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Shuxu zhinan 書敘指南 "A compass to literature" is an encyclopaedia compiled during the Northern Song period 北宋 (960-1126) by Ren Guang 任廣 (fl. 1076). It was first printed in 1126 by Jin Hui 金匯. The printing blocks were destroyed so that, at the beginning of the Southern Song 南宋 (1127-1279), the book only survived in manuscript form, e.g., as a copy owned by a Master Yu 俞氏 that, however, was lost for many centuries. During the Kangxi reign-period 康熙 (1662-1722), a scholar called Jin Sheng 金券 obtained one of such manuscripts owned by a Master Han 韓氏. There is also a reprint from the Wanli reign-period 萬曆 (1573-1619).
The received version has a length of 20 juan. The original title of the book was Shuji zhinan 書籍指南. The Shuxu zhinan is a kind of lexicon for all sorts of expressions found in the various types of literature, like, for example, different designations for an emperor or his dwellings. The content is arranged in 83 chapters.
| 天子之配曰后，又曰女君。太后曰天后。后宮曰椒屋，又曰璿宮。后殿曰蘭殿。后房閣曰蘭房椒閣。后斎曰瑤斎。后屋曰金屋。 | The consort of the Son of Heaven is called "Empress", and also referred to as "Female Sovereign". The Empress Dowager is called "Heavenly Empress". The empress's palace is called "Peak House" or "Jade Palace". The empress's reception hall is called "Orchid Hall". The empress's private rooms and pavilions are called "Orchid Hall" and "Peak Lodge". The empress's personal retreat is called "Jade Retreat". The empress's house is called "Golden House". |
| 帝母生祥曰夢月感星。后族曰椒房外家，又曰椒房之親。后家曰椒房之家。后親蠶所駕馬曰騩馬。后妃親桑處曰桑壇。后親絲蠶處曰織室。后生時祥曰黃氣元雲。后讓詞曰「假充女君之盛」，又曰「不在粢盛之事」。 | The auspicious sign when the emperor's mother gives birth is called "Dreaming of the moon and sensing the stars". The empress's clan is called the "Peak House's External Family" or "Relatives of the Peak House". The empress's natal family is called "The Household of the Peak House". The horse driven by the empress when she personally goes out to tend silkworms is called the "Dark Horse". The place where the empress and consorts personally perform the mulberry ritual is called the "Mulberry Altar". The place where the empress personally tends silk production and silkworms is called the "Weaving Chamber". When an empress gives birth, the auspicious omen is called "Yellow Aura and Primordial Clouds". When an empress expresses words of humility, she says: "I merely borrow the grandeur as the Female Sovereign", or "I am not concerned with matters of ritual offerings". |
The Shuxu zhinan's similarity to glossary books encourages the Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) scholar Jin Chang 金嘗 to publish it in one volume, together with the glossaries Erya 爾雅, Zuoyu 左腴 and Hanjuan 漢雋. He changed the name of the book to Xiuci zhinan 修辭指南 "A compass to the correct use of words" (in modern Chinese, the word xiuci means "rhetoric") and created with his edition a confused version of the original book.
The Shuxu zhinan is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書.