Abstract:

Hsin-pien tui-hsiang szǔ-yen, published in the Ming Dynasty, is the oldest elementary reader in existence organized with characters of all kinds pairing with their corresponding illustrations. The paper outlines the contents, provides the age of publication of the edition, presents the English edition published in 1960’s and the photolithograph edition of nowadays which is true to the original version and gives a general description of that original version’s circulating course of being handed down among the people, bought and kept by some collector, temporarily belong to the Peking Library and eventually obtained by the East Asian Library of Columbia University.

Key words: Columbia University Libraries, Hsin-pien tui-hsiang szǔ-yen, Circulation of its differenteditions