Xianbobian 賢博編

Xianbobian 賢博編 "Worthies and erudites" is a collection of stories compiled during the Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Ye Quan 葉權 (1522-1578), courtesy name Zhongfu 中甫, style Shanan 沙南, from Xiuning 休宁 near Huizhou 徽州, Anhui. Having repeatedly failed the state examinations, he travelled through many regions of China. Ye also compiled strategies against pirates, Pingwoce 平倭策. His collected writings are called Shanan ji 沙南集.

In 1565, he completed a book of one fascicle, compiling the many stories he had heard during his journey. The book's contents are quite wide-ranging and hold a certain historical value for the study of society, mainly in the Jiangnan 江南 region, after the mid-Ming period, including aspects such as the economy, products, military affairs, social life, foreign trade and medicine. Although the Xianbobian is brief, it is rich in content and wide-ranging in scope. It touches on popular customs, officialdom, local products, foreign goods, and military matters, filling gaps in official histories. It is regarded as one of the important representative works for studying the history of coastal defence during the high and late Ming periods.

The appendix You Lingnan ji 遊嶺南記 focuses on the Lingnan 嶺南 region, primarily the province of Guangdong. It highlights Guangzhou's 廣州 commercial prosperity and attests to the documentary reliability of Ye's notes.

A modern edition of the book was published in 1981 in the series Mingshi congkan 明史叢刊 series, reproducing a copy owned by Xie Guozhen 謝國楨, and in 1987 by the Zhonghua Shuju 中華書局.