Shishi leiyuan 事實類苑

Shishi leiyuan 事實類苑 "Categorized garden of historical facts", original title Songchao leiyuan 宋朝類苑, Huang-Song shishi leiyuan 皇宋事寶類苑 or Huangchao leiyuan 皇朝類苑, is an encyclopaedia written during the early Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) by Jiang Shaoyu 江少虞 (jinshi degree 1118), courtesy name Yuzhong 虞仲, from Changshan 常山 in the prefecture of Quzhou 衢州.

The book was finished in 1145. It has a length of 78 juan and covers - depending on the edition - between 22 and 28 large themes. The topics covered quote from more than 50 different sources. The main content of the Shishi leiyuan are historical stories from the Northern Song period 北宋 (960-1126), but the stories are selected according to fixed categories, which gives the book the character of an encyclopaedia. Each chapter is headed by a four-character headline. Jiang Shaoyu compiled this book because sources on the history of the Northern Song period were often scattered in books of very different character, especially among private writings. A coherent picture of the period was therefore not easy to obtain, but Jiang's book aimed at helping readers to gain better insight into particular aspects of history.

In spite of its historiographical character, the book is listed under the miscellaneous treatises because many stories have the character of tales or are even of the genre of chuanqi 傳奇 "bizarre occurrences". The historical value of the Shishi leiyuan lies in the fact that about half of the stories quoted have not survived in other books. The sources are all indicated and have not been altered.

The earliest print dates from 1153 and was produced by the Masha Studio 麻沙書坊. Wang Shizhen 王士禎 (1634-1711) speaks of a length of 40 juan, but in the edition in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, the text is distributed over 63 fascicles. There is also a print with moveable types from 1621 preserved in Japan and reprinted in 1911 by Dong Kang 董康 (1867-1947). This edition is arranged in 87 juan. In 1981, the Shanghai Guji Press 上海古籍出版社 published a modern version revised by Qu Jicang 瞿濟蒼.