The ''Taiping Guangji'' (), sometimes translated as the ''Extensive Records of the Taiping Era'', or ''Extensive Records of the Taiping Xinguo Period'', is a collection of stories compiled in the early

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

. The work was completed in 978, and printing blocks were cut, but it was prevented from publication on the grounds that it contained only ''xiaoshuo'' (fiction or "insignificant tellings") and thus "was of no use to young students." It survived in manuscript until it was published in the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. It is considered one of the ''

Four Great Books of Song The ''Four Great Books of Song'' () was compiled by a team of scholars during the Song dynasty (960–1279). The term was coined after the last book ('' Cefu Yuangui'') was finished during the 11th century. The four encyclopedias were published an ...

'' (宋四大書). The title refers to the Taiping Xinguo era (太平興國, "great-peace rejuvenate-nation", 976–984 AD), the first years of the reign of

Emperor Taizong of Song Zhao Jiong (20 November 939 – 8 May 997), known as Zhao Guangyi from 960 to 977 and Zhao Kuangyi before 960, also known by his temple name Taizong after his death, was the second emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 976 to h ...

. The collection is divided into 500 volumes () and consists of about 3 million

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

. It includes 7,021 stories selected from over three hundred books and novels from the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

to the early

, many of which have been lost. Some stories are historical or naturalistic anecdotes, each is replete with historical elements, and were not regarded by their authors as

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

, but the topics are mostly

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

, about

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and

Taoist priest A daoshi (道士 "master of the Tao"), translated as Taoist priest, Taoist monk, Taoist master or Professional Taoist, is a priest in Taoism. Along with Han Chinese priests, there are also many practicing ethnic minority priests in China. Some o ...

immortals Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...

, ghosts, and various

deities A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

. They include a number of

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

stories, especially ''

chuanqi Chuanqi ("strange tale", "legend", or "romance", depending on context) may refer to two related but distinct forms of Chinese fiction: *Chuanqi (short story), a genre of Chinese fiction usually associated with the Tang dynasty (618–907); the sto ...

'' (tales of wonder), that are famous works of literature in their own right, and also inspired later works. In the 17th century, the vernacular novelist and short story writer

Feng Menglong Feng Menglong (1574–1646), courtesy names Youlong (), Gongyu (), Ziyou (), or Eryou (), was a Chinese historian, novelist, and poet of the late Ming Dynasty. He was born in Changzhou County, now part of Suzhou, in Jiangsu Province. Life Fe ...

produced an abridged edition, ''Taiping Guangji Chao'' (太平廣記鈔), reducing the number of stories to 2,500 in 80 volumes.

Pu Songling Pu Songling (, 5 June 1640 – 25 February 1715) was a Chinese writer during the Qing dynasty, best known as the author of ''Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'' (''Liaozhai zhiyi''). Biography Pu was born into a poor merchant family from ...

was said to have been inspired by ''Taiping Guangji''; the short story " A Sequel to the Yellow Millet Dream" parallels one of ''Taiping'' stories.

The Taiping Guangji was compiled by Wang Kezhen (王克贞), Song Bai (宋白), Hu Meng (扈蒙), Xu Xuan (徐铉), Zhao Linji (赵邻几), Lü Wenzhong (吕文仲), Li Fang (李昉), Li Mu (李穆), and others. *'' The Tale of Li Wa'' by

Bai Xingjian Bai Xingjian (, 776–826) was a Chinese novelist and poet in imperial China's Tang Dynasty. He was a younger brother of the famed poet Bai Juyi. One of his most famous works is the novella '' The Tale of Li Wa''. It has been translated into E ...

*''Huo Xiaoyu's Story'' by Jiang Fang this story has been translated by Stephen Owen to English in ''Anthology of Chinese Literature, Beginnings to 1911'' (1996) *''The Tale of Liu Yi'' translated as ''The Dragon King's Daughter'' by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang

References

Sources

* Allen, Sarah M. (2014), ''Shifting Stories: History, Gossip, and Love in Narratives from Tang Dynasty China.'' Cambridge: Harvard University Press. * Charles E. Hammond, "T'ang Legends: History and Hearsay" ''Tamkang Review'' 20.4 (summer 1990), pp. 359–82. * . *Cheng, Yizhong
"Taiping Guangji" ("Extensive Records of the Taiping Era ")
''

Encyclopedia of China The ''Encyclopedia of China'' () is the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese language. The compilation began in 1978. Published by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, the encyclopedia was issued one volume at a time, begin ...

'' (Chinese Literature Edition), 1st ed., via archive.org. *Kurz, Johannes. "The Compilation and Publication of the Taiping yulan and the Cefu yuangui", in Florence Bretelle-Establet and

Karine Chemla Karine Chemla (born in Tunis February 8, 1957) is a French historian of mathematics and sinologist who works as a director of research at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS). She is also a senior fellow at the New York Universi ...

(eds.), Qu'est-ce qu'écrire une encyclopédie en Chine?. ''Extreme Orient-Extreme Occident Hors série'' (2007), 39–76. {{Authority control Chinese literature Chinese prose texts 10th-century Chinese books Song dynasty literature Chinese short story collections Leishu 978 Chinese anthologies Chinese encyclopedias

Contents

References

Sources