Yan shi jia xun hui zhu 顏氏家訓彙注 [Assembled Commentaries to "Family Instructions for the Yan Clan"] -

Four vols. 8vo, orig. printed wrappers & stitching. [Taipei]: Zhong yang yan jiu yuan Li shi yu yan yan jiu suo 中央研究院歷史語言研究所, 1960. A scarce edition of these foundational medieval clan rules presented alongside various commentaries. The Family Instructions for the Yan Clan were written by Yan Zhitui 顏之推 (531-93). His work is the "first extant family instructions book." It is "also (and rightly) one of the most, if not the most, famous." Instructions in the tradition of Yan Zhitui's were "based on the rules of behavior and moral imperatives expressed in the Confucian ritual Classics." However, Yan's "work (divided into 20 subject categories) is unusual in many ways. He was not only a scholar but also someone who had learned how to survive by serving both northern and southern courts at a time of constant warfare. He wrote for his sons a testament stressing the importance of probity in conduct and accurate use of words that also provides much detail on contemporary life. No previous work (and few later ones) covered such a wide range, making this one of the most important sources for the period" (Wilkinson, Chinese History, 200). Our book furthermore contains the commentaries of Qing scholars Zhao Ximing 趙曦明 (1706-89) and Lu Wenchao 盧文弨 (1717-96). Zhou Fagao (1915-94), the editor of our book, was a linguist whose career spanned China, Taiwan, and the United States (Wang, Zhongguo kaoguxue da cidian, 77). Fine and fresh set.