Scholars and Their Marginalia in Late Imperial China

Marginalia are a variety of writings and symbols written by readers in book margins. This study focuses on marginalia and explores the reading practices and the scholarly culture of late Imperial China. Beginning in the late Ming and early Qing, more scholars devoted themselves to reading and collating ancient texts.

They developed the habit of writing marginalia while reading,...

Marginalia are a variety of writings and symbols written by readers in book margins. This study focuses on marginalia and explores the reading practices and the scholarly culture of late Imperial China. Beginning in the late Ming and early Qing, more scholars devoted themselves to reading and collating ancient texts.

They developed the habit of writing marginalia while reading, of transcribing other readers’ marginalia, and of printing marginalia, all of which formed a particular scholarly culture. This book explores how this culture developed, gained momentum, and shaped the styles, lives, thoughts, and mind states of scholars in late Imperial China.

Yinzong Wei, Ph.D. (UBC, 2019) is an Associate Researcher at Wuhan University. His published articles on Chinese philology and book history include “Marginalia Transcription and Scholarly Culture in the Qing Dynasty” Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture 8:2 (2021).