Quán Sòng Wén 全宋文
Complete Prose Writings of the Liu Song Dynasty compiled by 嚴可均 嚴可均 (編)
About the work
This file contains the Quán Sòng Wén 全宋文 section of 嚴可均’s monumental Quán shànggǔ sāndài Qín Hàn Sānguó Liùcháo wén 全上古三代秦漢三國六朝文 (KR4h0176), the comprehensive anthology of all surviving pre-Tang prose literature compiled over 1808–1836 and first printed in 1887–93. The Quán Sòng Wén covers 67 juàn of prose writings attributed to authors of the Liú Sòng 劉宋 dynasty (420–479): emperors’ edicts and rescripts, memorials, letters, administrative documents, literary essays, and Buddhist-related prefaces. The section opens with the writings of Emperor Wǔdì 武帝 (Liú Yù 劉裕, r. 420–422) and proceeds through the dynasty’s authors. Each passage is followed by a source citation identifying the primary text from which it was drawn (typically the Sòng shū 宋書, the Nán shǐ 南史, Yìwén lèijù 藝文類聚, Tàipíng yùlǎn 太平御覽, and similar encyclopedias and annals).
In the Kanripo corpus, KR4h0176 preserves the early chapters of the anthology (from high antiquity through the Later Han), while separate files cover the individual Six Dynasties sections: this file for Liu Song, KR4h0173 for Southern Qi, KR4h0180 for Liang, KR4h0181 for Chen, KR4h0182 for Northern Wei, KR4h0174 for Eastern Wei and Northern Qi, and KR4h0175 for Northern Zhou; KR4h0178 covers Three Kingdoms and KR4h0179 covers Jin.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source. The Quán shànggǔ sāndài Qín Hàn Sānguó Liùcháo wén was compiled after the completion of the Sìkù quánshū 四庫全書 and was not included in that imperial library; no Siku tiyao exists for it.
Abstract
The Quán shànggǔ sāndài Qín Hàn Sānguó Liùcháo wén was compiled by Yán Kějūn 嚴可均 (1762–1843), who began work in 1808 after being excluded from the imperially-sponsored Quán Táng wén 全唐文 project. Over twenty-seven years he assembled 746 juàn of pre-Tang prose attributed to 3,497 writers, drawing on earlier similar collections (notably Méi Dǐngzuò’s 梅鼎祚 Wénjì 文紀) as well as encyclopedias, official histories, Buddhist canon, Daoist canon, and epigraphic sources. The work was completed in 1836 and printed posthumously by the Guǎngyǎ Shūjú 廣雅書局 in 1887–93; a reduced-format reprint with added punctuation was issued by Zhōnghuá Shūjú 中華書局 in 1958 (4 vols.), and a newly typeset and punctuated edition in 10 volumes appeared from Héběi Jiàoyù 河北教育 in 1997.
The Quán Sòng Wén section (67 juàn) represents one of the largest dynasty-specific units in the anthology. The Liú Sòng (420–479) was the first of the Southern Dynasties and produced a rich literary output, including the prose of major writers such as Xiè Líng-yùn 謝靈運, Fàn Yè 范曄, Liú Yì-qìng 劉義慶, and Yán Yánzhī 顏延之. Yán Kějūn harvested their surviving pieces from official histories, literary encyclopedias, Buddhist collections, and miscellaneous records; each extracted passage is accompanied by a citation indicating its source. Textual notes and cross-references are incorporated inline.
Translations and research
- Wilkinson, Endymion. Chinese History: A New Manual. §30.3.2. Harvard University Asia Center, 4th ed., 2015. Standard orientation.
- Qián Zhōngshū 錢鐘書. Guǎnzhuībiān 管錐編. 4 vols. Zhōnghuá, 1979. Vols. 3–4 contain 277 entries noting and correcting errors in the Quán shànggǔ sāndài Qín Hàn Sānguó Liùcháo wén.
- Quán shànggǔ sāndài Qín Hàn Sānguó Liùcháo wén piānmíng mùlù jí zuòzhě suǒyǐn 全上古三代秦漢三國六朝文篇名目錄及作者索引. Zhōnghuá, 1965.