A bibliographic study on Tongui-bigan with a special reference to its influence on Japan and China

Park, Kyung Ryun

Abstract

In this work my main focus was put on two things; first, to examine the history of publication of Tongui - bogam within the nation with particular interest in the changing aspect observed from the bibliographical terms, and second, to examine the process through which Tongui - bogam was introduced to Japan and China, and the influence the book brought the two nations. Some of the findings concerning the domestic publication of Tongui - bogam are as follows. The first printing of the book was made in 1613, under the auspice of Naeui - won, one of the government organs in the capital in charge of medical affairs. It was printed with wooden movable type carved at Hullyeon - togam, the military training bureau. As for the question of the history of the domestic publication of Tongui - bogam after the first printing in 1613, we don't have enough data yet. Although there are many different editions of Tongui - bogam extant today, with different size and different font each, I could find so far only three copies which carry the data concerning its publication, one printed in 1659 by the Kyongsang provincial government with newly engraved woodblock, one printed in 1754 again by the Kyongsang provincial government with re-engraved woodblock, and one printed in 1814 by the Cholla provincial government with newly re-engraved woodblock. Each of the three was a revised edition at the time of its publication because every time it was based on the copy corrected by Naeui - won. In addition to the above mentioned three different editions of Tongui - bogam, three are quite a few copies originally printed with wooden movable type of different font, at various time and various places. None of them has any record concerning the date and place of its publication, and none of them shows that it was based on the Naeui-won corrected version as a mother copy. Accordingly, all of them carry quite a few erratum misprinting and it seems quite certain that all of them were produced before 1659. I also feel that the 1724 Japanese edition was based on one of the pre - 1659 copies. In Japan, the first publication of Tongui - bogam was made in the year of 1724 (the 9th year of Kyoho in Japanese year title) under the auspice of the Japanese government i.e. the Tokugawa Bakuf. The book carries a preface written by a man named Fubihara, then the vice president of national university, and a postscript written by Minamoto mototoru, a government attached monk physician. It was a woodblock printing and the title of the book was "Kankoku - Teisei Tongui - bogam. The reason the word "Kankoku-Teisei" the Revised Edition Printed with Officially Engraved Woodblocks", was added to the title was that the publication was made by the government and before publication the government ordered Minamoto to read through the original Tongui-bogam throughly and make corrections if any misprintings be found. Minamoto also put the so-called kunto marks, the Japanese way of punctuation system on the original text all the way so that they could read it in the their own way. As the question of what edition of Tongi - bogam the Japanese used as a mother copy and whwn and how the mother copy had been brought to Japan are not clear at all. But judging from the fact that it carries quite a few erratum in spite of their efforts at proofreading before engraving the woodblock, it seems likely that Tongui - bogam they used as a mother copy was the one which was printed in Korea before 1659. In 1659 Tongui-bogam was published in Korea by the Kyongsang provincial government in Taegu with newly engraved woodblock. According to the attached record concerning its publication, it was a revised edition based on the Naeui - won corrected-copy, and this edition carries no misprintings in it at all. On the other hand, among the various editions of the extant Tongui - bogam today we can find some copy which, originally printed from wooden movable type, carries almost the same misprinting as those found in the 1724 Japanese edition. In other words, we are quite certain that the mother copy of the 1724 Japanese edition was brought to Japan before the Naeui - won - corrected - edition began to appear in Korea in 1659. The second publication of Tongui - bogam in Japan was made in 1799 in the city of Osaka. It was reprinted from the original woodblock of 1724 edition, and this second edition was later used in China in 1890 as a mother copy. The first publication of Tongui - bogam in China was made in the year 1766. It was a woodblock edition printed in Kwangtung province, located in the southern end of China. According to the attached preface written by a high ranking official named Nungo, a native of Kwangtung area, the publication was originally initiated by the governor of that province Mr. Wang, who deeply admired the value of Tongui - bogam. Since the Tongui - bogam at that time was available only in Bigak, the palace library in Peijing, the capital of the Ch'ing dynasty, the governor Mr. Wang had to send a man to Peijing to make a manuscript copy of Tongui - bogam of 25 of the volumes. But unfortunately Mr. Wang left his post before his plan to publish the book was realized and it was thanks to another native man named Chwahanmun who donated big money to cover the expenses of publication. The 1766 edition of Tongui - bogam, one copy of which is now in the possession of Kyungbuk University library, is understandably not a good copy, because it has many erratum in it. But it was reprinted afterwards sometimes with re-engraved woodblock many times at various places in China. The second publication of Tongui - bogam in China appeared in 1890. It carries a preface written by Mincheyusang. It was based on the Japanese edition printed in 1799 in Oosaka. What is interesting with Mr. Min's preface is that it shows their deep admiration of the value of Tongui - bogam on one hand, and at the same time very critical attitude toward the basic philosophy of Hojun on the other hand.