ChinaKnowledge.de -
An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History and Literature

Jiang-Huai yiren lu 江淮異人錄

Apr 17, 2026 © Ulrich Theobald

Jiang-Huai yiren lu 江淮異人錄 "Unusual figures from the Jiang-Huai region" is a collection of fictional stories of the chuanqi 傳奇 genre compiled during the Northern Song period 北宋 (960-1126) by Wu Shu 吳淑 (947-1002), courtesy name Zhengyi 正儀, from Danyang 丹陽 (today part of Zhenjiang 鎮江, Jiangsu). Wu initially served as household administrator (neishi 內史) under the Southern Tang dynasty 南唐 (937-975), and then as imperial diarist (qiju sheren 起居舍人) under Emperor Taizong 宋太宗 (r. 976-997) of the Song dynasty. He was later Vice Director of the Bureau of Operations (zhifang yuanwailang 職方員外郎) and participated in the compilation of the grand encyclopaedias Taiping yulan 太平御覽 and Taiping guangji 太平廣記, the anthology Wenyuan yinghua 文苑英華, and the veritable records Taizong shilu 太宗實錄. He compiled the encyclopaedia Shileifu 事類賦.

Most of the figures in the book are magicians (shushi 術士), wandering knights (xiake 俠客), and Daoist practitioners (daoliu 道流). Two stories depict people from the great Tang period 唐 (618-907), while twenty-three concern figures from the Southern Tang empire. Their behaviour is depicted as strange and eccentric, yet they are also righteous and chivalrous figures, appearing and disappearing with an almost supernatural unpredictability.

Works about "extraordinary people" (yiren 異人) already existed in Tang tales, but Wu's book entirely focuses on unusual individuals and strange events, exerting a certain influence on the later development of fiction about flying immortals (feixian 飛仙) and sword-fighters (jianxia 劍俠). Among its stories, Hongzhou shusheng 洪州書生 "The scholar of Hongzhou", Pan Yi 潘扆, Geng Xiansheng 耿先生 "Master Geng", Nie Shidao 聶師道, and Sima Jiao 司馬郊 are particularly well written. The story of Master Geng also appears in the Southern Tang histories Nantangshu 南唐書 by Ma Ling 馬令 (fl. 1105) and Lu You 陸游 (1125-1210).

The original text is lost, but parts could be retrieved from the Ming-period encyclopaedia Yongle dadian 永樂大典. The text is included in the series Zhibuzuzhai congshu 知不足齋叢書, Longwei mishu 龍威秘書, Hanhai 函海, Siku quanshu 四庫全書, the Daoist Canon Daozang 道藏, the Shuofu 說郛, Yiyuan jinghua 藝苑精華, Gujin shuobu congshu 古今說部叢書 and Guang sishijia xiaoshuo 廣四十家小說.

Sources:
Lao Hong 勞洪. 1986. "Jiang-Huai yiren lu 江淮異人錄." In Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, part Zhongguo wenxue 中國文學, vol. 1, 303. Beijing and Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe.
Li Xueqin 李學勤, and Lü Wenyu 呂文郁, eds. 1996. Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典, vol. 2, 2142. Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe.
Liu Hongjing 劉洪婧. 2015. "Jiang-Huai yiren lu banben yuanliu kao 《江淮異人錄》版本源流考." Jiujiang Xueyuan xuebao (Shehui kexue ban) 九江學院學報(社會科學版) 34 (3): 33-36.
Wu Feng 吳楓, ed. 1994. Zhonghua gu wenxian da cidian 中華古文獻大辭典, vol. Wenxue 文學卷, 259. Changchun: Jilin wenshi chubanshe.
Zheng Yunbo 鄭雲波, ed. 1992. Zhongguo gudai xiaoshuo cidian 中國古代小說辭典, 392. Nanjing: Nanjing daxue chubanshe.
Zhu Yueli 朱越利. 1996. Daozang fenlie jieti 道藏分類解題, 213. Beijing: Huaxia chubanshe.