GULIK, Robert van. The Lore of the Chinese Lute: An Essay in the Ideology of the Ch’in. Bangkok: Orchid Press. 2011.
8vo. Illustrated dust jacket; publisher’s green cloth lettered in silver to spine; pp. xix, [1], 271, [3 (blank)], with illustrated frontispiece, illustration of a man playing the Chinese lute, 8 black-and-white photographic plates and numerous black-and-white in-text and full-page illustrations; small dent to fore-edge of upper board, light wear to cloth at head and tail of spine; very good; bookseller’s label to rear of dust jacket.
Third edition of Van Gulik’s influential study of the Chinese lute (ch’in).
Although best remembered today for his Judge Dee detective novels, Robert van Gulik was an accomplished scholar of Chinese culture and music. He learned to play the ch’in himself and approached the instrument not merely as a musical object but as a vehicle for philosophy, ethics, and self-cultivation.
In The Lore of the Chinese Lute, first published in 1940, Van Gulik examines the classical Chinese conception of music, tracing the historical development of the lute and exploring the cultural and intellectual values traditionally associated with its performance. The book stands as one of the most personal and erudite expressions of Van Gulik’s wide-ranging scholarly interests, combining historical research, iconography, and first-hand musical understanding.
Evers, p. 15 (original 1940 edition).
SKU: 2122747