Tongsu gushi 通俗故事 bound with Qianziwen 千字文.

JapSin I, 58 A
Two texts, forty-seven folios with Arabic numbers, bound together in one volume.

The cover bears a Latin inscription: “Est Liber exercitiorum alicujus S.J. patris qui primo anno didicit linguam sinicam monstrat laborem intensissimum et methodum illius temporis. I. Lingua vulgaris per historiuntulas. II. 1000 caracteres pueris addiscendi cum notulis Latinis P. S.J."

Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, p. 112. [Go to Tongsu gushi 通俗故事. [Jap-Sin I, 58 A 1]

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JapSin I, 58 A 2
Qianziwen 千字文.
By Zhou Xingsi 周興嗣.
Handwriting by Lin Guoning 林國寧.
White paper, twenty-two folios (Arabic numbers 26–47). Published by the Sanshan jingshe 三山精舍 (Fujian), in 1579 (Wanli 7).

The Latin inscription on the cover reads: “1000 characteres pueris addiscendi cum not. latinis (ms. et impressus).”

There are four columns in each half folio and six characters in each column. The number of the folio is given in the middle of the folio. On folio 26 the title in Chinese is given, followed by the ranks and names of the author and the calligrapher. At the end of the last folio the date and publisher are indicated, followed by two wood block seals: 致吾草堂 and 迪功郎印.
The calligraphy is ordinary and the book is meant for school boys. Romanization is given in ink for every character, together with meanings in Latin. Occasionally some annotations in Chinese are given in red. It was probably used as a text book for missioners.
For the Qianziwen, see Jap-Sin I, 167 (Siti Qianziwen).

Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 113-114.

Local access Digital Archives ARSI Jap-Sin I-IV folder [JS-I-58a]
Online at ARSI via Internet Archive.

JapSin I, 167
Siti qianzi wen 四體千字文.
Standard and grass script by Zhang Jie [sic.] 張楷 (1670–1744), seal (篆) and clerk (隸) style characters by Xu Dachun 徐大椿 (1693–1771).
Chinese bamboo paper in one volume.
No date or place of publication.

The cover bears an Italian and a Latin inscription: “Alla libreria de’ Signori convit | tori del Colegio di Voghera . . . | il P. Celestino Spelta min. Réf. in Cina miss(ionar)iõ ap(osto)lico | dona. Paganus. Liber classicus 1000 caracterum = ABC. Sine valore.”

Cf. Paul Pelliot, “Le Ts’ien tsieu wen ou ‘Livre des mille mots’” in T’oung Pao XXIV (1926), pp. 179–214, 293; J.P. Abel Rémusat, Essai sur la langue et la littérature chinoise (Paris, 1811); Zhao Yi 趙翼 (1724–1814), Gaiyu congkao 陔餘叢考, juan 22 (Shanghai, 1957), pp. 436–437.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 223-224.

[JapSin I, 58 A]
JapSin I, 58 A
Two texts, forty-seven folios with Arabic numbers, bound together in one volume.

The cover bears a Latin inscription: “Est Liber exercitiorum alicujus S.J. patris qui primo anno didicit linguam sinicam monstrat laborem intensissimum et methodum illius temporis. I. Lingua vulgaris per historiuntulas. II. 1000 caracteres pueris addiscendi cum notulis Latinis P. S.J.”

Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, p. 112. [Go to Qianziwen 千字文. [Jap-Sin I, 58 A 2]

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JapSin I, 58 A 1
Tongsu gushi 通俗故事.
By an anonymous author.
Manuscript in one volume, twenty-five folios with Arabic numbers (eight columns in each half folio marked with blue lines). In rebinding the top margins have been cut away together with some of the characters. No date. 23.5 x 16 cm.

On folio 1r, written horizontally, are the characters gong 宮, shang 商, jue 角, zhi 徵 and yu 羽, the five notes of Chinese traditional music. Under the character shang 商 are written zhong 忠, xiao 孝, lian 廉 and jie 節, which are the four virtues of loyalty, filial piety, incorruptibility and integrity. The signature of Lu Zixiu 魯子秀 is clearly written by a foreigner. However, in Pfister there is no such name among the Jesuit missioners.
As the Latin inscription says, the book is a primary text for beginners. Many of the stories are taken from popular Chinese legends. One of them, The Chinese orphan (Zhao shi gu’er 趙氏孤兒), was translated in its dramatic form by Joseph de Prémare in 1735. There are also two stories taken from Catholic sources: the wise judgment of King Solomon on the claim of the two women to a son and the martyrdom of a Christian girl who would not practice idolatry. There are also jokes and fairy tales. Though the handwriting is fairly dexterous, nevertheless there are a number of mistakes in the characters. This makes one think that the author was a catechist in the mission who often served as instructor to the missioners.

Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 112-113.

Local access Digital Archives ARSI Jap-Sin I-IV folder [JS-I-58a]
Online at ARSI via Internet Archive.