Shoujing 獸經

There are two different, brief texts called Shoujing 獸經 "Book of beasts". The first one was compiled during the Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Huang Xingzeng 黃省曾 (1490-1540), who is better known as author of the book Nongpu sishu 農圃四書. It is included in the series Cuilangganguan congshu 翠琅玕館叢書, Baichuan xuehai 百川學海, Gezhi congshu 格致叢書, Shuofu 說郛, Yimen guangdu 夷門廣牘, Yishu congshu 藝術叢書 and Zhibuzuzhai congshu 知不足齋叢書.

The second Shoujing was written during the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Zhang Gangsun 張綱孫 (mid-17th cent.), courtesy name Zuwang 祖望, later called Dan 丹, style Qingting 秦亭 of Zhuyin 竹隱, from Qiantang 錢塘 (Hangzhou 杭州, Zhejiang), and is included in the series Tanji congshu 檀几叢書. Zhang's collected works were called Congyetang ji 從野堂集.

Huang's encyclopaedia of beasts has about 40 pages and represents a systematic collection of statements from ancient literature like the Classics or old glossaries and dictionaries on various "beasts". It starts with the unicorn and different species of caprines and then goes on to a wide array of mammals with different designations. Yet Huang did not apply a systematic (or scientific) categorisation of animals, and the focus of his texts is on the varieties of designations rather than on zoological specifications. Many of his headlines are quotations from old texts which bring specific animals into a literary context, like the proverb cang si fu zhou 蒼兕覆舟 "the grey rhino overturns a boat" which is mentioned in Wang Chong's 王充 (27-97 CE) Lunheng 論衡 from the Han period 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE).

Zhang's bestiary has six pages and characterised each animal with a brief description, often in paired sentences (ouju 偶句). It starts with mythological animals like the unicorn (qilin 麒麟) or the zouyu 騶虞 tiger and then proceeds through the realm of wild beasts. Quite a large part of the text is dedicated to equines. The text ends with the description of the habits of cats. The author does not indicate any source.