Reisai yawa
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- Japanese/Chinese: 冷斎夜話 (Reisai yawa / Lěng zhāi yèhuà)
Reisai yawa is a collection of Chinese poetry and commentary on those poems compiled by the Chinese Chan monk Juefan Huihong. It was first published in China in 1107.
A 14th century woodblock-printed copy in the collection of the University of London SOAS Library is the oldest printed book in that library (across not only Japanese materials, but all materials). It is known as a Gozan-bon (lit. "Five Mountains Book") edition, as its publication was sponsored or supported by the five chief Zen temples of Kamakura. It was probably printed from blocks made from a copy of the text produced in Yuan dynasty China.
References
- John Carpenter, "By Brush or Block Printing: Transmitting Cultural Heritage in Pre-Modern Japan," Orientations 38:8 (2007), 60.
