Lihaiji 蠡海集

Lihaiji 蠡海集 "Collection of [gauging] the sea with a calabash" is a "brush-notes"-style book (biji 筆記). The oldest edition of the text in the series Baihai 稗海 says that the author, a certain Wang Kui 王逵, lived during the Song period 宋 (960-1279). From the three persons of that name who lived during the Song period, no one is anyhow related to the Lihaiji. However, in Huang Jishui's 黃姬水 (1509-1574) biographical collection Pinshizhuan 貧士傳, the story of an extremely poor Wang Kui from Qiantang 錢塘 (Hangzhou 杭州, Zhejiang) is narrated. He lived in the early Ming period 明 (1368-1644).

From the contents of the book of 1 juan length it can be learnt that Wang Kui was influenced by the teachings of the Neo-Confucian philosopher Shao Yong 邵雍 (1011-1077). He discusses issues of the whole world, like astronomy, geography, the human body, mathematics, weather, ghosts, and human affairs. The content is primarily concerned with exploring the principles of things, seeking to understand the reasons behind the phenomena of heaven, earth, and humanity. While many of its arguments are forced and lack scientific basis, there are still moments of meaningful insight, for instance, the description of the seasonal phenomena in their relation to different winds.

The text is also found in the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and the Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編.