Expanded on Animals and Plants, Part Two

Duan ChengshiJinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) · ChinaJul 2024

4.0

Word count: 4K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Duan Chengshi (803–863), courtesy name Kegu, was a native of Dongmu in the late Tang and traced his ancestral home to Zouping. He was a celebrated writer of zhiguai tales in the Tang dynasty.

Editor's review

Guang Dongzhi zhi Er is a section of the late Tang author Duan Chengshi's Youyang Zazu devoted to flora and fauna; the title "Guang Dongzhi" continues the parent work's broad, miscellaneous compilatory style. Duan is best known as a writer of zhiguai tales, and the plants, insects, and fish in his hands are rarely plain natural-history records: they are mingled with hearsay, strange accounts, and natural-historical imagination, combining the note-book's sense of firsthand record with the uncanny appeal of the zhiguai. Reading this section offers a glimpse of how Tang people understood and classified the natural world, and conveys the liveliness of the biji novel form in Tang times. This modest volume printed by Shanghai Jinzhang Shuju is well suited as a point of entry: flip through a piece or two at leisure and savor the terse, vigorous brushwork of Tang biji. For readers curious about Tang natural-history notes and the zhiguai tradition, it is a convenient gateway into the Youyang Zazu; for scholars, it can serve as fragmentary material for examining Duan Chengshi's natural-historical views and narrative interests.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in Tang biji fiction and the zhiguai tradition
Readers of history and literature who want to learn about ancient natural-history views and the understanding of flora and fauna
Students who need excerpts from the Youyang Zazu for reading or writing reference

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking systematic modern botanical and zoological knowledge
Those who prefer complete, long-form narratives and are unused to scattered biji formats

Reading tips

There is no need to read straight through; browse entries at random, a few at a time.
When you meet obscure names of things, skip them for now and look them up after finishing a whole section.
Read alongside other Tang biji to appreciate the similarities and differences in natural-history writing.

About the publisher

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) China · Founded in 1901

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.

版权信息
卷十七广动植之二

FAQ

Is this book the complete Youyang Zazu?

No. According to the sources, this book, titled Guang Dongzhi zhi Er, is a section of Duan Chengshi's Youyang Zazu dealing with flora and fauna; it is not the whole work, and readers should not treat it as a complete edition.

Can I read it without a foundation in classical Chinese?

This book contains the original text of Tang biji. The language is concise but includes obscure names of things and literary allusions. Readers without a classical Chinese background can still browse it, but comprehension will be hampered; reading with an annotated edition or reference works is recommended.

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About the author

Duan Chengshi Author · China (Tang Dynasty)

Duan Chengshi (c. 803–863), courtesy name Kegu, was a native of Zouping (present-day Shandong) in the Tang dynasty, with ancestral roots in Linzi; his father, Duan Wenchang, rose to the office of chancellor. Duan Chengshi served as a collator in the Palace Library, prefect of Jiangzhou, and vice minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Widely read and highly retentive, he was known for poetry and prose alongside Li Shangyin and Wen Tingyun under the label “Thirty-Six Style.” His Youyang Zazu (Miscellany of Youyang) continues the zhiguai tradition of the Six Dynasties and anticipates the biji of the Song and Ming, combining natural-history inquiry with historical value; it ranges across marvels and anomalies, the investigation of names and things, and lore of Buddhist temples. Works such as Sita Ji (Records of Temples and Pagodas) lean toward documentary accounts of monastic history and observations. His writing joins the strengths of the strange and the encyclopedic, concise in style and rich in learning, and has deeply influenced later biji fiction.