Yuzhitang tanhui 玉芝堂談薈

Yuzhitang tanhui 玉芝堂談薈 is a book written during the late Ming period by Xu Yingchun徐應秋 (jinshi degree 1616), courtesy name Junyi 君義, style Yunlin 雲林, from Quzhou 衢州, Zhejiang. He was 福建左布政使 and wrote the book Pianzi pingxiao 駢字憑霄. The book consists of 36 juan and critically analyses sources mainly of historiographical content. Due to the author‘s interest in the unusual and peculiar, it inevitably covers some trivial matters, resulting in a rather extensive work. The structure follows a format where a chapter titles are established as the framework (gang 綱), with references to various books to support the content. Most of the material is drawn from miscellaneous stories and notes, with a primary focus on detailed knowledge of lesser-known subjects. The book includes many anecdotes, old stories, examinations of historical events, and corrections of names and objects, showcasing its extensive research. It can thus make up for the excess of trivial details. The text is found in the series Biji xiaoshuo daguan 筆記小說大觀, Siku quanshu 四庫全書.