Buli ketan 步里客談

Buli ketan 步里客談 "Conversations with my guests in Pace Hamlet" is a collection of stories compiled during the Song period 宋 (960-1279) by Chen Changfang 陳長方 (1108–1148), courtesy name Qizhi 齊之, style Weishi 唯室, a native of Houguan 侯官 (present-day Fuzhou 福州 in Fujian). In 1138, he passed the jinshi examination and later served as educational instructor (xue jiaoshou 學教授) at the Jiangyin County School 江陰. His collected writings are known as Weishi ji 唯室集.

After his father passed away, Chen Changfang lived with his mother in the home of his maternal grandfather, Lin Dan 林旦, who held the office of Chamberlain of the Court of Imperial Stud (taipusi qing 太僕寺卿). As Lin Dan's residence was in Buli, the book takes its name from this place.

The work mainly records the words, deeds, and anecdotal accounts of famous ministers from the Jiayou reign-period 嘉祐 (1056-1063) onwards. In particular, it provides relatively detailed accounts of court affairs during the Xining 熙寧 (1068-1077) and Yuanfeng 元豐 (1078-1085) periods under Emperor Shenzong 宋神宗 (r. 1067-1085), including distinctions between loyal and treacherous figures and between right and wrong in political matters—materials that may serve as useful references for researchers of Song history. It also occasionally includes discussions of poetry and miscellaneous anecdotes.

The original text was lost, but 58 stories were reconstructed from quotations in the Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) encyclopaedia Yongle dadian 永樂大典, resulting in a 2-juan-long book. The text is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Mohai jinhu 墨海金壺 and Shoushange congshu 守山閣叢書.