Heshi yulin 何氏語林

Heshi yulin 何氏語林 "Master He's forest of conversions" is a "brush-notes"-style collection (biji 筆記) written during the Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by He Liangjun 何良俊 (1506-1573), courtesy name Yuanlang 元朗, style Zhehu 柘湖, from Huating 華亭 in the prefecture of Songjiang 松江, Jiangsu.

The style of the 30-juan-long Heshi yulin stands in the tradition of the book Yulin 語林, also called Peishi yulin 裴氏語林 or Pei Qi yulin 裴啟語林, written by Pei Qi 裴啟 during the Jin period 晉 (265-420), but the arrangement follows the famous Shishuo xinyu 世說新語 from the Liang period 梁 (502-557), written by Liu Yiqing 劉義慶. It narrates 2,700 stories of scholars from the Han 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) to the Yuan period 元 (1279-1368). They are arranged into categories according to moral values or behavioural characteristics. Each chapter (men 門) has a short preface in which the individual topic is discussed. This makes the most significant difference to the Shishuo xinyu. Additionally, each paragraph is commented in respect to its source and its background, similar to Liu Xiaobiao's 劉孝標 (462-521) commentary on the Shishuo xinyu.

The earliest print was produced in 1550 by the author himself, first in the Qingsen Studio 清森閣, and then in the Fanjing Studio 翻經堂. The Heshi yulin is included in the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書. In 1983, the Shanghai Guji Press 上海古籍出版社 published a modern edition.