"Xiaoyuan Series" Research

Xiaoyuan Series is a series of books compiled by Ge Yuanxu in the late Qing Dynasty,containing 59 kinds of books in total.The content is complex,including classics and history,inscriptions and pictures,inscriptions and seal carvings,family instructions of celebrities,rhymes,operas,medical books,books on the treatment of prison cases,and miscellaneous records of strange events,customs,etc.This paper,based on the book materials of Xiaoyuan Series,relevant materials about Sheng Xuanhuai archives and Declaration,investigates Ge Yuanxu's life,the origin and process of publishing the Series,the original copy of the Series,and the operation of Xiaoyuan Bookstore.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,this article is divided into four chapters:The first chapter is about Ge Yuanxu's life.This paper mainly investigates Ge Yuanxu's family,his life experience and writings.The material sources are the preface and postscript of the books of Xiaoyuan Series,and the correspondence between Ge Yuanxu and Sheng Xuanhuai.The second chapter is Xiaoyuan Series published the original story.This paper mainly discusses the origin of publishing Series,Ge Yuanxu's process of compiling and engraving Series,the basic appearance of Xiaoyuan Series and the layout style,Ge Yuanxu's Xiaoyuan Bookstore and the printing and sale of Xiaoyuan Series.The third chapter is a textual research on Ge's friendship.According to the classification of his friends' hometowns,this paper investigates Ge yuanxu's social contacts and the relationship between his social contacts and the publication of Xiaoyuan Series,and discusses the specific circumstances of the publication of Xiaoyuan Series with the assistance of his friends.The fourth chapter is the investigation on Master Copy of Xiaoyuan Series.This chapter mainly uses the prefaces and postscripts of the Series and other materials to investigate on the Master Copies of Engraved Books included in the Thesis Series.