Yilin 異林

There are several books with the title Yilin 異林 "Forest of miracles". The most important versions were written by a certain Master Lu 陸氏 during the Jin period 晉 (265-420), and one much later, by the Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) scholar Zhu Mujie 朱睦㮮 (1517-1586).

Master Lu might be identical with the son of the writer and politician Lu Ji 陸機 (261-303). His book is listed in Wen Tingshi's 文廷式 (1856-1904) supplementary bibliographical treatise to the official dynastic history Jinshu 晉書, the Bu Jinshu yiwen zhi 補晉書藝文志, where it is seen among the novellas (xiaoshuo 小説). Wen Tingshi, a Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) scholar, does not record the book's size or the date of compilation. The Republican expert Lu Xun 魯迅 (1881-1936) detected one fragment of Master Lu's Yilin in Pei Songzhi’s 裴松之 (370-449) commentary on the biography of Zhong Yao 鍾繇 (151-230) in the history Sanguozhi 三國志, and in the Song-period 宋 (960-1279) encyclopaedia Taiping yulan 太平御覽. This fragment of a love story between a female ghost and Zhong Yao is included in Lu's series Gu xiaoshuo gouchen 古小說鉤沉.

Zhu Mujie, courtesy name Guanfu 灌甫, style Xiting Xiansheng 西亭先先, was a descendant of Zhu Di 朱棣 (1360-1424), the Prince of Zhouding and Emperor Chengzu 明成祖 (r. 1402-1424). He was very interested in the Classics Yijing 易經 "Book of Changes" and Chunqiu 春秋 "Spring and Autumn Annals". He was, therefore, in 1577 appointed Imperial Family Monitor (zongzheng 宗正) in the School for the Imperial Family (zongxue 宗學). He was acquainted with renownded book collectors and founded the Wanjuan Studio 萬卷堂 library. His collected writings are called Poshang ji 陂上集.

Zhu's 16-juan-long Yilin comprises 42 popular tales with historiographical content, yet on a very narrative and vernacular literary basis.

The third book with the title was compiled by Xu Zheqing 徐楨卿 (1479-1511), courtesy name Changgu 昌谷, from Wuxian 吳縣 (today's Suzhou 蘇州, Jiangsu). He was an erudite (boshi 博士) in the Directorate of Education (guozijian 國子監) and was one of the four great masters of Suzhou (Wuzhong si caizi 吳中四才子, the others being Tang Bohu 唐伯虎, Zhu Zhishan 祝枝山, and Wang Zhengming 文徵明).

His book of 1 juan> is listed in the bibliographical chapter of the dynastic history Mingshi 明史. In the book catalogues Guoshi jingji zhi 國史經籍志 and Qianqingtang shumu 千頃堂書目, however, the author is identified as Xu Guochang 徐國昌 and Xu Changgu 徐國昌, respectively. Xu's book is found in the series Yanxia xiaoshuo 煙霞小說, Tang-Song congshu 唐宋叢書, Heke sanzhi 合刻三志, Xu shuofu 續說郛, Guang baichuan xuehai 廣百川學海 and Wuchao xiaoshuo 五朝小說.

The fourth book is also titled Minghuadu yilin 梅花渡異林 or Zhi Zigu Xiansheng huiji Yilin 支子固先生彙輯異林. It has a length of 10 juan and was written during the Ming period by Zhi Yunjian 支允堅, courtesy name Zigu 子固, style Meipo Jushi 梅坡居士.

The book is listed as a novella collection in the catalogue Qianqingtang shumu, but as a "miscellaneous book" (zajia lei 雜家類) in the bibliographical chapter of the (Qinding) Xu wenxian tongkao (欽定)續文獻通考 and the descriptive book catalogue Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目提要.

Zhi's Yilin actually comprises four distinct collections of stories. The Yishi suibi 軼史隨筆 is filled with trivial and scattered discussions, often conveying a sense of frustrated talent and unfulfilled ambition, reflecting rather petty and low tastes. Some opinions on historical figures are extremely biased. Worse still, the collection treats fictional and slanderous tales as factual evidence. The Shishi manji 時事漫記 mostly records gossip and alleyway talk. The section Yiyu kaojing 軼語考鏡 gathers miscellaneous information without fully explaining it, making its purpose unclear. The part Yiyuan xianping 藝苑閑評 consists entirely of poetry commentaries (shihua 詩話), yet its insights are quite shallow and crude.

There exist two different editions of Zhi's book, both printed during the Chongzhen reign-period 崇禎 (1628-1644). The part Yiyu kaojiing was also published separately.