History of Chinese Studies

Among the 598 volumes of Naxi Dongba manuscripts held by the Harvard-Yenching Library, some bear a singular adornment: two prominent crimson circles. These "double red" manuscripts boast a unique artistic flair. Due to excellent preservation and delicate illustration, they are of high value for academic research. Through systematic fieldwork and careful analysis of the postscript, we have rigorously confirmed that the source of these "double red" Dongba manuscripts is Xiachangshui (下 长 水) Village, Huangshan (黄 山) Town, Yulong (玉 龙) County, Lijiang City, Yunnan Province. The scribe has been verified as the Qing dynasty's priest Mu Zhi (木 知) (1814-1874 to 1892). The lineage of transmission for this set of manuscripts is also very clear, passing from Mu Zhi to his grandson Mu Fuguang (木 福 光), and then through the US scholar Joseph Rock, before finally being collected by the Harvard-Yenching Library.

The published note by Nikita Yakovlevich Bichurin (Father Hyacinth, 1777–1853) was first printed in the newspaper “Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti” in the section “Miscellany” on August 18, 1840. It was based on the curiosities about Russia in the official collection of China at that time, “The Imperially Commissioned Complete Description of the Great Qing Empire” (御製大清一統志, Yu zhi Da Qing yi tong zhi), which was one of Bichurin’s main reference books for writing his works.

CHO-YUN HSU Commemorating the Tenth Anniversary of Mr. Li Chi's Death* The real respectability of Mr. Li Chi does not lie in his inborn talent but in his strict self-discipline in academic pursuits and personal conduct. These made him the number one archaeologist in China. And all his life he was the mentor of Chinese archaeology and the role model for scholars. Today we gather here to commemorate Mr. Li Chi. If he were still alive, he would have been ninety-four years old. The fact that I am here to deliver this lecture is because Mr. Chang Kwang-chih [I], the man who carried the legacy of Mr. Li, cannot be here. I am delivering this lecture in place of him. For reference, Mr. Chang showed me an article he wrote that was published in mainland China. So the comments I will make today represent both our views. Mr. Chang and I are both students of Mr. Li Chi. We often compare notes and, as a result, our views are often similar.

Using the variant graphs in excavated Chu manuscripts of the Warring States period, the author discusses the possible relationship between the Central Plains "elegant speech" and the Chu dialect spoken in southern China. The author first divides excavated Chu manuscripts into two groups-those produced by the Chu people who recorded Chu society and social life, and classical and literary works from the Central Plains. Then the author lists numerous examples of different categories of graphs that may have recorded the Chu dialect pronunciation of the words. The author concludes that the Chu dialect had already taken shape by the middle to late Warring States period, and the formation of the Chu dialect was a result of the fusion of several ethnic languages, with the Central Plans "elegant speech" playing a dominant role combined with different linguistic layers.