Illustrated Encyclopedia of China (Morokoshi kinmō zui 唐土訓蒙図彙) : [volume 2]

Tachibana, Morikuni, 1679-1748 · 1718 · Japan : [producer not identified] · 117 pictures

A Japanese woodblock encyclopedia of China compiled by Tachibana Morikuni and published in 1718, written for Japanese readers who wanted a picture-led reference to Chinese things. The pages are dense grids of small black-line woodcuts, each labelled with glossed characters and kana, showing landscapes, tools, plants, fruits and animals. A designer can take from them the efficient logic of modular panel layouts and the economy of hatched line drawing used to render textures like bark, foliage and water.

China -- Encyclopedias

Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art · No known copyright restrictions · More from this library