Chinese classical thought, including its writing, material supports, and technologies, became a cultural common background in East Asia. Despite the fact that their languages are completely different, Chinese characters became the basis of writing in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, and are pronounced differently according to the language. For example, a book title would be pronounced differently in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese, but its meaning can be understood by readers of those languages.

Regional differences in book forms are discernable. For instance, while covers in China usually are simple, blue thin paper sheets, a Korean cover is typically made of much thicker yellow paper and is covered with waxed patterns. In Japan, commercialization resulted in purposeful, thicker publisher-produced cardboard-like covers that were not intended to be replaced or changed by the buyer. Additionally, the way that binding threads were used in different regions differed, as seen in the items in this section.

The Tanguts were a Tibeto-Burmese people living in Northwestern China. With the formation of a state in 1038, they also created their own (very complicated) script. After the state’s annihilation by the Mongols in 1227, however, the script only survived for a while in Buddhist or military circles. The Chinese numerals in this sūtra illustration may therefore indicate one such later Tangut printing. The script has been deciphered in the 20th century.

Gest Collection, BQ2053.T3 T38

For further reading

Arakawa Shintarō 荒川慎太郎. Purinsuton daigaku toshokan shozō Seikabun myōhō rengekyō プリンストン大学図書館所蔵西夏文妙法蓮華経 (facsimile, text and linguistic studies). Tōkyō: Soka Gakkai Tōyō Tetsugaku Kenkyūjo, 2018.

The main text of this 18th-century illustrated Korean thread-bound book contains stories exemplifying brotherly love and friendship, two of the traditional five Confucian values (the remaining virtues are filial piety, loyalty, and wifely chastity). It is written in Classical Chinese, but its explanatory comments are in the indigenous Korean Han’gŭl script. The story illustrated here is about the support two stepbrothers gave each other, in the face of a wicked stepmother.

East Asian Library Special Collections, BJ1185.K6 K46q

For further reading

Paek Doo-hyeon. “P’yŏngan dialect and regional identity in Chosŏn Korea.” In The northern region of Korea: history, identity, and culture, edited by Sun Joo Kim, 116-38. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2010.

One typical Japanese manuscript form (scrolls or books) from the 16th and 17th centuries was the Nara-ehon (Nara picture book), epics, religious or aristocratic stories, or legendary tales, expensively decorated on often gold-flecked paper. The groups working on these works - writers, calligraphers, painters, and binders - were by the time this Tale of the Heike was made largely resident in the Kyōto region. This dowry item depicts an earlier war struggle between the Taira (Heike) and Minamoto (Genji) clans, an unlikely choice of subject.

East Asian Library Special Collections, TJ5926/1320

For further reading

Collcutt, Martin. “An illustrated edition of the Tale of the Heike (Heike Monogatari) in the Gest Library Rare Books Collection.” Gest Library Journal 4, no. 1 (1991): 9-26. Accessed May 20, 2025. http://eal.lib.princeton.edu/EALJ/collcutt_martin.EALJ.v04.n01.p009.pdf.

When the Manchus established the Qing dynasty in 1644, they took over the elaborate Chinese court documentary structure. Some of this was written in Manchu, to keep information secret from the Chinese. This handwritten manuscript, recording some months of Qianlong’s reign (1735–1796) as the basis for a future history, has “imperial yellow” covers with purple clasps, and has come to Princeton with its original wrappers. Manchu reads from left to right, different from Chinese, and consequently is bound at the left side.

Gift of Robert Garrett, Class of 1897, 1942

Garrett Chinese Manuscripts, No. 5

For further reading

Söderblom Saarela, Mårten. “A Guangxu renaissance? Manchu language studies in the Late Qing and their Republican afterlife.” In Time and language: new sinology and Chinese history, edited by Ori Sela, Zvi Ben-Dor Benite and Joshua A. Fogel, 180-203. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2023.

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