At a glance
- Reading focus
- Record the catalog, surviving witness and transcription progress separately.
Definition and details
Bibliography identifies works and witnesses, while edition study traces copying, printing and editing. A shared title can conceal different volume counts, annotations and additions; one work can also circulate under variant titles. Record the displayed title, responsible names, chapters, publication or copying details and collection source instead of only a convenient modern shorthand.
Structure and history
Hanshu preserves early classification; the Sanming account compares a Ming bibliographic title, and the Zang Shu account checks attribution against later records. These are historical examples of bibliographic criticism. Catalog entries and surviving text need not match automatically: names can be mistaken, volumes vary and later printing introduces material requiring comparison.
A concrete example
Sanming’s traditional twelve-volume description differs from the nine volumes currently linked in its transcription; Yuan Hai’s page explicitly indicates incompleteness. Record bibliography, accessible transcription and complete work separately. Preserve the link and readable chapter so a reader can check the cited passage rather than encounter a missing volume or confuse editing and original dates.
Context and limits
Digital search is convenient, but OCR, added punctuation and headings can alter apparent wording. Check important quotations against images, disclose corrections and never invent unseen publishers, years or pages. Official collection or library inclusion establishes a holding, not validation of divination claims. Edition work first makes textual arguments traceable and inspectable.
References & further reading
Historical sources document ideas and rules of their time, not empirical proof of predictive accuracy. Source notes identify the nature and scope of each reference.
- 漢書 · 卷030 藝文志Primary / tradition source
Public-domain bibliographic history with astronomy, calendars, phases, turtle/stalk, miscellaneous and form categories.
- 三命通會 · 目录及提要Primary / tradition source
Transcribed traditional bibliographic account and contents; this page explicitly lacks volumes ten to twelve.
- 葬書 · 提要与目录Primary / tradition source
Traditional account questioning Guo Pu authorship and describing editorial work associated with Cai and Wu.
- 淵海子平Primary / tradition source
Electronic witness cataloged under Ming compiler Yang Cong; page marked incomplete, not a full critical edition.