Wenchang zalu 文昌雜錄

Wenchang zalu 文昌雜錄 "Miscellaneous records of Literary Brightness [Archive]" is a "brush-notes"-style book (biji 筆記) written during the Northern Song period 北宋 (960-1126) by Pang Yuanying 龐元英 (late 11th cent.), courtesy name Maoxian 懋賢, from Shanzhou 單州 (in today's Shandong province). He was a son of the Counsellor-in-chief Pang Ji 龐籍 (988-1063), was bestowed the jinshi degree by grace in 1055, and held the offices of administrative assistant of the herds office (qunmu panguan 群牧判官) and ministerial director of the criminal administration bureau (duguan langzhong 都官郎中). In 1082, he was appointed Grand Master for Court Audiences (chaoqing dafu 朝請大夫), and then Director in the Ministry of Receptions (zhuke langzhong 主客郎中). Later, he was Grand Master of Palace Leisure (zhongsan dafu 中散大夫), Vice Minister of Dependencies (honglu shaoqing 鴻臚少卿) and prefect of Jinzhou 晉州.

Pang recorded his observations and experiences while serving in the Department of State Affairs (shangshusheng 尚書省), along with various court regulations and historical anecdotes, compiling them into a book. Since the Department was traditionally known as the Heavenly Archive of Literary Brightness (Wenchang Tianfu 文昌天府), he named the book accordingly.

The work of 6 juan length and an appendix (Buyi 補遺) of one fascicle primarily documents court protocols and administrative practices, occasionally including noteworthy anecdotes. His accounts of imperial ceremonies, official appointments, and dismissals are based on firsthand experience and are highly reliable. In particular, the book provides an exceptionally detailed record of the reform of the bureaucratic system during the Yuanfeng reign-period 元豐 (1078-1085). Many of its insights help correct errors found in official dynastic history Songshi 宋史. Ma Duanlin 馬端臨 (1254-c. 1324), in compiling the statecrafte encyclopaedia Wenxian tongkao 文獻通考, drew upon this book as a source.

However, the text also contains some inconsistencies and errors. For instance, it attributes the dialogue about Yao 堯 and Shun 舜 facing Heaven and earth to a situation in which Li Ju 李矩, an an examiner, questioned Li Yan 李演, whereas Fan Zhen's 范鎮 (1009-1089) Dongzhai jishi 東齋記事 considers it an event from Yang Yi's 楊億 (974-1020) time as an examiner. Meanwhile, the book Tingshi 程史 by Yue Ke 岳珂 (1183-1243) attributes the event to Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007-1072) during the imperial examination, and the Zhenxi fangtan 珍席放談 by Gao Huisou 髙晦叟 (early 12th cent.) claims it was a discussion between Tang Yue's 湯悅 brother-in-law and Tang Yue during the Southern Tang period 南唐 (937-975). These conflicting accounts make it difficult to determine the truth.

Additionally, the book erroneously traces the term huzi 虎子 to General Li Guang's 李廣 (d.119 BCE) story of shooting a tiger. It overlooks the fact that Kong Anguo 孔安國 (c. 100 BCE), who served as palace attendant (shizhong 侍中), had already mentioned that Confucian scholars did not use the word huzi but rather shuihu 睡壺 (a kind of vessel), predating Li Guang's time. Such inaccuracies are present throughout the text.

Despite these flaws, the book remains a valuable example of notebook-style writings and fiction from the Song period. It serves as an important resource for studying the institutional history of the Song dynasty and is a useful reference for scholars of literature and history.

Complete editions of the Wenchang zalu can be found in the series Yayutang cangshu 雅雨堂藏書, Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Xuejin taoyuan 學津討原 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編. The editions in the Xu baichuan xuehai 續百川學海, Gujin shuohai 古今說海, Xuehai leibian 學海類編 and Shuofu 說郛 (Wanwei Shantang 宛委山堂 edition) are condensed to one fascicle. The collection Shuoku 說庫 names Cheng Xiang 陳襄 the author of the book. Extracts of the text can be found in the Shuofu (Shangwu Yinshuguan 商務印書館 edition) and Jiu xiaoshuo 舊小說. In 1948, the Zhonghua Shuju 中華書局 in Shanghai published the book in the series Zhongguo wenxue cankao ziliao congshu 中國文學參考資料叢書.