Yulingzi 於陵子

Yulingzi 於陵子 "Master Yuling" is a philosophical treatise attributed to Chen Zhongzi 陳仲子 from the state of Qi 齊 of the Warring States period 戰國 (5th cent.-221 BCE). The Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) scholar Wang Shizhen 王士禎 (1634-1711) says in his collection Juyilu 居易錄 that there were many forgeries produced during the Wanli reign-period 萬曆 (1573-1619), like the Tianluge waishi 天祿閣外史 or Han E's 韓鄂 (c. 900) Suihua jili 歲華紀麗 that were allegedly written during the Tang period 唐 (618-907). One of the great forgers of the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) was Hu Zhenheng 胡震亨 (1569-1645). The Yulingzi was, according to Wang Shizhen, written by Hu's college Yao Shilin 姚士粦 (Yao Shuxiang 姚叔祥; 1559-1644).

The Yulingzi has a length of 12 chapters. It is introduced by a poetic preface allegedly written during the Yuan-period 元 (1279-1368) by Deng Yuanwen 鄧文原 (1258-1328). This preface concedes that neither the imperial bibliography Yiwen zhi 藝文志 in the official dynastic history Hanshu 漢書 nor the Song-period 宋 (960-1279) book catalogue Chongwen zongmu 崇文總目 list the Yulingzi, but alleges that the booksurvived in the library of Shi Tingwei 石廷尉 (i.e., the calligrapher Shi Ximing 石熙明). The book quotes paragraphs written by Wang Wu 王鏊 (1450-1524) that are not to be found in Wang's collected writings.

The Yulingzi is, although being a fake, included in the series Mice huihan 秘册彙函, Nian'erzi quanshu 廿二子全書, Zishu baijia 子書百家 (Baizi quanshu 百子全書), Zishu sishiba zhong 子書四十八種 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初编.