Han-Wei congshu 漢魏叢書

Han-Wei congshu 漢魏叢書

Han-Wei congshu 漢魏叢書 "A series of collectanea of Han- and Wei-period writings" is a series of collectanea (congshu 叢書) including 38 books with a total length of 250 juan. It was compiled by the Ming-period　明 (1368-1644) scholar Cheng Rong 程榮, who lived during the Wanli reign-period　萬曆 (1573-1619) and hailed from Xin'an 新安 (modern Chun'an 淳安, Zhejiang). According to some sources, there was a series with the same title compiled by the Ming-period scholar He Tang 何鏜 (1507-1585), but nothing is known about the remains of such a collection.

Far the largest amount of books included in the Han-Wei congshu originated in the Han period 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE), and only a small number from the Wei period 曹魏 (220-265). According to the preface to the series which was written by Tu Long 屠隆 (1543-1605), Han-period writings were deeply influenced by that of the times before, namely the Qin period 秦 (221-206 BC) (Tu Long is probably speaking of the pre-Qin period), while writings from the short Wei period can in the respect of style and thought be attributed to the Six Dynasties 六朝 (222~589) writings.

The Han-Wei congshu includes some rare books from the Han period, like Master Gan's 甘公 Gan-Shi xingjing 甘石星經.

The oldest printed edition of Cheng Rong's collection survives as a facsimile from 1925, published by the Shanghai Shanghu Yinshu Press 上海商務印書館 and a facsimile edition from 1992 by the Jilin University Press 吉林大學出版社.

Guang Han-Wei congshu 廣漢魏叢書 and Zengding Han-Wei congshu 增訂漢魏叢書

There is a supplement called Guang Han-Wei congshu 廣漢魏叢書, compiled by the Ming-period collector He Yunzhong 何允中 (jinshi degree 1622) including 80 books, and a further supplement called Zengding Han-Wei congshu 增訂漢魏叢書 compiled by the Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) collector Wang Mo 王謨 (c. 1731-1817), the Zengding Han-Wei congshu including 96 books.

Because both supplements not only include additional texts (in the tables below marked with x), but also the 38 books of Cheng Rong's original version, they are sometimes also called Han-Wei congshu, which leads to the confusing situation that there are three different versions of the collection.

The first version of the Guang Han-Wei congshu included 76 books, but was in a second edition enlarged by four titles. The problem of this series is that it included a lot of titles that can not with certainty attributed to Han or Wei period authors. It was first printed in 1592 and then again during the Jiaqing reign-period 嘉慶 (1796-1820) of the Qing.

Wang Mo's version was compiled as an edition emending the errors included in He Yunzhong's supplement. It includes several books originally part of the series Tang-Song congshu 唐宋叢書 that are only commentaries to Han- or Wei-period books. It is enriched by postfaces to each particular book, explaining its history as told in the encyclopaedia Wenxian tongkao 文獻通考. Yet the problem is that the basic editions (banben 版本) Wang Mo used for his series were not of superior quality. It was first printed in 1791 and a year later in a second edition. In 1876 it was reprinted by the Hongxing Shanfang Studio 紅杏山房 (facsimile edition in 1915) and 1880 by the Sanyu Studio 三余堂 (facsimile print 1911).