundation for a long tradition of collecting, preserving, and making Chinese books accessible. Many of the works he acquired are now unique or extremely rare editions of texts lost in East Asia. Some are being digitally or physically repatriated to China and the Chinese-speaking world. Although many are incomplete sets, the Bodleian often holds the largest number of volumes among them.</p><p>The early reception of Chinese books at the Bodleian occurred amid the rise of Oriental studies in Europe. Yet the size and scope of the Bodleian’s collection far exceeded that of any other European institution, despite a general lack of understanding of the language at the time. Bodley and his early donors played a pivotal role in shaping what would become a world-renowned collection.</p><p>The limp vellum rebinding, intended to protect the books and allow donor inscriptions, sometimes caused structural damage and was unsuitable for the proper handling of Chinese volumes. This practice was discontinued as early as the 19th century—much earlier than in other European or North American libraries.</p><p>Ultimately, the Bodleian’s early Chinese books sparked linguistic and scholarly interest. Shen Fuzong’s visit and the creation of the Library’s first Chinese catalogue underscored the Bodleian’s pioneering role in fostering early European knowledge of China. This story offers a rare and valuable account of scholarly exchange before the onset of colonialism—free of power imbalances—and provides an alternative model for East–West intellectual collaboration.</p>