Zaolin zazu 棗林雜俎

Zaolin zazu 棗林雜俎 "Miscellaneous jottings in jujube grove" written during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Tan Qian 談遷 (1593-1657), original name Yixun 以訓, courtesy name Guanruo 觀若, from Haijing 海寧, Zhejiang. After the downfall of the Ming, he renamed himself Qian, courtesy name Rumu 孺木. He is also the author of the history book Guoque 國榷 and the travel report Beiyoulu 北游錄. His collected poems are called Caolin ji 棗林集.

The Zaolin zazu is divided into twelve categories, mainly capturing anecdotes from the Ming period. The categories include: Official documents (Kedu 科牘), arts and crafts (Yikui 藝簣), famous sites (Mingsheng 名勝), utensils (Qiyong 器用), honours and appointments (Rongzhi 榮植), health and conduct (Yidong 頤動), the netherworld (Youming 幽冥), miscellaneous tracts (Congzhui 叢贅), red brush (Tongguan 彤管), emptiness and origin (Kongyuan 空元), insightful reflections (Jiongjian 炯鑒), and calendrical observations (Weihou 緯候). Much of the content is quoted from other texts, and the language is fragmented, verbose, and diffuse, lacking clear organisation. It sometimes presents events in reversed order and often contradicts facts. Many sections are rambling and poorly structured, reflecting a work that remains unfinished.

A modern print of the text was published in 1911 in the series Zhangshi Shiyuan congshu chuji 張氏適園叢書初集. It is also found in the series Biji xiaoshuo daguan 筆記小說大觀.