Duji 妒記

Duji 妒記 "On jealousy", also called Dufuji 妒婦記 "On jealous women", is an early collection of stories about women compiled by the Liu-Song period 劉宋 (420-479) scholar Yu Tongzhi 虞通之, who came from Yuyao 余姚, modern Zhejiang, and was a commentator to the Confucian Classic Yijing 易經 "Book of Changes". He served as gentleman attendant of the palace gate (huangmen shilang 黄門侍郎) and commandang of infantry (bubing xiaowei 步兵校尉) and has written a lot of essays and poems. His 2 juan "scrolls" long book Duji included stories about court women and criticized their envious and conniving behaviour towards each other, as opposed to the appropriate respectful and modest conduct expected in a Confucian society. The stories are narrated in a very vivid and colourful language. According to the collective biography of empresses and consorts in the official dynastic history Songshu 宋書, Yu Tongzhi compiled this book on imperial order. The original text has only survived in fragments that are included in Lu Xun's 魯迅 collection Gu xiaoshuo gouchen 古小說鉤沉.