Today is the Third Sunday of Advent which calls for something special in this book calendar, quite a rarity actually. The book is rather small and looks nothing special if seen on the shelf, but it contains a poem and a text on the city Mukden (Manchu name for Shenyang 沈阳, capital of Liaoning province 辽宁省) by the Qianlong emperor 乾隆 (1711-1799), translated and published during his reign by Jean Joseph Marie Amiot (錢德明 1718-1793), a French Jesuit who spent over 40 years in China. The book was published in 1770 in Paris by ”M. Deguignes”, who ought to be Joseph de Guignes (1721–1800). de Guignes was a French Orientalist, Sinologist and Turkologist, professor at Collège de France, and the teacher of Chinese to Swedish proto-Sinologist Johan Erik Ringström (1746–1820).
Beside the Qianlong poem and his text on Mukden, the book contains ”curious notes on the geography and on the natural history of Eastern Tartary, and on the ancient customs of the Chinese; composed by Chinese and Tartar editors”. The picture shows a section on Chinese writing systems.
The Qianlong poem included in the book is quite well-know, and it is an ”ode” to Qianlong’s favoured special tea, called 三清茶 ”Three clear tea”. It contains plum blossom 梅花, pine nuts 松子仁 and Buddhas hand 佛手柑 (fingered citron). Below is the full Chinese text. The whole book is available digitally.
梅花色不妖 佛手香且洁
松实味芳腴 三品殊清绝
烹以折脚铛 沃之承筐雪
火候辩鱼蟹 鼎烟迭生灭
越瓯泼仙乳 毡庐适禅悦
五蕴净大半 可悟不可说
馥馥兜罗递 活活云浆澈
偓佺遗可餐 林逋赏时别
懒举赵州案 颇笑玉川谲
寒宵听行漏 古月看悬玦
软饱趁几余 敲吟兴无竭