Zhenxi fangtan 珍席放談

Zhenxi fangtan 珍席放談 "Casual talks from the precious [banquet] mat" is a collection of stories compiled during the late Northern Song period 北宋 (960-1126) by Gao Huisou 高晦叟 (c. 1100). His courtesy name, as well as his dates of birth and death, are unknown, and nothing definite is known about his official career. The name Huisou" (lit. "old man Hui" 晦叟) may be a sobriquet rather than a formal name.

His book, which is 2 juan in length, records events from the reign of Emperor Taizu 宋太祖 (r. 960-975) to that of Emperor Zhezong 宋哲宗 (r. 1085-1100). It includes accounts of the development of court institutions and regulations, anecdotes about notable figures, and the actions and words of scholar-officials. Matters that the author believed could serve as lessons for future generations are recorded in separate entries based on his personal observations and experiences.

Among the accounts are examples such as Wang Dan's 王旦 (957-1017) fraternal loyalty, Lü Yijian's 呂夷簡 (979–1044) broad judgment, Fu Bi's 富弼 (1004–1083) caution and avoidance of suspicion, and Han Qi's 韓琦 (1008–1075) resistance to sycophants. These episodes are not fully elaborated in their biographies in the official dynastic histories, thus helping to fill gaps in the historical record. However, the author’s judgments on certain issues of right and wrong often lack fairness.

This book is not listed in the bibliographical chapter of the Songshi 宋史. Only the book catalogue Wenyuange shumu 文淵閣書目 records a single copy, of which no extant edition survives today. The version in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 was reconstructed from the Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) encyclopaedia Yongle dadian 永樂大典. The text is also found in the series Hanhai 函海, Fanyuepian 反約篇, Rongyuan congshu 榕園叢書, and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編.