Qixieji 齊諧記

Qixieji 齊諧記 "On universal harmony" is an early collection of stories compiled by the Liu-Song period 劉宋 (420-479) scholar Dongyang Wuyi 東陽無疑 who was gentleman cavalier attendant (sanji shilang 散騎骑侍郎). The book was originally 7 juan "scrolls" long. The title is already mentioned at the beginning of the Daoist book Zhuangzi 莊子 where it is said that the Qixieji is a "record of marvels" (zhi guai zhe 志怪者). The book accordingly includes stories of strange or supernatural events and is an early example of a whole genre of novellas that came into being during the Southern dynasties period 南朝 (420~589). The greatest part of the stories is related to Buddhist belief or superstition, in which Buddhism is mainly seen as a religion of healers, like it was the case in contemporary Daoism. In some stories the force of deities is also doubted, like in the narration of the temple on Mt. Guobu 國步山. The book was already lost during the Tang period 唐 (618-907) and has only survived in fragments collected by the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) scholar Ma Guohan 馬國翰 in his reprint series Yuhan shanfang jiyi shu 玉函山房輯佚書. The Qixieji is also to be found in Lu Xun's 魯迅 collection Gu xiaoshuo gouchen 古小說鉤沉.