Gaozhai manlu 高齋漫錄

Gaozhai manlu 高齋漫錄 "Casual records from Lofty Studio", with a length of one juan, is a collection of stories written during the Song period 宋 (960-1279) by Zeng Zao 曾慥 (early 12th cent.), who was also the compiler of the collection Leishuo 類說.

The book is rich in content and demonstrates broad learning and extensive knowledge. Its records range from court institutions and official regulations at the highest level to the words, conduct, and deeds of scholar-officials. It also includes literary criticism, discussions of poetry, and humorous anecdotes, satire, and ridicule. Whatever the author saw or heard was recorded.

Although the citations are diverse and sometimes miscellaneous, occasionally trivial or fragmentary, most of the material is valuable as a reference. Some of the historical details it preserves can supplement what is lacking or insufficiently recorded in official histories and treatises. According to the book catalogue Zhizhai shulu jieti 直齋書錄解題, the Gaozhai manlu originally comprised two fascicles, but the original text has since been lost.

Cao Rong 曹溶 (1613-1685) later included portions of it in his series Xuehai leibian 學海類編, but this selection amounts to only five pages and omits much. The version in the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 was reconstructed from quotations in the Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) encyclopaedia Yongle dadian 永樂大典 and other sources. The text also appears in the series Gujin shuohai 古今說海, Lidai xiaoshi 歷代小史, Mohai jinhu 墨海金壺, Shoushange congshu 守山閣叢書, Shuoku 說庫 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編.