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Da-Tang xinyu 大唐新語

Sep 2, 2012 © Ulrich Theobald

Da-Tang xinyu 大唐新語 "New Stories from the Great Tang", occasionally called Tangxinyu 唐新語 is a collection of stories compiled during the Tang period 唐 (618-907) by Liu Su 劉肅 (fl. 807), about whom practically nothing is known.

The 13-juan-long Da-Tang xinyu imitates the structure of the novella collection Shishuo xinyu 世說新語 and is divided into 30 chapters, with persons classified according to categories of morality, character, and conduct. All individuals described lived between the founding of the Tang and the Dali reign-period 大曆 (766-779). The stories revolve around politics and questions of propriety and education. The book includes a preface and a general discussion (Zonglun 總論) in which the author states that he compiled the work to serve as a mirror of the past for his contemporaries. It contains numerous quotations from poems and literary critiques, making it an essential source for the history of Tang poetry.

The earliest printed version from the Ming period (1368-1644) bears the title Tang shishuo xinyu 唐世說新語.

The Tangxinyu can be found in series such as Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Baihai 稗海, Biji xiaoshuo daguan 筆記小說大觀, Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編, Shuofu 說郛, Tangren shuohui 唐人說薈 and Tangdai congshu 唐代叢書. In 1984, the Zhonghua Shuju Press 中華書局 published a modern edition with annotations by Xu Denan 許德楠 and Li Dingxia 李鼎霞.

Source:
Li Xueqin 李學勤, abd Lü Wenyu 呂文郁, eds. 1996. Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典 vol. 2, 2138. Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe.