Xiǎozì lù 小字錄
Register of Childhood Names
by 陳思 (Chén Sī, late Southern Sòng, 撰).
About the work
A late-Southern-Sòng update of Lù Guīméng’s Táng-period Xiǎomíng lù (KR3k0009) covering the xiǎozì 小字 (childhood / familiar names) of historical figures of the post-Hàn period — particularly the Wèi, Jìn, Northern and Southern Dynasties, Suí, Táng, and Sòng. Compiled by Chén Sī 陳思 (fl. 1259) of the late Southern Sòng. Each entry consists of the xiǎozì as headword, followed by a short biographical note with the figure’s adult name, zì, dynasty, and source citation — the latter typically a běnjì (basic annal) of the relevant dynastic history. The work organizes entries by category — Lìdài dìwáng (sovereigns through the dynasties), Hòufēi (consorts), then by general historical period. The work was a routine reference for late-Sòng and YuánMíng zhèngshǐ readers, since xiǎozì are systematically present in the běnjì but scattered across many juan.
Tiyao (concise)
The Xiǎozì lù in 1 juan by Chén Sī of the Sòng. Sī flourished in Bǎoyòu 1259 by his own colophon evidence; native place not clearly recorded but he was the chief Sòng cataloguer of calligraphic shūyuàn (calligraphy collections) and the author of Shū yuàn jīnghuá 書苑菁華 and Bǎozhāng dàifǎng lù 寳章待訪錄. The book is a continuation and supplement of Lù Guīméng’s Xiǎomíng lù of the Táng, extending the xiǎozì records through the Wèi, Jìn, North-South Dynasties, Suí, Táng, and Sòng. Each entry gives the xiǎozì, the figure’s adult name and zì, the dynasty, and a brief notice with source.
Abstract
The Xiǎozì lù is the standard pre-modern reference catalog of historical xiǎozì (childhood / familiar names) from the Wèi (3rd c.) through the Southern Sòng. The compiler Chén Sī 陳思 (fl. ca. 1259) was a Línān 臨安 shūpù (book-shop) proprietor and author of several important Southern-Sòng calligraphy-history works (the Shū yuàn jīnghuá 書苑菁華, Bǎozhāng dàifǎng lù 寳章待訪錄, Hàn shǐpǔ 翰史譜); his Línān shūpù was one of the principal sources of Southern-Sòng surviving shūfǎ (calligraphy) prints. He is unrelated to the early-Tang Buddhist zhìguǎn exegete Chén Sī of the same name.
The work is a methodical and useful supplement to Lù Guīméng’s earlier Xiǎomíng lù (KR3k0009), covering the post-Táng periods that Lù’s work did not reach. Each entry’s brief biographical sketch, with source citation back to the zhèngshǐ běnjì, makes the work a quick reference for cross-canonical xiǎozì identification. The work is one of the small-scale specialized lèishū preserved among the larger compendia in the Sìkù’s Lèishū lèi. The standard modern edition is the Zhōnghuá shūjú photo-reprint of the Sìkù recension.
Translations and research
- Hú Dào-jìng 胡道靜, Zhōngguó gǔdài de lèishū (Zhōng-huá, 1982), §Sòng.
No European-language translation.
Links
- Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Lèishū lèi, Xiǎozì lù entry.
- Wikidata: Q11074488.