

Copied books produced under the supervision of Neifu in the Ming dynasty are extremely rare, mainly preserved in public collections and virtually unseen in private hands. The utmost precision in the making of the present book is demonstrated in the seamless treatment to rectify occasional erroneous characters in the passage. The surface of these areas were first effaced, the thickness of the paper was then evened out by adding thin sheets from the reverse of the page. The edges were then pound down to create a flat surface, and finally the new, accurate character written atop (figs 1).