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Sichao wenjian lu 四朝聞見錄

Oct 19, 2013 © Ulrich Theobald

Sichao wenjian lu 四朝聞見錄 "Hearsay rfom the reigns of four emperors" is a "brush-notes"-style book (biji 筆記) written during the Song period 宋 (960-1279) by Ye Shaoweng 葉紹翁 (1194-1269), courtesy name Jingyi 靖逸 or Sizong 嗣宗, style Shu Longquan Ren 署龍泉人. Of his life, virtually nothing is known.

His book consists of five collections, each with a length of 1 juan. The collections include 207 stories from the reign of the emperors Gaozong 宋高宗 (r. 1127-1162), Xiaozong 宋孝宗 (r. 1162-1189), Guangzong 宋光宗 (r. 1189-1194) and Ningzong 宋寧宗 (r. 1194-1224), the first four rulers of the Southern Song dynasty 南宋 (1127-1279). The stories are not arranged chronologically, but they provide a rich insight into the unofficial history (yeshi 野史) of this period.

The book is to be found in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Pucheng yishu 蒲城遺書, Zhibuzuzhai congshu 知不足齋叢書 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編.

Sources:
Li Xueqin 李學勤, and Lü Wenyu 呂文郁, eds. 1996. Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典, vol. 2, 2150. Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe.
Lin Fei 林非, ed. 1997. Zhongguo sanwen da cidian 中國散文大辭典, 194. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe.
Lin Lin 林琳. 2008. "Sichao wenjian lu de shixue jianzhi 《四朝聞見錄》的史學價值." Henan Jidian Gaodeng Zhuanke Xuexiao xuebao 河南機電高等專科學校學報 17 (2): 86-88.
Wu Feng 吳楓, ed. 1987. Jianming Zhongguo guji cidian 簡明中國古籍辭典, 243. Changchun: Jilin wenxue chubanshe.
Zheng Yunbo 鄭雲波, ed. 1992. Zhongguo gudai xiaoshuo cidian 中國古代小說辭典, 428. Nanjing: Nanjing daxue chubanshe.