Wenyuan Yinghua (Complete 6 Volumes)

Author: Li Fang et al. (Song Dynasty)
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2003-01-01
Features: One of the four major works of the Northern Song Dynasty, a literary compendium. Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Zhongxun, ordered Li Fang, Xu Xuan, Song Bai, and Su Yijian, among others, to compile it. The project began in the seventh year of the Taipingguo period (982) and was completed in the third year of the Yongxi period (986). During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Zhao Heng, several revisions were made. Later, Emperor Xiaozong of Song, Zhao Zhen, ordered specialists to conduct proofreading. Finally, Zhou Bida, Hu Ke, and Peng Shuxia revisited it, and the printing began in the first year of the Jiating period (1201) and was completed four years later. The surviving Song edition is now only a fragment. The entire work comprises 1,000 volumes, continuing from the Wenxuan (A Selection of Refined Literature) and starting from the Liang Dynasty down to the late Tang and Five Dynasties periods. It selects works of over 2,000 authors and nearly 20,000 pieces, categorized into 39 types by genre (such as fù [rhapsodies], shī [poems], gēxíng [lyric poems], záwén [miscellaneous prose], Zhongshu zhìgào [imperial decrees from the Central Secretariat], and Hàlin zhìgào [imperial decrees from the Hanlin Academy]). Within each category, subheadings are further divided by theme, such as the 42 subcategories under fù [rhapsodies], including tiānxiàng [celestial phenomena], suìshí [seasons], dì [earth], shuǐ [water], dìdé [virtue of emperors], and jīngdū [capital cities]. Approximately one-tenth of the work consists of works from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, while nine-tenths are from the Tang Dynasty. Most of these works were collected based on scarce manuscript collections of poetry and prose from that time, preserving a wealth of valuable historical documents. The annotations also include variations from other editions, which can be used to collate and correct Tang Dynasty poetry and prose collections. During the Qing Dynasty, when compiling the Complete Tang Poems, Complete Tang Prose, and Four Treasuries, it was used as a reference. The Wenyuan Yinghua also includes many imperial decrees (zhào gào), legal judgments (shū pàn), memorials (biǎo shū), and epitaphs (bēi zhì), making it useful for verifying historical facts. This book was not widely circulated. In the fortieth year of the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty (1566), Hu Weixin et al. reprinted it based on manuscript copies. In 1966, Zhonghua Book Company published a photolithographic edition, combining 140 volumes from the Song edition and 860 volumes from the Ming edition, appending Peng Shuxia’s Wenyuan Yinghua Bianzhèng (A Critical Commentary on the Wenyuan Yinghua) and Lao Ge’s Wenyuan Yinghua Bianzhèng Shíyí (Supplementary Commentary on the Wenyuan Yinghua Bianzhèng).