Bidspirit auction | [ROMANCE POPULAR CHINÊS]. Xin ke

[ROMANCE POPULAR CHINÊS]. Xin ke xiuxiang Fan Tang yanyi zhuan (vols. II–III). S.l. [China], s.d. [séc. XIX, dinastia Qing]. - [Anonymous]. Xin ke xiuxiang Fan Tang yanyi zhuan ( Romance of the Rebels against the Tang ; also circulating as Fan Tang shisan taibao zhuan — “Thirteen Anti-Tang Champions”). N.p. [China]: n.p., n.d. [19th century, Qing dynasty]. 2 parts bound together, being volumes II and III; [40], [38] ff.; 265 mm. Woodblock printing in black, text in vertical columns within a border; chapter numbers at each opening; no imprint (typical of popular editions). Thick tan paper; later Western case binding (19th/20th c.). Some handling, staining and small edge faults; clean, readable copy. A widely printed vernacular novel set around the fall of the Sui and rise of the Tang, featuring legendary heroes such as Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, Luo Cheng and Pei Yuanqing, with Li Shimin (later Emperor Taizong) among the protagonists. The title formula (“newly cut, with illustrations”) points to a later popular reprint; paper and presentation suggest a late-Qing (19th-cent.) printing. Incomplete set (vols. II–III only). An old Spanish note on the front pastedown summarises the content (“wars in the time of Emperor Taizong, c. AD 650”), consistent with the narrative. Assessment prepared with input from a specialist in Chinese popular fiction.