Chanshu 讒書

Chanshu 讒書 "Defamatory writings" is a social and political critique written during the Tang period 唐 (618-907) by Luo Yin 羅隱 (833-909), who is also the author of the book Liangtongshu 兩同書.

The 5-juan-long book was divided into 60 chapters, of which only 58 survive. Most important are the preface and the second preface to the book, in which Luo Yin explains how he, disappointed about a stagnating career, began lamenting other people's flowering career while he remained for seven years on the same post. The book was finished in 867 and criticised the contemporary custom of recommending promotees based on personal relationship instead of talent. At the same time, many scholars dedicated their whole lives to learning and studying without ever being rewarded for their hardships.

The existence of the Chanshu is neither mentioned by the compilers of the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 nor in Zhang Zan's 張瓚 publication (1824) of Luo Yin's collected works Luo Zhaojian ji 羅昭諫集. Only Wu Qian 吳騫 (1733-1813) was able to obtain a manuscript of the book and published it in his series Yugu congshu 愚谷叢書 (Baijingtang congshu 拜經樓叢書). A facsimile of this edition is to be found in the series Congshu jicheng 叢書集成初編. The Chanshu is included in a modern edition of Luo Yin's collected writings, Luo Yin ji 羅隱集, published by the Zhonghua Press 中華書局 in 1983.