Jingwai zachao 經外雜鈔

Jingwai zachao 經外雜鈔 "Various notes on books other than (?) the Classics" is a "brush-notes"-style (biji 筆記) book written during the Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) by the philosopher Wei Liaoweng 魏了翁 (1178-1237). He also wrote a similar book called Gujinkao 古今考.

His book of 2 juan length consists of quotations from literature to which Wei added his own thoughts. In many instances, Wei abbreviated the quoted original. It seems that Wei took notes for scholarly purposes and did not plan to published them as a book at least not in this shape. The publication as a book was, then, realised by later persons.

The book contains quite a few redundant and tedious passages, such as excerpts from Nineteen Old Poems (Gushi shijiu shou 古詩十九首) and the medical text Suwen 素問, which hold little significance. However, overall, the book is precise and reliable. Notable sections, such as the astronomical calculations recorded by Zou Huai 鄒淮, Yang Dingchen's 楊鼎臣 diagrams on the interplay of circles and squares, Wu Hang's 吳沆 (fl. 1146) Wenduilu 問對錄 on the system of the Bright Hall (mingtang 明堂), Ren Zhiweng's 任直翁 studies on Yijing philosophy, and the Xiantian Huanzhong Tu 先天環中圖, can all be referenced alongside historical texts.

The text is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Baoyantang miji 寶顏堂秘笈 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編.