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Songwenxuan 宋文選

Aug 23, 2011 © Ulrich Theobald

Songwenxuan 宋文選 "Selected writings of the Song period" is a collection of writings from the Northern Song period 北宋 (960-1126) compiled by an unknown person during the time. The collection includes all different genres arranged chronologically, yet from the writings of Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007-1072) on, only Confucian and political essays are included.

The Songwenxuan does not contain a single writings of Su Xun 蘇洵 (1009-1066) and his sons Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037-1101) and Su Zhe 蘇轍 (1039-1112), a circumstance which can give a hint at the date of compilation, that must have taken place during the time when the writings of the Three Sus 三蘇 were banned for political reasons, but not those of Huang Tingjian 黃庭堅 (1045-1105) or Zhang Lei 張耒 (1054-1114). Writings of the two brothers Cheng Hao 程顥 (1032-1085) and Cheng Yi 程頤 (1033-1107) are also not included.

The book of 32 juan length is not as rich and important as the Songwenjian 宋文鑒 of Lü Zuqian 呂祖謙 (1137-1181), but it includes a lot of writings that have otherwise not survived. It was therefore included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書.

Table 1. Contents of the Songwenxuan 宋文選
1.-2. 歐陽修 Ouyang Xiu
3.-5. 司馬光 Sima Guang
6. 范仲淹 Fan Zhongyan
7. 王禹偁 Wang Yucheng
8.-9. 孫明復 Sun Mingfu
10.-11. 王安石 Wang Anshi
12. 余元度 Yu Yuandu
13.-14. 曾鞏 Zeng Gong
15.-17. 石介 Shi Jie
18.-22. 李邦直 Li Bangzhi
23. 唐庚 Tang Geng
24.-30. 張耒 Zhang Lei
31. 黃庭堅 Huang Tinggui
32. 陳瑩中 Chen Yingzhong
Sources:
Li Peiwen 李培文 (2020). "Sheng-Song wenxuan quanji kaoshu 《圣宋文选全集》考述", Guji zhengli yanjiu xuekan 古籍整理研究学刊, 2020 (2): 1-4.
Li Xueqin 李學勤, Lü Wenyu 呂文鬰, eds. (1996). Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典 (Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe), Vol. 2, 2793.
Lin Fei 林非, ed. (1997). Zhongguo sanwen da cidian 中國散文大辭典 (Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe), 196.