Yinhualu 因話錄

Yinhualu 因話錄 "Tales of repayment and retribution" is a collection of short stories from the Tang period 唐 (618-907) written by Zhao Lin 趙璘 (jinshi degree 834), courtesy name Zezhang 澤章. He hailed from Nanyang 南陽, but later moved to Pingyuan 平原 (modern Shandong province). He was vice director (yuanwailang 員外郎) of the Bureau of Sacrifices (cibu 祠部), Director of the Bureau of General Accounts (duzhibu langzhong 度支郎中), later Left Director, and finally regional inspector (cishi 刺史) of Quzhou 衢州.

The semi-historiographical stories of the Yinhualu are arranged in 6 juan with five parts, whose titles follow the five notes in traditional Chinese music. The first part (gongbu 宮部) is related to rulers, the second (shangbu 商部) to high ministers and officials, the third (jiaobu 角部) to eminent persons not holding an office, the fourth part (zhibu 徵部) records literary allusions (diangu 典故), with an appendix of humorous jokes (xiexi 諧戲), and the fifth part (yubu 羽部) includes miscellaneous material.

Because Zhao Lin was a grandson of Counsellor-in-chief Zhao Zongru 趙宗儒 (746-832) and a relative of the powerful Liu family 柳, he had a great interest in literary quotations related to the higher court officials. The book is, therefore, although categorised as a collection of novellas (xiaoshuo 小說), also of historiographical value. It also contains information about the literature estimated by the higher class of society. Especially noteworthy are his comments about theatre plays and singsong girls.

The Yinhualu is included in the series Baihai 稗海, Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and Biji xiaoshuo daguan 筆記小說大觀. In 1957, the Shanghai Guji Wenxue Chubanshe 上海古典文學出版社 published a joint version together with the Tang guoshi bu 唐國史補. In 1991, the Shanghai Guji Press 上海古籍出版社 published a modern edition.