''A New Account of the Tales of the World'', also known as ''Shishuo Xinyu'' (), was compiled and edited by Liu Yiqing (Liu I-ching; ; 403 – 26 February 444) during the

Liu Song dynasty Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern dynasties (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties peri ...

(420–479) of the

Northern and Southern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered a ...

(420–589). It is a historical compilation of anecdotes about Chinese scholars, musicians, and artists during the 2nd-4th centuries.

Content

The book contains around 1,130 historical anecdotes and character sketches of around 600 literati, musicians and painters who lived in the Han and Wei– Jin periods (2nd-4th centuries). Chapter 19, for instance, has 32 stories about outstanding women. It is thus both a biographical source and a record of colloquial language. The original text of the book was divided into eight volumes of ''juan'' (卷 "scroll"), though current editions generally span ten volumes.Endymion Wilkinson. ''Chinese History: A New Manual''. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series New Edition; Second, Revised printing March 2013, ), p. 732.

Reception

While most of the anecdotes and personalities are attested in other sources, traditional Chinese bibliographers did not classify ''Shishuo Xinyu'' as history, but as a novel / "minor tales" (小说 ''xiao shuo''), a term that was later used to refer to

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

. Some attribute this to its use of colloquial language as well as how it did not follow the historical conventions of the

Twenty-Four Histories The ''Twenty-Four Histories'', also known as the ''Orthodox Histories'' (), are a collection of official histories detailing the dynasties of China, from the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors in the 4th millennium BC to the Ming ...

. The mixture of literary and vernacular styles set the scene for the later tradition of informal Chinese literature. The 20th-century Chinese novelist

Lu Xun Lu Xun ( zh, c=魯迅, p=Lǔ Xùn, ; 25 September 188119 October 1936), pen name of Zhou Shuren, born Zhou Zhangshou, was a Chinese writer. A leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in both vernacular and literary Chinese as a no ...

spoke highly of the book's aesthetic merits.

Translations

The text was fully translated into English in 2002, with the

Liang dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () or Xiao Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was pre ...

(502–557) commentary by Liu Xiaobiao (劉孝標), by sinologist Richard B. Mather, in the book titled ''Shih-shuo Hsin-yü: A New Account of Tales of the World''.Yiqing Liu, Jun Liu and Richard B. Mather. ''A New Account of Tales of the World (Shih-Shuo Hsin-Yü).'' (Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, Michigan Monographs in Chinese Studies, 2002). .

Extant versions

Manuscript: *Hand-written fragments from the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

(618–907) (唐寫本殘卷) Woodblock prints: *Dong Fen edition, 1138 (8th year of the Shaoxing

reign A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., King of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia, List of Belgian monarchs, Belgium, Co-princes of Andorra, Andorra), of a people (e.g., List of Frankish kin ...

of the

Southern Song The Song dynasty ( ) was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, ending ...

); original kept in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

(南宋紹興八年董弅刊本，原本存於日本) *Edition by

Lu You Lu You ( zh, s=陆游, t=陸游, first=t; 1125–1210) was a Chinese historian and List of Chinese language poets, poet of the Southern Song Dynasty (南宋). Career Early life and marriage Lu You was born on a boat floating in the Wei River e ...

, 1188 (15th year of the Chunxi reign of the Southern Song; 南宋淳熙十五年陸游刻本) *Edition from

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

, 1189 (16th year of Chunxi) (淳熙十六年湘中刻本)中国哲学书电子化计划
(Chinese Philosophy Digitalization Project)

Categories

# Virtuous Conduct 德行第一 # Speech and Conversation 言語第二 # Affairs of State 政事第三 # Letters and Scholarship 文學第四 # The Square and the Proper 方正第五 # Cultivated Tolerance 雅量第六 # Insight and Judgment 識鑑第七 # Appreciation and Praise 賞譽第八 # Grading Excellence 品藻第九 # Admonitions and Warnings 規箴第十 # Quick Perception 捷悟第十一 # Precocious Intelligence 夙惠第十二 # Virility and Boldness 豪爽第十三 # Appearance and Manner 容止第十四 # Self-renewal 自新第十五 # Admiration and Emulation 企羨第十六 # Grieving for the Departed 傷逝第十七 # Reclusion and Disengagement 栖逸第十八 # Worthy Beauties 賢媛第十九 # Technical Understanding 術解第二十 # Skill and Art 巧藝第二十一 # Favor and Veneration 寵禮第二十二 # The Free and Unrestrained 任誕第二十三 # Rudeness and Arrogance 簡傲第二十四 # Taunting and Teasing 排調第二十五 # Contempt and Insults 輕詆第二十六 # Guile and Chicanery 假譎第二十七 # Dismissal from Office 黜免第二十八 # Stinginess and Meanness 儉嗇第二十九 # Extravagance and Ostentation 汰侈第三十 # Anger and Irascibility 忿狷第三十一 # Slander and Treachery 讒險第三十二 # Blameworthiness and Remorse 尤悔第三十三 # Crudities and Slips of the Tongue 紕漏第三十四 # Delusion and Infatuation 惑溺第三十五 # Hostility and Alienation 仇隙第三十六

Content

Reception

Translations

Extant versions

Categories

References and notes

Further reading