Yunshizhai bitan 韻石齋筆談

Yunshizhai bitan 韻石齋筆談 is a“brush-notes”-style book (biji 筆記) written during the early Qing period by Jiang Shaoshu姜紹書 (died c. 1680), who is also known for his art book Wusheng shishi 無聲詩史. The books is divided into two fascicles, with a total number of 58 small chapters. It records observations on ancient artifacts, calligraphy, paintings, and curiosities, offering analyses of their merits and faults, comparisons of similarities and differences, and assessments of authenticity, all accompanied by discussions and commentary. The author quotes from older texts like 裕閣藏書, the 永樂大典 and stories about eminent persons. The second juan contains miscellaneous discussions for instance, on music, white rabbits, sand pheasants, and the jade belts worn by civil officials. These entries vary in relevance to the themes of the first part oft he book and seem to be casual notes recorded at will. The structure of this book models Zhou Mi‘s 周密 Yunyan Guoyan Lu 雲煙過眼錄, but whereas Zhou’s book focuses on collectors, Jiang’s book is based on the objects themselves. Jiang gives detailed accounts of the condition of the objects and the history of their acquisition and transfer among collectors. The Tiancheng Taiji map天成太極圖, for instance, was found by chance on a round stone, with black and white alternating structures in the area symbolising the taiji. This contradicts Zhu Xi's claim that the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) was formless. The Yanling Cross Stele 延陵十字碑 gives evidence disproving the claim that Confucius never visited the region of Wu. The book also discusses the Huangshi Wenwang Ding 黃石文王鼎 attached to antiquarian illustrations in the 博古圖; the jades seal found in 1624 was not dating from the Qin dynasty, and the Hezhuang Chunhua Tie 河莊淳化帖 as not being a copy from Wang Zhu 王著, but rather a reprint from the Song dynasty. The book’s arguments are well-supported with evidence and can be referenced for research. The text is part of the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Zhibuzuzhai congshu 知不足齋叢書, Xiaoyan congshu 嘯園叢書, Changzhou xianzhe yishu 常州先哲遺書, Gujin wenyi congshu 古今文藝叢書, Congshu jicheng 叢書集成初編, Meishu congshu 美術叢書 and Biji xiaoshuo daguan 筆記小說大觀.