Xiaoxue leibian 小學類編

Xiaoxue leibian 小學類編 "Categorized Compilation on Lesser Learning" is a series of collectanea (congshu 叢書) specialized on ancient lexicography. It includes 6 texts with a total length of 36 juan, and an appendix. The collection was compiled by the late Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) scholar Li Zuwang 李祖望 (1814-1881), courtesy name Binyu 賓嵎. He hailed from Jiangdu 江都 (modern Yangzhou 揚州, Jiangsu) and was a poet and specialist on philological studies (characters and phonetics). He wrote the books Guyun pangzheng 古韻旁證, Shuowen chongkao 說文重考 and Shuowen tongxi biao 說文統系表.

The Xiaoxue leibian was compiled under the influence of a new wave of studies to the Han-period 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) character dictionary Shuowen jiezi 說文解字 by Xu Shen 許慎 (c. 58-c. 147). Hui Dong's 惠棟 (1697-1758) Du Shuowen ji 讀說文記 is a detailed critical study of the Shuowen jiezi, and Qian Daxin's 錢大昕 (1728-1804) Shuowen dawen 說文答問 is an equally high-quality study. Jiang Sheng 江聲 (1721-1799), a disciple of Hui Dong, has written a study on the six writing styles, the Liushushuo 六書說. Jiang Yuan 江沅, a disciple of Duan Yucai 段玉裁 (1735-1815), was a specialist for phonetics and the seal script.The Xiaoxue leibian includes his book Shuowen shilie 說文釋例.

The text Shuowen jingzi kao 說文經字考 was authored by Chen Shouqi 陳壽祺 (1771-1834), a specialist on phonetics, and adds to Bi Yuan's 畢沅 (1730-1797) study Shuowen jiezi jiuyin 說文解字舊音, which unfortunately suffers from the incorporation of many popular character variants (suzi 俗字) that Bi Yuan took for correct forms. The Xiaoxue leibian includes also a list of contents of Ren Dachun's 任大椿 (1738-1789) two series Xiaoxue gouchen 小學鉤沉 and Zilin kaoyi 字林考逸.

The Xiaoxue leibian is an important contribution to the study of Chinese characters.