Kerchief-box Editions for Traveling Literati

What was contained in the kerchief-box editions available at book shops, the small booklets in scholars' hands, and the small-sized editions made for the emperors? An examination of kerchief-box editions through the dynasties reveals that they include examination preparation materials for budding scholars, literary texts and reading notes by literati, as well as reference and medical titles that the educated class often kept at home. Other types of reading materials, such as novels and dramas for entertainment as well as travel guides, were also found accompanying the literati on their travels.

The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in historical China that decided admission to the state bureaucracy. Some candidates brought illicit tiny booklets into the examination venues, known as huaijiaben (hide-in-bosom texts) or jiadaice (cheat sheets), to jog their memories, concealing them inside brushes, shoes or socks, or even under inkstones. Cheat sheets of this sort might also be transcribed onto kerchiefs or cloth linings. Even though they were not bound in regular form, they effectively functioned as small-sized booklets. From the Song to the Qing dynasties, booklets of this kind, inspired by the kerchief-box editions, formed a distinctive category of cheat sheets in the imperial examination system.

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  Wuben Dianjiao Chongyan Chongyi Huzhu Shangshu (The Wu Edition of the Annotated Book of Documents)

  Attributed by Kong Anguo, Han dynasty Annotated by Lu Deming, Tang dynasty Kerchief-box edition, Song dynasty

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  Xiangzhu Donglai Xiansheng Zuoshi Boyi (Detailed Annotations to the Extensive Deliberations on Master Zuo by Mr. Donglai)

  Written by Lu Zuqian and annotated by Zhang Chengzhao, Song dynasty Kerchief-box edition, Ming dynasty

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  Qianlong Nanxun Jichengtu (Narrative Painting of Emperor Qianlong's Southern Inspection Tour)

  Manuscript and illustrations, Qing dynasty