Zuofeizhai rilu 昨非齋日錄

Zuofeizhai rilu 昨非齋日錄 "Daily notes from the Studio of Past Errors", also called Zuofeizhai rizuan 昨非庵日纂, is a collection of stories written during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Zheng Xuan 鄭瑄, courtesy name Hanfeng 漢奉, from Minxian 閩縣, Fujian. He obtained the jinshi degree in 1631 and was grand coordinator of the metropolitan province of Yingtian 應天.

The 20-juan-long book is dedicated to recording the sayings and virtuous deeds of ancient people. It is divided into twenty sections, each with a brief preface. However, its discussions are somewhat shallow, and its citations are often mixed and unsystematic. Furthermore, the book contains several stories involving karma and retribution, similar to those in popular fiction, and therefore cannot be regarded as a reliable or authoritative work.

The original compilation consisted of three collections, each of twenty fascicles—the First Collection (chuji 初集), Second Collection (erji 二集), and Third Collection (sanji 三集). The version discussed in the book catalogue Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目提要 contained only the First Collection of twenty juan. According to the additional preface by Gu Xichou 顧錫疇 (1585-1646), the First Collection had both an earlier and a later printing; the version used for the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 was evidently the earliest edition, which explains the absence of the Second and Third Collections.

There exist three different editions of the book printed during the Chongzhen reign-period 崇禎 (1628-1644) of the Ming dynasty. One version, in 30 fascicles, opens with several prefaces: by Gu Xichou (two prefaces), Yu Sixun 喻思恂 (1575-1647), Xu Zhi 許豸 (d. 1641), and Zheng Xuan. The Second Collection includes prefaces dated to 1635 by He Ruchong 何如寵 (1569-1641), Ma Mingqi 馬鳴起 (b. 1583), Chen Jiru 陳繼儒, and Hou Tongzeng 侯峒曾 (1591-1645). The Third Collection contains prefaces by Jin Lan 金蘭 (jinshi degree 1625), Chen Zilong 陳子龍 (1608-1647), Qi Biaojia 祁彪佳 (1603-1645), Xia Yunyi 夏允彝 (1596-1645), Qian Qianyi 錢謙益 (1582-1664), Xu Qian 徐汧 (1597-1645), and Li Mo 李模 (1598-1679). A copy of the first edition is currently preserved in the Library of Congress in the United States.

The second edition, in 20 fascicles, adds a preface by Xu Shiqi 徐石麒 (1577-1645) to the First Collection, and prefaces by Yu Huang 余煌 (1588-1646), Wang Yinghua 王應華 (1600-1665), and Qu Shisi 瞿式耜 (1590-1651) to the Third Collection; a copy of this edition is also owned by the Library of Congress.

The third edition, in 18 juan, contains an imperial preface written in 1645. The Second and Third Collections of this edition were printed in Fujian, and when printed, the First Collection was added to complete the set.

All editions in which the three collections were printed together include the Longwu Emperor's 隆武帝 (r. 1645-1646, see Prince of Tang 南明唐王) preface. Copies without this preface were likely those from which it was removed after the fall of the Longwu regime, or later reprints whose publishers did not dare to reproduce the preface of this Southern Ming 南明 (1644-1661) ruler.

The text is included in the series Biji xiaoshuo daguan 筆記小說大觀.