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Yiwen zonglu 異聞總錄

Oct 5, 2025 © Ulrich Theobald

Yiwen zonglu 異聞總錄 "Comprehensive records of strange tales" is a collection of stories compiled during the Yuan period 元 (1279-1368) by an unknown person. The time can be guessed from a phrase in the story Lin Kexing 林行可, where the date 1297 is indicated. The descriptive bibliography Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目提要 says the book of 4 juan was "cobbled together" by taking stories from other books like the Yijianzhi 夷堅志, sometimes changing the original wording.

Among the entries is one about a courtesan named Yi Jue 儀玨, said to be have hailed from Poyang 鄱陽. Given brush and paper, she immediately composed a lyric, praising "Poyang's heroic spirit that produced the Three Xiu", which is a reference to Hong Mai 洪邁 (1123-1202), Hong Shi 洪適 (1117-1184), and Hong Zun 洪遵 (1120-1174).

A Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) print of the text is preserved in the series Baihai 稗海, Biji xiaoshuo daguan 筆記小說大觀 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編.

Source:
Zheng Yunbo 鄭雲波, ed. 1992. Zhongguo gudai xiaoshuo cidian 中國古代小說辭典, 443. Nanjing: Nanjing daxue chubanshe.