Yun Xie
Passion is a finite research resource. History is at once art and science. Art history and book history, history of knowledge. Hongkong Type matrices. Non Latin typography and typefoundery. PhDing @ UGent. ERC: PhiSci.
- Robert Morrison’s Chinese teacher always took poison with him so that he could kill himself in case he was caught teaching Morrison Chinese ….😱
- Reading about Karl Gützlaff.
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- I know in the beginning of a new year I am supposed to be positive but the words of this man in Dejima (a Japanese translator) from 170 years ago really struck me: “what I like, is doing nothing just lying down”. 我想做的就是啥也不干躺平！😩 (Waar ik van houd, …is niets te doen en op mijn zij te liggen.”)
- Tables in a bookstore. Scheltema Amsterdam.
- 1933 reconstruction of Moxon’s wood press (described in 1683-84), photo taken before 1975. London University College. I wonder if the graffiti on it still exists 🤓….
- Printing press sketch (1628) by Pieter Jansz. Saenredam (1597-1665) (Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België, Inv. 4060 / 3119), (pretty much certain) the draft sketch for the illustration in Petri Scriverii Lavre-Kranz Voor Lavrens Koster Van Haerlem (1628).
- Doing a phd is dangerous…..😎 #typoinchinese#chinesetypo
- In 1840s Dutch academia, how to address a professor of non-European languages in a causal way? Chinese, of course. Philippus Pieter Roorda van Eysinga (1796–1856), whose actual specialty was Malay, he was called by his colleagues in private “the Chinese professor.” (from A lifelong passion Veth)
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- Records of the Western Regions 大唐西域记, written by Xuanzhuang 玄奘 (602-664), woodblock printing, reprinted by Jinling Sutra Press 金陵刻经处 in 1957, sponsored by the Buddhist Association of China. Purchased in 2025 at the Drukkunstbeurs in Amersfoort.
- Sun Guoting 孙过庭 (ca 646-691), theorist of Calligraphy from Tang Dynasty. According to Sun, the essence of calligraphy, “同自然之妙有，非力运之能成, 信可谓智巧兼优” ( the same grace with nature, not attained by effort, but requires both wisdom and skill).
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- I don’t mind Shin ramyun teaming up with k-pop, but couldn’t they find a better designer?
- Font matters 😓: Rubio orders return to Times New Roman font over 'wasteful' Calibri
- #CyberMonday ‘s quiz: Philipp F B van Siebold’s Chinese assistant was named 郭成章 (in pinyin as Guo Chengzhang). Siebold romanized his name as Ko Tsching Dschang. On which language or dialect was Siebold’s transcription based? 🤓
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- A 1842 French sinology article cover with 4 CN characters 其事好还” with Latin trans: “Quod ore prodit ad os revertitur. Prov.” written by Guillaume Pauthier, who was comparing his own Dao De Jing道德经 trans with Stanislas Julien. It’s one episode in longrunning debate between the two over trans of DDJ.
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- Good lettering stands on its own! 😎
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- “国学=屁说” “国学=粪学” During his 1.5 hr talk, Joshua Fogel generously treated us to Wu Zhihui吴稚晖’s snarky lines about guoxue国学……😎
- Typographical term “kerning” went viral in an unexpected way……
- I am on the way to Würzburg on the anniversary of the Bishop of Würzburg’s death……
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- Vincent van Gogh made this lithography of “potato eaters” by himself and sent it to his brother Theo and some friends as a prior announcement of the painting. 1885. Litho technique allowed artists to express their own artistic style in a mass production way without compromising the quality.
- David Beckham has been knighted. Great news for him. But the British Royal household could choose a better design for the medal box, rather than the sans-serif font and some slightly dubious foil stamping…..
- Tian Wang’s Talisman, ward off disasters and banish evil spirits. From recent purchases, perfect for Halloween.
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- At a printing art fair, I found a Chinese woodblock, carved on both sides双面雕刻. Combine elements of folk religion and medicine: at the top are Guanyin zuolian 观音座莲 and Huguo jiangjun 护国将军 (referring to Nezha哪吒). Below seem to be some medical prescriptions, such as Siwu Huadu Tang 四物化毒汤 and so on.
- In the special collections exhibition at the KU Leuven Library, two 18th-century silk prints: one a graduation thesis and the other a congratulatory poem, both common subjects for silk printing at the time. @drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
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- Reposted by Yun XieJust a 1399 unicorn watermark from a paper manufacturer from Valencia to make your day. Friends of #paperhistory know that these paper sheets of around 1400 are among the first sheets of European paper to appear on the market. European #bookhistory was a different game afterwards. #skystorians
- In the metal-type era, the way European punchcutters tracked the flow of straight lines, curves, ascenders, and descenders is strikingly similar to Chinese calligraphy’s sense of structure and strokes, so called 间架结构.
- Reposted by Yun XieJoin us for the online launch of The People of Print: Eighteenth-Century England, a collection of biographical essays about lesser-known figures from 18C book history! The event is free to attend but booking is essential: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launc... #18thC #18c #18thCentury #BookHistory
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- Find a new flavor chips at toko, not sure if I should try: stir fried razor clams!
- K-pop star, Blackpink’s Jennie just launched her own brand Korean font, Zen Serif.
- Little joy of archival research: spotting typos! 大平—> 太平 原木—>原本 It is a 19c Brill’s catalog for clients, supposed to be their best quality…..
- At Leiden University Library’s Special Collections, came across a lithograph portrait of missionary Karl Gutzlaff with his Chinese name 郭实猎. Printed by Wed. P. Barbiers in Zwolle. "Wed" was a common label in the printing trade when a widow continued her late husband’s business.
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- A fine made book (1919) about Amsterdam printer Spin uses different symbolic en-têtes (by Dirk Nijland) for each chapter, e.g.: Half raised curtain: story begins; Rise of lithography; Impact of Belgian independence; Rail and shipping networks shaping book trade.
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- 17th century men teach you how to be a perfect woman… Antique book fair in Amsterdam.
- Gustave Schlegel (1840-1903). Sinologist at Leiden.
- Today, with the heart of a pilgrim, I visited the grave of Johann Joseph Hoffmann, the 1st professor of Sinology and Japanology in Leiden. To my surprise, just one gravestone away, lies Taco Roorda, the 19th-century professor of Javanese. Groenesteeg graveyard Leiden.
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- Bought this furoshiki at the Printing Museum in Tokyo, with the print as a Chinese typesetting chart, I’m wearing it as a mini scarf….
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- Best surprise after a long trip back: my article got picked for journal cover!🥳 “Three centuries of Chinese printing in the Netherlands”, in Yearbook for Dutch Book History, 32/2025
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- Two more: Linguistic landscapes of Southeast Asia Chinese communities Institute of History and Philology and Chinese Historiography
- In 1935, Fu Sinian傅斯年 (1st left) invited Paul Pelliot (2nd left) to visit the 11th archaeological excavation at Yinxu, Anyang. The 3rd left is Liang Siyong梁思永.
- New books acquired in Beijing.
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