Complete Prose of the Liang

Yan KejunQunyan Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

4.2

Word count: 601K words
Chapters: 75

Summary

Compiled by Yan Kejun of the Qing dynasty, The Complete Prose of High Antiquity, the Three Dynasties, Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms, and the Six Dynasties is divided into fifteen collections: The Complete Prose of High Antiquity and the Three Dynasties, The Complete Prose of Qin, The Complete Prose of Han, The Complete Prose of Later Han, The Complete Prose of the Three Kingdoms, The Complete Prose of Jin, The Complete Prose of Song, The Complete Prose of Qi, The Complete Prose of Liang, The Complete Prose of Chen, The Complete Prose of Later Wei, The Complete Prose of Northern Qi, The Complete Prose of Later Zhou, The Complete Prose of Sui, and The Complete Prose of Pre-Tang. It includes 3,497 authors (or 3,520, according to another count) who lived before the Tang, each with a short biography. It is the most comprehensive general collection of pre-Tang prose to date and the literary anthology of ancient Chinese literature with the longest chronological span; it is of great scholarly value for the study of pre-Tang history, literature, religion, language, and more.

Editor's review

The Complete Prose of Liang is the collection of Liang-dynasty prose within Yan Kejun's The Complete Prose of High Antiquity, the Three Dynasties, Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms, and the Six Dynasties, presented separately in a 2024 standalone edition from Qunyan Press. Literary activity flourished under the Liang, and the writings of Shen Yue, Ren Fang, Xiao Tong, Xiao Gang, Xiao Yi, and the monk Daoxuan are scattered across histories, encyclopedias, and Buddhist texts. This volume gathers them extensively, notes the source of each piece, and supplies a short biography for each author. It is an important resource for examining the evolution of Southern Dynasties parallel prose, Buddhist controversies, bibliographic prefaces and colophons, and public and private documents. Its strength lies in broad inclusion and easy retrieval by author or category; its weakness is that it follows the old compilation's format, with relatively brief collation and commentary, so the original sources should be checked. It is suitable as a foundational text for research on Southern Dynasties literature and history, not as a popular anthology.

Who it's for

A good fit for

University teachers and students researching Southern Dynasties literature, parallel prose, and literary theory
Historians studying Liang Buddhism, bibliography, and institutional documents
Classical-text enthusiasts seeking lost writings by Shen Yue, Xiao Tong, and others
Libraries and Chinese department reference collections as a general anthology of pre-Tang prose

Not a good fit for

Beginners expecting vernacular annotations and appreciation of famous pieces
Readers who want only famous selections from the Wen xuan and do not consult compiled lost texts
General classical Chinese readers seeking a fully collated and annotated popular edition

Reading tips

Begin with the general table of contents and author biographies, identifying core authors such as Shen Yue, Ren Fang, and Xiao Tong.
Search by genre for edicts, memorials, letters, prefaces, and polemics, focusing on Liang parallel prose and Buddhist debate.
Read the collected pieces against the Book of Liang, History of the Southern Dynasties, and Hongming ji to verify sources and variant readings.
When making topical notes, record volume, title, and compilation source for each item to facilitate citation.

About the publisher

Qunyan Publishing House China · Founded in 1989

Founded in 1989, Qunyan Publishing House has long been committed to publishing academic and educational books for mid- and high-level readers, and has built up a certain presence in Eastern philosophy, classical literature, and classic works. Representative titles available in the database include Records of the Grand Historian, Dream of the Red Chamber, Selections of Refined Literature, Complete Song Ci, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, Record of Daily Knowledge, Taiping Huimin Hejiju Fang, and The Collected Works of Wang Yangming, covering common categories such as ancient poetry, medicine, and examinations. Its author resources include Sima Qian, Cao Xueqin, Xiao Tong, Li Shan, Pu Songling, and Gu Yanwu. The press also offers distinctive series such as the Biographical Series of the China Democratic League and the Historical Documents Series of the China Democratic League, and publishes research on historical documents, biographies, memoirs, and textbooks and academic works by League members. Public information is limited, and its overall publishing scale and complete catalogue require further verification.

版权信息
●卷一
●卷二
●卷三
●卷四
●卷五
●卷六
●卷七
●卷八
●卷九
●卷十
●卷十一
●卷十二
●卷十三
●卷十四
●卷十五
●卷十六
●卷十七
●卷十八
●卷十九
●卷二十
●卷二十一
●卷二十二
●卷二十三
●卷二十四
●卷二十五
●卷二十六
●卷二十七
●卷二十八
●卷二十九
●卷三十
●卷三十一
●卷三十二
●卷三十三
●卷三十四
●卷三十五
●卷三十六
●卷三十七
●卷三十八
●卷三十九
●卷四十
●卷四十一
●卷四十二
●卷四十三
●卷四十四
●卷四十五
●卷四十六
●卷四十七
●卷四十八
●卷四十九
●卷五十
●卷五十一
●卷五十二
●卷五十三
●卷五十四
●卷五十五
●卷五十六
●卷五十七
●卷五十八
●卷五十九
●卷六十
●卷六十一
●卷六十二
●卷六十三
●卷六十四
●卷六十五
●卷六十六
●卷六十七
●卷六十八
●卷六十九
●卷七十
●卷七十一
●卷七十二
●卷七十三
●卷七十四

FAQ

What is the difference between The Complete Prose of Liang and the Wen xuan?

The Wen xuan is a literary anthology compiled under Xiao Tong's direction, emphasizing famous masterpieces; The Complete Prose of Liang is Yan Kejun's comprehensive collection of Liang prose, aiming to gather all manner of scattered writings such as edicts, memorials, letters, prefaces, and epitaphs. Its scope is broader, but its collation and literary selection are less refined than those of an anthology. The two can be used together.

Are sources noted for all pieces in the book?

Yan Kejun generally noted the histories, encyclopedias, or Buddhist texts from which he drew, and this book follows that format. However, the detail of source notes varies by piece, and some reconstructed texts still require checking against originals. When citing, it is advisable to retain volume and source information and to compare with relevant histories and anthologies.

How can readers without a Chinese major use this book?

They may first familiarize themselves with famous Liang pieces through Southern Dynasties anthologies or the Wen xuan, then consult this book by specific figure or topic, for example by looking up a particular author's letters, prefaces, or Buddhist polemics. Read alongside reference works and modern scholarship; there is no need to read it straight through, and consulting it as needed is more practical.

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About the author

Yan Kejun Author · China · 1762–1843

Yan Kejun (1762–1843), courtesy name Jingwen and art name Tieqiao, was a native of Wucheng in Zhejiang (present-day Huzhou). He was a Qing-dynasty philologist, textual scholar, and bibliophile. A provincial graduate of 1800, he served as an education official in Jiande. He devoted himself to the study of the Shuowen and to collating the stone classics, and his scholarship was distinguished by solid textual criticism. His most notable achievement was single-handedly compiling the Complete Prose of High Antiquity, the Three Dynasties, Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms, and Six Dynasties, which includes more than three thousand authors with brief biographies and has contributed greatly to preserving pre-Tang texts. The collection here contains 86 of his works, including the collected writings of Sima Tan and Sima Qian, Sima Xiangru, Dong Zhongshu, Ruan Ji, Ji Kang, and Emperor Wu of Wei, as well as the Complete Prose of High Antiquity and the Three Dynasties and the Complete Later Han Prose. These works span classical texts, Eastern philosophy, literary appreciation, and biography, reflecting his systematic organization and preservation of pre-Qin through Six Dynasties literature and providing an important foundation for later study of pre-Tang history, thought, and literature.