Yuhanshanfang Jieyi Shu (Complete 5 Volumes)

Author: Ma Guohuan (Qing Dynasty)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-11-01
Features: The loss of ancient documents has been an unavoidable challenge for scholars throughout history. Some have reconstructed and organized these lost works by citing them in existing books to restore their original form, a process known as "Ji Yi" (compiling lost texts). It is generally believed that Ji Yi originated in the Song Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty scholar Zhang Xuecheng, in his work Guang Yi of School of Collation, argued that it should be attributed to Wang Yinglin of the Southern Song Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, influenced by the compilation of the Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries), Ji Yi work expanded on a large scale, resulting in numerous compiled books, including Ma Guohuan's Yuhanshanfang Yi Shu. The entire work is divided into three sections—Confucian classics, history, and philosophy—with over 700 volumes, compiling more than 580 lost texts. When published, it was supplemented by Ma Guohuan's reading notes Mugeng Tie (Thirty-One Volumes), forming the Yuhanshanfang Ji Yi Shu we see today. Ma's compilations were based on his extensive library collection. Before each entry, he personally wrote prefaces to introduce the circumstances of the lost texts and their sources of compilation. The book provided certain conveniences for academic research, earning high praise. In the late Qing Dynasty, Li Ciming, in his diary, mentioned that this book served as a reference for "unearthing ancient interpretations of classics" and Zhang Jihou's Eryoutang Congshu, while also conducting extensive research. He compared it favorably to Wang's Hanwei Yishu, noting that the former was far more detailed. However, despite its grand scale, some errors were inevitable. Nevertheless, in terms of organization, Yuhanshanfang Ji Yi Shu remains an authoritative and well-documented work.