Siyouzhai congshuo 四友齋叢說

Siyouzhai congshuo 四友齋叢說 "Collection of tales from the Four-Friends Studio" was compiled during the Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by He Liangjun 何良俊 (1506-1573), courtesy name Yuanlang 元朗, style Tuoming 柘溟. He hailed from Huating 華亭 in the district of Songjiang 松江 close to modern Shanghai. With his brother He Liangfu 何良傅 (1509-1562), he was one of the most famous writers of their days. Yet the two were also eminent collectors of books. He Liangjun owned books with a total size of more than 40,000 juan and had an extra building constructed, the Qingsen Library 清森閣, where he stored his collection of books, paintings and rubbings of inscriptions. The authorities acknowledged his merits to scholarship by granting him the title of clerk (kongmu 孔目) at the Hanlin Academy 翰林院 in Nanjing. He was befriended with Zhao Zhenji 趙貞吉 (1508-1576) and Wang Weizhen 王維楨 (1507-1556), famous writers of the day. His collected writings are called He Hanlin ji 何翰林集. Apart from the 38-juan-long Siyouzhai congshuo, he also compiled the tales collection Heshi yulin 何氏語林 and a book on painting and calligraphy, Siyouzhai shuhua lun 四友齋書畫論.

The Congshuo is divided into 16 chapters, each of them focusing on an individual theme, namely the Classics (Jing 經), historiography (Shi 史), miscellaneous writings (Zaji 雜記), "Masters" (Zi 子), Buddhists and Daoists (Shi-Dao 釋道), prose literature (Wen 文), poetry (Shi 詩), calligraphy (Shu 書), painting (Hua 畫), "In search for the will" (Qiuzhi 求志), "Veneration and instruction" (Chongxun 崇訓), "Respecting life" (Zunsheng 尊生), "Happiness in old age" (Yulao 娛老), "Rectification of the vulgar" (Zhengsu 正俗), "Investigations into literature" (Kaowen 考文), and Lyric-metre poetry and arias (Ciqu 詞曲). An appendix provides additional stories on historiography (Xushi 續史). He Lianjun quotes from numerous ancient sources, adding critical comments (kaozheng 考證) and evaluating them (pinglun 評論). His collection is of great value for the history of the Ming period, both on a central and a local level.

While these critical comments are good, but not of superior value, his evaluations are much more helpful, for instance, the neglect of Han-period 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) interpretations during the compilation of the Classics collections Wujing daquan 五經大全 and Sishu daquan 四書大全. Many remarks point at historical facts in the southern capital Nanjing which are not mentioned in official sources, for instance, the circumstances of tax collection in Songjiang, the abolishing of "bad customs" of official banquets, the criticism of district magistrates by the local population, or the dependence of the magistrates on the cooperation with yamen runners (zaoli 皂隸). He Liangjun also criticises contemporary events, such as the land reform projects under Hai Rui 海瑞 (1514-1587). The first chapters of his book are just quotations from the Classics and commentaries on them, and therefore of no great value.

The chapter Ciqu is a theory of operatic arias. Some authors therefore call it Qulun 曲論, "A theory of airs". The chapter comprises thirty entries. It is an impromptu, essayistic discussion of playwrights' works, touching on Southern and Northern drama writers such as Wang Shifu 王實甫 (before 1260-c.1336), Gao Zecheng 高則成 (1305-1359), Zheng Guangzu 鄭光祖 (c.1260-c.1320), and Guan Hanqing 關漢卿 (1241-1320). Its primary concern is the question of standards for dramatic language. The chapter's basic intellectual orientation can be summarised in two statements: it accords equal importance to Southern (nanqu 南曲) and Northern drama (beiqu 北曲) and advocates stylistic diversity; it places strong emphasis on musical prosody (yinlü shengqing 音律聲情) and the expressive qualities of sound, while stressing naturalness and professional competence (bense danghang 本色當行) in dramatic language. As a rule, lyric writing must employ language in its true, natural colour (bense yu 本色語); only then can one be called a genuine playwright. In response to the contemporary tendency for dramatic writing to become increasingly desk-bound (antouhua 案頭化) and literary, He Liangjun vigorously championed the bense quality of the Yuan drama, defending theatre's fundamental nature as a performing art. By "bense language", he primarily meant emotionally expressive diction (qingci 情辭) that is "naturally marvellous and beautiful" (tianran miaoli 天然妙麗) and at once "simple, restrained, and richly suggestive" (jiandan yunjie 簡淡蘊藉).

In He Liangjun's view, professional aptness (danghang 當行) rests not on ornate diction or learned display but on language that arises naturally from performance, situation, and embodied action, language that sounds right on stage and is spoken by someone who truly knows the craft. He held that bense language must also give priority to musical prosody (yinlü 音律) and accord with the accompanying music (he yu xiansuo 合於弦索). He Liangjun also addressed the issue of ban 板 and yan 眼 (rhythmic beats and patterns) in performance. He praised the Northern drama for its "alternation of tension and relaxation — how superb the sense of rhythm" (jin man xiang cuo, he deng jiezou 緊慢相錯，何等節奏), while criticising the Southern drama for often being "tense throughout without ever drawing back" (yi jin er bu fu shou 一緊而不復收).

The book was first printed in 1563. A supplement with 8 juan was added in the print from 1579. The most critical editions are the complete version in the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, the truncated version Siyouzhai congshuo zhaichao 四友齋叢說摘抄 (7 juan) in the series Jilu huibian 紀錄彙編 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編, the Yuan-Ming shanben congshu 元明善本叢書 version, and the modern edition in the Yuan-Ming shiliao biji congkan 元明史料筆記叢刊 from 1959 (Zhonghua Shuju 中華書局).