ChinaKnowledge.de -
An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History and Literature

Yunxian zaji 雲仙雜記

Apr 2, 2036 © Ulrich Theobald

Yunxian zaji 雲仙雜記 "Miscellaneous records of the Immortal in the Clouds" is a collection of stories believed to have been compiled during the Tang period by Feng Zhi 馮贄 (c. 900), about whom practically nothing is known.

The book is not recorded in the bibliographical chapter of the official dynastic history Xintangshu 新唐書 or the book catalogues Chongwen zongmu 崇文總目 and Junzhai dushu zhi 郡齋讀書志. It first appears in Chen Zhensun's 陳振孫 (c. 1183-1262) Zhizhai shulu jieti 直齋書錄解題, the bibliographical chapter of the Wenxian tongkao 文獻通考, and that of the Songshi 宋史, where it is titled Yunxian sanlu 雲仙散錄. The descriptive catalogue Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目提要 assumes that these two titles refer to the same work.

Regarding the authorship, the Zhizhai shulu jieti, Hong Mai's 洪邁 (1123-1202) Rongzhai suibi 容齋隨筆, and Zhao Yushi's 趙與時 (1172-1228) Bintuilu 賓退錄 argue that no such person as Feng Zhi ever existed. The Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao, citing Zhang Bangji's 張邦基 (mid-12th cent.) Mozhuang manlu 墨莊漫錄, attributes the work to a forgery by Wang Zhi 王銍 (d. 1144), although this conclusion is still not definitive.

Yu Jiaxi 余嘉錫 (1884-1955) later identified inconsistencies such as the chronological disorder of era names and the fact that a work attributed to a Tang author quotes Song-period 宋 (960-1279) texts, concluding that the book is undoubtedly a later forgery. The division into juan was added later, and even the title was probably altered by subsequent hands.

The Yunxian zaji is a miscellaneous collection of anecdotes from ancient and more recent times. Its narrative style and wording are often quite refined, and it was frequently cited by writers of ci 詞 and fu 賦 poetry.

The oldest surviving print (Luzhu Hall 菉竹堂) dates back to 1571. The text appears in the series Shuofu 說郛, Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Sibu congkan xubian 四部叢刊續編, Xiaoyuan congshu 嘯園叢書, Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成本 (all 10 juan), Tang-Song congshu 唐宋叢書 (9 juan), Yihai zhuchen 藝海珠塵, Guang sishi jia xiaoshuo 廣四十家小說, Longwei mishu 龍威秘書 and Shuoku 說庫 (all 1 juan).

Sources:
Cao Zhi 曹之. 1992. "Yunxian zaji zhenwei kao 《雲仙雜記》真偽考." Guji zhengli yanjiu xuekan 古籍整理研究學刊 1992 (4): 18-20.
Cheng Yizhong 程毅中. 1993. "Yunxian zaji de banben wenti 《雲仙雜記》的版本問題." Guji zhengli yanjiu xuekan 古籍整理研究學刊 1993 (2): 25-25.
Li Xueqin 李學勤, and Lü Wenyu 呂文郁, eds. 1996. Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典, vol. 2, 2140. Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe.
Yu Xia 余霞. 2006. "Yunxian zaji de zhuyao neirong ji wenxue jiazhi 《雲仙雜記》的主要內容及文學價值." Chongqing Jiaoyu Xueyuan xuebao 重慶教育學院學報 19 (4): 44-47.