ChinaKnowledge.de -
An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art

Xu qixieji 續齊諧記

Sep 12, 2012 © Ulrich Theobald

Xu qixieji 續齊諧記 "Continued records on universal harmony" is an early collection of stories compiled by the Southern Dynasties period 南朝 (420~589) writer Wu Jun 吳均 (469-520), courtesy name Wu Shuxiang 吳叔庠. He came from Gupeng 故彰 (modern Anji 安吉, Zhejiang) and was assistant magistrate (zhubu 主簿) under the governor (taishou 太守) of the commandery of Wuxing 吳興, record keeper (jishi 記室) of the Prince of Jian'an 建安, and audience attendant (fengchaoqing 奉朝請). Wu Jun is famous as a writer who developed his own characteristic literary style. Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty was not pleased with Wu Jun's history of the previous dynasty, the Qi chunqiu 齊春秋, and had burnt the draft. Other writings by Wu Jun were Miaoji 廟記, Shierzhou ji 十二州記, Qiantang guangxian zhuan 錢塘光賢傳 and Xu wenshi 續文釋, but all these books are lost. Wu's collected writings, the Wu Chaoqing ji 吳朝請集, were compiled during the Ming period 明 (1368-1644).
The book Xu qijieji includes 17 stories of strange or supernatural events, persons and creatures. It is a continuation to Dongyang Wuyi's 東陽無疑 Qixieji 齊諧記. The most famous stories of the Xu qixieji are Yang Zi e long ji 陽羡鵝籠記 and Qingxi miaoshen 青溪廟神, or the story of the brothers Tian 田, that of Zhang Hua 張華 and the fox spirit, or the most famous story of the weavermaid 織女 that visits her husband, the cowherd 牛郎, on the seventh day of the seventh month.
Of the whole text, only a few stories have survived that are quoted in the encyclopedias Mengqiu jizhu 蒙求集註, Taiping yulan 太平御覽 or the collection Yuefu shiji 樂府詩集. Collections of such fragments are included in the reprint series Shuofu 說郛, Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Gushi wenfang xiaoshuo 顧氏文房小說, Gujin yishi 古今逸史, Guang Han-Wei congshu 廣漢魏叢書, Wuchao xiaoshuo 五朝小說, Mishu ershiyi zhong 秘書二十一種 and Mishu ershiba zhong 秘書二十八種.

Sources:
Cheng Yizhong 程毅中 (1986). "Xu qixieji 續齊諧記", in: Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhongguo wenxue 中國文學, vol. 2, p. 1122. Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe.
Li Xueqin 李學勤, Lü Wenyu 呂文鬰 (1996). Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典, vol. 2, p. 2172. Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe.