Wuchao xiaoshuo daguan 五朝小說大觀

Wuchao xiaoshuo 五朝小説 "Stories from Five Dynasties" was a series of collectanea (congshu 叢書) specialized on early novellas that was compiled during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644). The compiler of the collection is unknown, and it is not mentioned in Ming- or Qing 清 (1644-1911)-period bibliographies.

The compilers of the series index Congshu zonglu 叢書綜錄 reconstructed the collection according to texts included in the Shuofu 說郛 (重編本) and Xu shuofu 續說郛 and gave this collection the title Wuchao xiaoshuo 五朝小小説. Yet the problem is that there are the 120-juan edition of the Shuofu compiled by Tao Ting 陶珽 (jinshi degree 1610) was published in 1647, but the Wuchao xiaoshuo before that date. In 1926 therefore the Saoye Shanfang Studio 掃葉山房 in Shanghai published an enlarged version with the title Wuchao xiaoshuo daguan 五朝小郛大觀. In 1991 the Shanghai Wenyi Press 上海文藝出版社 reprinted this lithographic edition, but only the part of the section of Wei- 魏 (220-265) and Jin- 晉 (265-420) period texts. None of these editions mentions the name of a collector, yet Huang Lin 黄霖 and Han Tongwen 韓同文 are of the opinion that the compiler was the famous late Ming-period novellist Feng Menglong 馮夢龍 (1574-1646), but they have no evidence for this assumption.

The Wudai xiaoshuo (daguan) assembles many hundred short stories an novellas from the Three Empires 三國 (220-280) to the Ming period. Many of these stories belong to the genre of phantasmic stories (zhiguai 志怪, chuanqi 傳奇), others to the genre of biography. The collection is divided into four parts, covering the Wei and Jin periods, the Tang 唐 (618-907), Song 宋 (960-1279), and Ming periods. These five dynasties gave the collection its name. It is one of the largest collections of early Chinese stories.

Not all of these were published separately but were chapters of books, and in some cases the title of the story or even the name of the author was changed. The story Xiwangmu zhuan 西王母傳 by Huan Lin 桓嶙, for instance, is part of Du Guangting's 杜光庭 (850-933) book Yongcheng jixian lu 墉城集仙錄, and Zhao Ye's 趙曄 Chuwang zhujian ji 楚王鑄劍記 comes from Gan Bao's 干寳 (286-336) famous Soushenji 搜神記. The story Ermuji 耳目記 by Zhang Zhuo 張鷟 (658-730) is a chapter of his book Chaoye qianzai 朝野僉載, and the biography collection Jianxiazhuan 劍俠傳 by Duan Chengshi 段成式 (c. 803-863) is part of his Youyang zazu 酉陽雜俎. The story Mokunlun zhuan 墨昆侖傳 by Feng Yansi 馮延巳 (903-960) is in fact to be found in Liu Chongyuan's 劉崇遠 Ermuji 耳目記. Similarly, Song Ruozhao's 宋若昭 (761-828) Niu Yingzhen zhuan 牛應貞傳 is part of Niu Su's 牛肅 (fl. 804) collection Jiwen 紀聞, and Yang Juyuan's 楊巨源 (c. 755-?) Hongxianzhuan 紅線傳 part of Yuan Jiao's 袁郊 Ganzeyao 甘澤謠.