Morality tales or pleasing history: rediscovery of a 17th century Chinese album through digital discovery tools

Tuesday, 2 June 2026, 1pm to 2pm

Since its donation to the Bodleian Library by Francis Douce in 1834, an album of Chinese woodblock illustrations remained largely unidentified, vaguely labelled as 'daily stories and myths'. Recent research, enabled by the comparison of digital facsimiles and rare print editions, has finally identified the origin of these illustrations.

The study reveals a significant discovery: these images served as the visual blueprints for Bishop Thomas Percy’s 1761 publication—the first Chinese novel translated into a European language. This connection is particularly striking given the disparate genres of the works—a collection of morality tales versus a literary romance—and the skepticism surrounding the translation's authenticity at the time.

In this lecture, Mamtimyn Sunuodula, Head of the East Asian Section at the Bodleian Libraries, highlights the transformative role of digital discovery tools in reinterpreting obscure collections. It further maps the complex networks of reception and circulation that defined the presence of Chinese literature in late 18th- and early 19th-century Britain.

The Digital East Asia Lectures are co-hosted by the Centre for Digital Scholarship and the Asian and Middle Eastern Collections at the Bodleian Libraries.

Registration is required.

Series: Centre for Digital Scholarship Events

Venue: Weston Library - Weston Library Broad Street Oxford Oxfordshire OX1 3BG United Kingdom

Department: Bodleian Libraries (Department)

Organiser: Centre for Digital Scholarship, Bodleian Libraries

Host: Centre for Digital Scholarship, Bodleian Libraries

Register here: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/2026/jun/digital-east-asia-lecture