孙棨

Sun Qi is an author about whom little is known. Three works are attributed to him, all related to Beili Zhi, including Beili Zhi itself and an edition described as a lesser-known ancient text essential for literary-minded readers; the common categories are literary appreciation and classic works. Beili Zhi is a notebook-style account of the lives of courtesans in Pingkangli, Chang'an, during the Tang dynasty, and of their interactions with scholars. It records anecdotes, institutions and customs, and poetic exchanges, and is valued both as historical source material and as literature. It is often cited in later studies of Tang urban life, the courtesan system, and literati culture. Sun Qi's style tends toward the notebook form, concise and documentary, preserving social detail. Because public information is limited, his native place, dates, and official career are unknown, but the subject matter and transmission of his work give him a place in Tang notebook literature, chiefly by providing later generations with a primary text for understanding Tang urban life and scholar-courtesan relations.