A Sea of Tales, Ancient and Modern

(Your servant) et al. respectfully note: The Gujin Shuohai in one hundred thirty-nine juan was compiled by Lu Ji of the Ming. Ji, courtesy name Siyu, was a native of Shanghai and the son of Shen, who was posthumously granted the title Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. This compilation records fiction from earlier ages down to the Ming, divided into four sections and seven schools. The first is Shuoxuan, containing the two schools of minor records and partial accounts; the second is Shuoyuan, containing the school of separate traditions; the third is Shuolüe, containing the school of miscellaneous notes; the fourth is Shuozuan, containing the three schools of lost matters, scattered records, and miscellaneous compilations. It collects one hundred thirty-two titles in all. Each title forms its own fascicle, though there is some abridgment and division, and ancient books are split up and assigned to categories. This practice began with the Huanglan of Miao Xi and Huang Xiang of Wei; those surviving today, from the Xiuwendian Yulan onward, all follow its example. The practice of gathering various schools, extracting and preserving the essentials, while still not disturbing their original order, began with the Zichao of Yu Zhongrong of Liang; those surviving today, from Ma Zong's Yilin of Tang onward, all follow its example. Ji's book was made in the jiachen year of the Jiajing reign. Although the various books it contains are not as numerous as those in Zeng Zao's Leishuo, which includes many works unseen by people today, nor as rich and comprehensive in gathering as Tao Zongyi's Shuofu, which covers both great and small, yet for each book it cuts away superfluous text while still preserving the beginning and end, so that compared with those two works it is more detailed and complete. Compared with one another, each has its strengths, and their efforts in collection cannot be denied.