A Re-examination of the Various Editions of Kinmouzui

The earliest illustrated encyclopedia in Japan, Kinmouzui (the 6th year of the Kanbun era,1666), was compiled by NAKAMURA Tekisai(1629-1702), a Confucian scholar in Kyoto,who completed the project by classifying a variety of contents into different categories according to those in Sancai Tuhui, omitting certain texts, and adding fine illustrations. This arrangement makes it easier for readers to search conveniently by name and illustrations, and thus rendering the reading process easier as well. This encyclopedia has had a profound influence on subsequent “illustrated encyclopediae.” KOBAYASHI Shoujirou collected and analyzed four versions of Kinmouzui, namely,the Library of Congress edition, the National Archives of Japan Digital Archive edition, the University of Tokyo General Library edition, and the YOKOYAMA Sigeru Collection edition. This paper analyzes 11 versions of Kinmouzui based on KOBAYASHI Shoujirou’s scholarship, and conducts a comparative study of 5 versions among them in detail. When the glamorously resplendent hand-colored Kinmouzui was initially released, the publisher saw potential high profits in the book and continued to publish it as a commodity on the market. Furthermore, in order to attract more buyers and to make it easier to read, illustrations were abridged from the second edition while detailed annotations were added. Kinmouzui has an extensive and rich collection of editions, each with its own features and characteristics.