Lüyuan conghua 履園叢話

Lüyuan conghua 履園叢話 "Random jottings from the Garden of Treading" is a "brush-notes"-style book (biji 筆記) written during the late Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Qian Yong 錢泳 (1756-1844), originally named Qian He 錢鶴, courtesy name Liqun 立群, and style Taixian 臺仙 or Meixi 梅溪. He was a native of Jinkui 金匱 (modern Wuxi 無錫, Jiangsu). A lifelong private secretary and itinerant retainer, he was also known for his poetry and calligraphy, especially clerical script. From the age of twenty onward, he travelled extensively through Hubei, Henan, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, and northern China, recording over fifty years of observations and experiences. His writings are numerous and include Lanlin ji 蘭林集, Shuowen shi xiaolu 說文識小錄, Lüyuan jinshi mu 履園金石目, Denglou zaji 登樓雜記, Maihua xi shichao 梅花溪詩鈔 and Shudebian 述德編.

The book in 24 juan contains more than eight hundred entries. Broad and miscellaneous in scope, it is divided into twenty-three categories. The section "Old anecdotes" (Jiuwen 舊聞) preserves many stories from the late Ming 明 (1368-1644) and early Qing periods. "Discussions of poetry" (Tanshi 譚詩), devoted to standards for selecting poetry and literary criticism, is considered especially valuable. The other sections likewise contain material of considerable interest. The work is an important reference for the study of history, philology, calligraphy, and painting.

Extant editions include the 1838 print of the Shudetang 述德堂 hall, the series Biji xiaoshuo daguan 筆記小說大觀, and the annotated edition edited by Zhang Wei 張偉 and published by the Zhonghua Shuju 中華書局 in 1979.