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Yulingzi 於陵子

Sep 2, 2012 © Ulrich Theobald

Yulingzi 於陵子 "Master Yuling" is a philosophical treatise attributed to the Warring States period 戰國 (5th cent.-221 BCE) scholar Chen Zhongzi 陳仲子 from the state of Qi 齊. The Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) scholar Wang Shizhen 王士禎 says in his collection Juyilu 居易錄 that there were a lot of forgeries made during the Wanli reign 萬曆 (1573-1619), like the Tianluge waishi 天禄閣外史 or Han E's 韓鄂 Suihua jili 嵗華紀麗, that were allegedly written during the Tang period 唐 (618-907), but forged during the Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Hu Zhenheng 胡震亨.

The Yulingzi was, according to Wang Shizhen, written by Hu's college Yao Shilin 姚士粦 (Yao Shuxiang 姚叔祥). The book is 12 chapters long. It is introduced by a poetic preface allegedly written by the Yuan period 元 (1279-1368) writer Deng Yuanwen 鄧文原, in which it is said 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) bibliography Chongwen zongmu 崇文總目 list the Yulingzi, but that it has survived in the library of Shi Tingwei 石廷尉 (Shi Ximing 石熙明). The book quotes paragraphs written by Wang Wu 王鏊 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, Nianerzi 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.

Source:
Li Xueqin 李學勤, Lü Wenyu 呂文鬰, eds. (1996). Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典 (Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe), Vol. 2, 1878.