Chao Ye Qian Zai Sui Tang Jia Hua -- A Collection of Masterpieces by Famous Artists of Different Dynasties

Author: (Tang) Zhang Zhao, Liu (Shi Su) compiled, Yuan Xian annotated
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-05-01
Features: Liu Su's Sui-Tang Jiahua is not recorded in the Old Book of Tang or the New Book of Tang's Catalogue of Classics. In the Direct Solutions to the Zhiqi Shulu by Chen Zhen of the Southern Song Dynasty, it was listed in the category of Novelists as Sui-Tang Jiahua, one volume, compiled by Liu Su. The Art and Literature Catalogue of the Song History also recorded Sui-Tang Jiahua, one volume, placed between Liu Su's biography and the category of Novelists. The existing Gu Family's Wenfang Novel Collection is based on a Song edition and was re-carved. The book omits certain characters like "zhen" and "gou" in the calligraphy, and is divided into three volumes: upper, middle, and lower. There is also the Jigutang Collection, which is almost identical to the Gu Family edition and seems to originate from the same source. Other versions include the Historical Novels of Each Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty People's Collection, which are not divided into volumes and have fewer entries.
Liu Su, styled Dingqing, was the son of the historian Liu Zhiji and is mentioned in the Biographies of Liu in the Yutang Shu. The Biography of Liu in the New Book of Tang's Miscellaneous Biographies category recorded a three-volume work titled National Biography, while the Novelists category also listed three volumes of Biographies, which should be a shortened form of National Biography. This book was cited in Shao Bo's Record of Observations from the Shao Family of Henan' in volume 30, indicating that the name National Biography was already in use in the Northern Song Dynasty. Additionally, when Ma Maoguang compiled the Zizhi Tongjian, he adopted Liu Su's novels. Not only did he quote the original text of the novels in his research, but some historical facts about the Tang Dynasty in the Zizhi Tongjian were already present in the current edition of Sui-Tang Jiahua.