Nanbu xinshu 南部新書

Nanbu xinshu 南部新書 „New book of the southern region“ is a collection of stories compiled during the Northern Song period by Qian Yi 錢易, courtesy name Xibai 希白, from Qiantang 錢塘 (i.e., Hangzhou 杭州, Zhejiang). He was a nephew of Qian Chu 錢俶, the king of Wu-Yue吳越, one of the Ten States in south China. Under the reign of Emperor Zhenzong 真宗, Qian Yi obtained the offices of 累遷左司郎中，翰林學士. Qian was an ardent writer. Among his books were Jingui 金閨, Xiyuanzhi ji 西垣制集, Qingyun zonglu 青雲總錄, Tongweizhi 洞微志 and Huaxi ji 滑稽集, but most of these writings is lost. His Nanbu xinshu, with a length of 10 juan, is composed entirely of anecdotes and miscellaneous notes from the Tang and the Five Dynasties periods. Among them are detailed accounts concerning the establishment and development of official posts since the early Tang, the rise and fall of government institutions, and changes in court regulations and procedures. These provide a certain level of reference value for the study of Tang political history and the evolution of official systems. Each fascicle of the book is organised according to the Ten Heavenly Stems (see calendar) and contains a total of 857 entries. Unlike other works that indulge in wild or fanciful tales, this text is beneficial for purposes of textual and historical research. The text is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Xuejin taoyuan 學津討原, Yueyatang congshu 粵雅堂叢書, Shuoku 說庫, Shuofu 說郛, Gujin shuobu congshu 古今說部叢書 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編. A modern edition was published in 1958 by the Zhonghua Shuju Press 中華書局.