Complete Dictionary of Song Dynasty Historical Stories (Volumes 1 and 2)

Author: Fan Zhilin
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-05-01
Features: This book serves as a reference tool for readers with a moderate education level, as well as teachers in primary, secondary, and higher education, and literary and artistic workers, when studying Yuanqu (a genre of Chinese opera). It includes allusions to historical facts, stories, traditional operas, myths, legends, ceremonial rites, and famous lines from earlier literary works that are quoted or adapted in the Yuanqu. Each allusion is explained in three parts:
(1) Source Citation: The original text of the allusion is quoted, and its source is identified. 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 era and author of the cited text are specified; 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 Studio, the era and author are omitted.
(2) Explanation: The essence of the source text is summarized, and the general meaning of the allusion is explained. If the allusion has multiple meanings, each meaning is explained sequentially without separate entries for each sense.
(3) Examples: Examples of the allusion’s usage in Yuanqu are provided, with detailed explanations of its specific usage and particular meaning in each context, highlighting its rhetorical and structural role. All examples are annotated with the author and title of the Yuanqu. Examples from Yuanqu are drawn from The Complete Yuan Quatrain Collection, while examples from Nanxi (Southern Drama) are from The Sixty Plays.
Principles for Creating Entries:
(1) Detailed Entries: Instead of using a person’s name as the entry for their deeds, the specific example cited is used as the entry.
(2) When the allusive phrase does not match the source phrase in wording, the phrase from the example is used as the entry. However, if two or more sentences in the example allude to or adapt a certain allusion, and it is difficult to extract a suitable phrase, a concise and precise summary may be used instead.
(3) Phrases with the same wording but different sources and meanings are listed separately, with Arabic numerals (e.g., 1, 2) in the upper right corner to distinguish them.
(4) If the same sentence uses multiple allusions, each is listed separately. The same example is cited under each entry, but the explanation for each example focuses on different aspects.
(5) For the same allusion with entirely different wording, separate entries are created for ease of reference. Source citations and explanations are placed under commonly used entries. If it is difficult to determine the primary or secondary entry, the one with fewer strokes in the character is chosen. Examples are appended under entries with the same wording as the allusion.