Complete Dictionary of Song Dynasty Historical Stories and Explanations

Author: Fan Zhilin, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-05-01
Features: This book serves as a reference tool for readers with a medium level of education, as well as for teachers at primary, secondary, and university levels, and literary and artistic workers, when reading Yuanqu (a form of Chinese opera) to look up allusions. It includes allusions cited or adapted from historical facts, stories, traditional operas, myths, legends, ceremonial rites, and famous lines of poetry, prose, and lyrics from previous works. The main explanation for each allusion consists of three parts:
(1) Source, which cites the original text of the allusion and identifies its source. Whenever possible, earlier sources are cited, and ambiguities in previous interpretations are clarified. If the historical fact or story is too lengthy, it may be summarized in modern language, but the source must still be noted. The cited works should indicate the era and author; for well-known classics such as The Analects, The Selection of Refined Literature, The Twenty-Four Histories, and The Sayings of the Master of the Eastern House, the era and author are omitted.
(2) Interpretation, which summarizes the essence of the original text and explains the general meaning of the allusion. If the allusion has multiple meanings, they should be explained one by one without separate entries for each meaning.
(3) Examples, which provide instances of the allusion being used in Yuanqu, explaining its specific usage and particular meaning in the context of the work, highlighting its rhetorical and structural role. All examples are annotated with the author and title of the Yuanqu piece. Examples from Yuanqu are taken from Complete Yuan Quatrain, while those from Nanxi (Southern Drama) are from Sixty Plays.
Principles for Creating Entries:
(1) Entries should be as detailed as possible. Instead of using a person's name as the entry for their deeds, the specific example cited should be used as the entry.
(2) If the wording of the allusion differs from that of the source, the wording from the example should be used as the entry. However, if two or more sentences are used to allude to or adapt a source, and it is difficult to extract a suitable term, a concise and accurate summary may be used instead.
(3) Allusions with the same wording but different sources and meanings should be listed separately, with Arabic numerals (e.g., 1, 2) in the upper right corner to distinguish them.
(4) If the same sentence uses two or more allusions, each should be listed separately, and the same example should be cited under each. The explanation for the example should focus on the specific allusion.
(5) If the wording of the same allusion differs significantly, separate entries should be created for ease of reference. The source and interpretation are placed under the commonly used allusion. If it is difficult to determine the primary and secondary entries, they are placed under the entry with fewer strokes in the character. The examples are appended under the entry with the same wording as the allusion.