Aug 15, 2025 © Ulrich Theobald
Tuyuan ce 兔園策 "Examination topics (ce 策) of Rabbit Garden" or 兔園冊, also known as Tuyuan cefu 兔園策府 (also written 兔園冊府) or Tuyuan cezi 兔園冊子, was a textbook for elementary learning compiled in the shape of an encyclopaedia. It was in use during the late Tang 唐 (618-907) and the Five Dynasties periods 五代 (907-960), mainly in private schools which served as a preparation for the nascent system of state examinations. It consisted of 48 chapters distributed over 30 juan.
A story about Feng Dao 馮道 (882-954; quoted in Xin Wudaishi 新五代史 55) shows that the Tuyuance was only used for beginners and was not counted among the textbooks for higher education.
The Tuyuance was also known in Japan.
The book was compiled by Du Sixian 杜嗣先 (634-712) on the order of Li Hui 李惲 (d. 674), the Prince of Jiang 蔣王, and a son of Emperor Taizong 唐太宗 (r. 626-649). The book is named after the Prince's park, Rabbit Garden (Tuyuan 兔園). It was written in paired verses and thus easy to use for memorisation. It was lost in the late Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279).
Manuscript fragments of the text, namely the chapter on the Eastern Barbarians, were discovered in the grottoes of Dunhuang 敦煌石窟, but the object has been lost except for a fragment of the preface.
The book is mentioned in Mei Yingzuo's 梅膺祚 dictionary Zihui 字彙.
Sources:
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