Shi Shuo Xin Yu
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''A New Account of the Tales of the World'', also known as ''Shishuo Xinyu'' (), was compiled and edited by Liu Yiqing (Liu I-ching; 劉義慶; 403–444) during the
Liu Song dynasty Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period ...
(420–479) of the
Northern and Southern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered a ...
(420–589). It is a historical compilation of many Chinese scholars, musicians, and artists during the 2nd-4th centuries.


Content

The book contains around 1,130 historical anecdotes and character sketches of around 600 literati, musicians and painters who lived in the Han and WeiJin periods (2nd-4th centuries). Chapter 19, for instance, has 32 stories about outstanding women. It is thus both a biographical source and a record of colloquial language. The original text of the book was divided into eight volumes of ''juan'' (卷 "scroll"), though current editions generally span ten volumes.Endymion Wilkinson. ''Chinese History: A New Manual''. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series New Edition; Second, Revised printing March 2013, ), p. 732.


Historical accuracy

Although most of the anecdotes and personalities are attested in other sources, traditional Chinese bibliographers did not classify ''Shishuo Xinyu'' as history but as a novel / "minor talk" (小说 ''xiao shuo''), a term that was later used to refer to fiction. Some attribute this to its use of colloquial language as well as how it did not follow the historical conventions of the
Twenty-Four Histories The ''Twenty-Four Histories'' (), also known as the ''Orthodox Histories'' (), are the Chinese official dynastic histories covering from the earliest dynasty in 3000 BC to the Ming dynasty in the 17th century. The Han dynasty official Sima Qia ...
. The mixture of literary and vernacular styles set the scene for the later tradition of informal Chinese literature. The 20th-century Chinese novelist
Lu Xun Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. ...
also spoke highly of the book's aesthetic merits.


Translations

The text has been translated in full into English, with the
Liang dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was preceded by the South ...
(502–557) commentary by Liu Xiaobiao (劉孝標), in Richard B. Mather, ''Shih-shuo Hsin-yü: A New Account of Tales of the World''.Yiqing Liu, Jun Liu and Richard B. Mather. ''A New Account of Tales of the World (Shih-Shuo Hsin-Yü).'' (Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, Michigan Monographs in Chinese Studies, 2002). .


Extant versions

Manuscript: *Hand-written fragments from the
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
(618–907) (唐寫本殘卷)
Woodblock prints Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is crea ...
: *Dong Fen edition, 1138 (8th year of the Shaoxing
reign A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., Saudi Arabia, List of Belgian monarchs, Belgium, Co-prince of Andorra, Andorra), of a people (e.g., List of Frankish kings, the Franks, List of ...
of the
Southern Song 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 ...
); original kept in Japan (南宋紹興八年董弅刊本,原本存於日本) *Edition by
Lu You Lu You (; 1125–1210) was a Chinese historian and poet of the Southern Song Dynasty (南宋). Career Early life and marriage Lu You was born on a boat floating in the Wei River early on a rainy morning, November 13, 1125. At the time of his ...
, 1188 (15th year of the Chunxi reign of the Southern Song; 南宋淳熙十五年陸游刻本) *Edition from
Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...
, 1189 (16th year of Chunxi) (淳熙十六年湘中刻本)中国哲学书电子化计划
(Chinese Philosophy Digitalization Project)


Categories

# Virtuous Conduct 德行第一 # Speech and Conversation 言語第二 # Affairs of State 政事第三 # Letters and Scholarship 文學第四 # The Square and the Proper 方正第五 # Cultivated Tolerance 雅量第六 # Insight and Judgment 識鑑第七 # Appreciation and Praise 賞譽第八 # Grading Excellence 品藻第九 # Admonitions and Warnings 規箴第十 # Quick Perception 捷悟第十一 # Precocious Intelligence 夙惠第十二 # Virility and Boldness 豪爽第十三 # Appearance and Manner 容止第十四 # Self-renewal 自新第十五 # Admiration and Emulation 企羨第十六 # Grieving for the Departed 傷逝第十七 # Reclusion and Disengagement 栖逸第十八 # Worthy Beauties 賢媛第十九 # Technical Understanding 術解第二十 # Skill and Art 巧藝第二十一 # Favor and Veneration 寵禮第二十二 # The Free and Unrestrained 任誕第二十三 # Rudeness and Arrogance 簡傲第二十四 # Taunting and Teasing 排調第二十五 # Contempt and Insults 輕詆第二十六 # Guile and Chicanery 假譎第二十七 # Dismissal from Office 黜免第二十八 # Stinginess and Meanness 儉嗇第二十九 # Extravagance and Ostentation 汰侈第三十 # Anger and Irascibility 忿狷第三十一 # Slander and Treachery 讒險第三十二 # Blameworthiness and Remorse 尤悔第三十三 # Crudities and Slips of the Tongue 紕漏第三十四 # Delusion and Infatuation 惑溺第三十五 # Hostility and Alienation 仇隙第三十六


References and notes


Further reading

* Nanxiu Qian. ''Spirit and Self in Medieval China : The Shih-Shuo Hsin-Yü and Its Legacy.'' (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001). . *Jack W. Chen. ''Anecdote, Network, Gossip, Performance : Essays on the Shishuo xinyu'' (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2021). . {{wikisourcelang, zh, 世說新語, 世說新語 Chinese anthologies Southern and Northern Dynasties literature History books about the Northern and Southern dynasties Chinese history texts Chinese short story collections Books by Liu Yiqing