Title Page in Spanish and Chinese from Espejo rico del claro corazón (Precious Mirror of the Clear Heart)

Item Data

Creator

Juan Cobo and Fan Liben

Date

1590

Description

Pictured above is the title page in Spanish and Chinese of the Espejo rico del claro corazón (Precious Mirror of the Clear and Pure Heart), a translation to Spanish of the Mingxin baojian, a collection of some 600 aphorisms first compiled by Fan Liben in 1393. This particular edition is bilingual, with the Spanish translation preceding the Chinese source text. The page in Spanish gives the complete title of translation and the first chapter. In the Chinese text, the first column on the right and the stray character in the second are a quotation from the preface, basically about making sure one's words and deeds are always aligned in order to avoid acting errantly. The third column specifies that this version is a new printing of a transliteration of the Mingxin baojian, with images and corrections from prior versions. The fourth column is about the author, Fan Liben. The fifth column specifies the first chapter (“Continuing Virtue”) and how many lines it contains (44). A quotation from the first chapter about Heaven repaying good actions with fortune follows.