Rongzhai

Author: (Song) Hong Mai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1994-10-01
Features: Record of the Rongzhai Studio covers a vast range of topics, including historical and literary anecdotes, astronomy and geography, strange tales and legends, the sayings of the Hundred Schools of Thought, as well as literary and poetic expressions. It excels in its rigorous research and insightful commentary on classics, philosophy, art, and other fields. Upon its publication, it was highly praised by Emperor Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Zhen, and became a treasured collection in the imperial libraries of subsequent dynasties, sparking endless fascination among scholars for millennia. Record of the Rongzhai Studio is a collection of notes on history, literature, philosophy, and art, centered around research, commentary, and narration. It includes not only the institutional norms of the Song Dynasty but also historical facts, political dynamics, and literary anecdotes from the Three Dynasties and beyond. With its rich sources, refined style, compelling arguments, and meticulous research, it stands out among numerous similar works, earning it the title of the "greatest note-taking and fiction of the Southern Song Dynasty" in the General Preface to the Siku Quanshu.
Author Hong Mai (1123–1202) was a renowned literary figure of the Southern Song Dynasty, styled Jinglu and known by the sobriquet Rongzhai. He was from Poyang (now part of Jiangxi Province). He passed the imperial examinations during the Shaoxing era and rose to the position of Academician of the Dongming Hall. Hong Mai was a highly learned scholar, known for his extensive reading and called a "learned and well-read Confucian scholar." In addition to Record of the Rongzhai Studio, he also wrote the supernatural collection Strange Stories from Yingjian and compiled Ten Thousand Tang Poems.