Liu Binke jiahua lu 劉賓客嘉話錄

Liu Binke jiahua lu 劉賓客嘉話錄 "Fine conversations of Advisor Liu" is a collection of stories compiled during the Tang period 唐 (618-907) by Wei Xuan 韋絢 (801-879), courtesy name Wenming 文明, from Jingzhao 京兆, the region around the capital Chang'an 長安 (today's Xi'an 西安, Shaanxi). His birth and death dates are unknown. He was the son of Wei Zhiyi 韋執誼 (765年—807), who was Counsellor-in-chief (zaixiang 宰相) during the reign of Emperor Shunzong 唐順宗 (r. 804-805). Wei Xuan held several official posts, including Vice Governor (shaoyin 少尹) of Jiangling 江陵, imperial diarist (qiju sheren 起居舍人), and military commissioner (jiedushi 節度使) of the military prefecture of Yiwu 義武軍.

According to the bibliographical chapter in the official dynastic history Xintangshu 新唐書 and Chao Gongwu's 晁公武 (c. 1105-1180) book catalogue Junzhai dushu zhi 郡齋讀書志, the name "Master Liu" (Liu Gong 劉公) refers to Liu Yuxi 劉禹錫 (772-842), who was a teacher of Wei Xuan. The book was likely written in 856. It records, retrospectively, conversations held by Liu Yuxi at Baidicheng 白帝城 (modern Fengjie 奉節, Sichuan) in 821. Therefore, the book was originally titled Liugong jiahua lu 劉公嘉話錄. In the bibliographical chapter of the Songshi 宋史, the work is listed as Liugong jiahua 劉公嘉話, with the same number of juan and the same author. Another title, Binke jiahua 賓客佳話, also appears, likely referring to the same work under a different name. Liu Yuxi previously held the position of Advisor to the Heir Apparent (taizi binke 太子賓客), which explains why later editions are titled Liu Binke jiahua lu.

The book features many accounts of historical events of the era, anecdotes related to literature and scholarship, as well as discussions of the Classics and commentaries on poetry and prose.

The current edition contains one juan with 130 brief chapters, but it no longer reflects the original form of the work. There are many omissions and duplications with other texts. According to textual research in the descriptive book catalogue Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目提要 and Zhou Zhongfu's 周中孚 (1768-1821?) Zhengtang dushu ji 鄭堂讀書記, 38 of its entries are identical to those in Li Chuo's 李綽 (d. 862) Shangshu gushi 尚書故實. It is therefore suspected that the original work was incomplete and that later editors arbitrarily supplemented it with material from Li's book.

The text is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Xu baichuan xuehai 續百川學海, Gushi wenfang xiaoshuo 顧氏文房小說, Jigutang congke 稽古堂叢刻, Wuchao xiaoshuo daguan 五朝小說大觀, Tangren shuohui 唐人說薈, Tangdai congshu 唐代叢書, Xuehai leibian 學海類編, Shuofu 說郛 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編.