Fanzi Jiran 范子計然

Fanzi Jiran 范子計然, also called Fanzi wen Jiran 范子問計然 "Master Fan's questions to Jiran", was an ancient agricultural treatise. It is first mentioned in the imperial bibliography Jingji zhi 經籍志 in the official dynastic history Jiutangshu 舊唐書, where it is listed among the masters of the Five Agents (wuxing jia 五行家), with a length of 15 juan.

The book is composed as a dialogue between Fan Li 范蠡, a minister in the state of Yue 越 during Spring and Autumn period 春秋 (770-5th cent. BCE), and the expert Jiran 計然, who was no one else than the philosopher Xin Jian 辛銒, better known as Wenzi 文子. The bibliography Yiwen zhi 藝文志 in the history book Xintangshu 新唐書 lists it among the agricultural treatises (nongjia 農家). It was lost before the Song period 宋 (960-1279), but is quoted extensively in the book Qimin yaoshu 齊民要術 from the Northern Wei period 北魏 (386-534).

The Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) scholar Ma Guohan 馬國翰 (1794-1857) collected surviving fragments and published them in his series Yuhanshanfang jiyi shu 玉函山房輯佚書. Interestingly enough, the bibliographic treatise Yiwen zhi in the history book Qingshigao 清史稿 mentions the Fanzi Jiran (in the shape of Ma Guohan's collection), as well as Huang Shi's 黃奭 collection of its fragments (1809-1853).