Weilüe 緯略

Weilüe 緯略 "Concise [catalogue] on apocryphal books" is a book written during the Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) by Gao Sisun 高似孫 (1158-1231), who is also known for his books Shuliao xiaoji 疏寮小集, Shanlu 剡錄, Yanjian 硯箋, Tangke mingji 唐科名記, Tang yuequ pu 唐樂曲譜 and Xiepu 蟹略.

The Weilüe is part of a series of brief descriptive book catalogues, the others being Jinglüe 經略, Shilüe 史略, Zilüe 子略, Jilüe 集略, and Saolüe 騷略. According to the preface, the Weilüe assembles "less interesting, petty matters" (shou you yizhe, suozhe 事有逸者、瑣者) and thus builds a contrast to the other books of the series. Gao Sisun was despised by contemporary scholars. Chen Zhensun 陳振孫 (c. 1183-1262), for instance, the author of the bibliography Zhizhai shulu jieti 書錄解題, held that Gao only sought for "obscure and remote topics" (yi yinpi wei bo 以隱僻為博). On the other hand, Shen Shilong 沈士龍 (1016-1083), who wrote the afterword (ba 跋) of the Weilüe, stresses that Gao used renowned encyclopaedias from the Tang period 唐 (618-907).

The Weilüe, with a length of 12 juan, certainly contains some mistakes, but the overall character of the book is well-balanced. It brings together various omitted or trivial historical texts and events, and is thus worthy of reference and should not be entirely dismissed.

The Weilüe is found in the series Mohai jinhu 墨海金壺, Shoushange congshu 守山閣叢書, Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編 and Shuofu 說郛.