Chapter 5 What are the important categories of books in the fourth section?

Since Cao Wei's "Huang Lan" created the category book style, almost all the past dynasties have compiled category books, including official and private compilations.Now, in chronological order, I would like to introduce to you the important and commonly used class books so far.Some books are not easy to see today, but in order to outline the development process of a "history" of books, let everyone have a clear outline of books, and also describe them in a traceable manner. After Wei Wendi Cao Pi (187-226 A.D.) ordered the compilation of "Huang Lan", there were almost no compiled books in the Jin Dynasty; according to records, only Lu Ji compiled the three volumes of "Yao Lan", which have been lost since the Southern Song Dynasty.In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, following the fashion of the Wei and Jin dynasties, writing articles advocated pairing and paying attention to the use of allusions; so in order to help the lack of memory, they copied allusions and arranged allusions for inspection at any time.This kind of atmosphere naturally promotes the development of similar books.In addition, at that time, the emperor's nobles were very fond of recruiting scholars and editing books.Therefore, several countries in the Southern and Northern Dynasties followed in the footsteps of Cao Wei and edited several important books: First, there was "Diwang Ji Yao", a special book on political history, written by Tuobagui, Emperor Daowu of the Northern Wei Dynasty.By the 6th century A.D., class books appeared one after another, and the north and the south competed for beauty.Liang in the Southern Dynasties had Shouguang Shuyuan, Leiyuan, and Hualin Bianlue; Yuan Wei in the Northern Dynasties had Kelu with 270 volumes; and Xiuwendian Yulan compiled by the Northern Qi Dynasty came out in the late 6th century.Although these ancient books are all lost, it is still necessary to select and introduce them, because they belong to the "Heyuan" of books.Some existing ancient books have borrowed a lot of them when compiling, for example, "Yiwenleiju" borrowed "Hualin Bianlue"; "Taiping Yulan" borrowed "Xiuwendian Yulan".Therefore, even though this "river source" is dry on the surface, its undercurrent still remains.What's more, you can also see the lost edition of "Huanglan", and fragments of "Xiuwendian Yulan" or "Hualin Bianlue" have been found in the Dunhuang stone chamber.

The ancestor of a class of books - "Huang Lan" In 220 AD, Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor on behalf of the Han Dynasty, established his capital in Luoyang, and became the founding emperor of the Wei State.At the same time, he is also a writer, with achievements in both literary creation and theory.He not only wrote by himself, but also ordered his Confucian ministers Wang Xiang, Huan Fan, Liu Shao, Wei Dan, Miao Xi and others to start compiling the collection of scriptures and biographies after March of the first year of Yankang (AD 220), and compiled them into different categories. One book, completed in the third year of Huangchu (AD 222), is called "Huang Lan", which means for the emperor to read.According to records, this book has more than 40 categories, each of which has dozens of articles, more than 1,000 articles and more than 8 million words.If each article is one volume, there are more than 1,000 volumes.It's a pity that "Huang Lan" was so large that before the invention of printing, it was impossible to preserve all of it by copying, so it gradually disappeared.When the Liang Dynasty books became popular in the Southern Dynasties, there were many "copied copies" of "Huang Lan", that is, abridged and combined manuscripts, and only 680 volumes actually survived.By the Sui Dynasty, it had been lost to only 120 volumes.There are no records in the "Yiwenzhi" of the new and old "Book of Tang", and it is estimated that they have been lost by the end of the Sui Dynasty.

In the Qing Dynasty, when the trend of compiling lost books was prevalent, there were two editions of "Huang Lan".This collection was engraved into "Wenjingtang Series" in one volume, and later also included in "Series Collection".The second is the edition compiled by Huang Shi during the Daoguang period, which was engraved into the "Zi Shi Gou Chen" part of "Han Xue Tang Series", which is also a volume.These two volumes enable us to see the status of Huanglan, the ancestor of the class book. b "Lei Yuan" Emperor Wu of Liang Xiao Yan (464-549 A.D.) was also fond of literature. Following the example of Emperor Wen Cao Pi of Wei Dynasty, he ordered to revise Lei Shu at the beginning of his accession to the throne.In the first year of Tianjian (502 A.D.), Liu Yao was ordered to study "Shouguang Shuyuan", which was composed of four books, A, B, C, and D.When "Shouguang Shuyuan" was about to be completed, another kind of book was being edited, that is, Liu Xiaobiao was editing a kind of book "Leiyuan" for Xiao Yan's younger brother Xiao Xiu.Liu Xiaobiao is a well-known annotator of Yishu.It is a collection of ancient novels, written by Liu Yiqing in the Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties; Liu Xiaobiao is very talented, and he commented on this book, which is valued by the world.But he would not flatter the emperor, especially Xiao Yan was very dissatisfied when he compiled books for Xiao Xiu.Because "Lei Yuan" was compiled well, it was already popular in the world after only 120 volumes were compiled before it was completed. "Lei Yuan" was compiled better than "Shouguang Shu Yuan", so Xiao Yan ordered all scholars to compile "Hua Lin Bian Lue" again, to compete with "Lei Yuan".

c "Hua Lin Bian Lue" "Hua Lin Bian Lue" was compiled by Xiao Yan in order to be higher than "Lei Yuan".According to records: "Lei Yuan" compiled by Liu Xiaobiao once said: "Everything in the world is in this book, and nothing is missing."Xiao Yan refused to accept it, so in the 15th year of Tianjian (516 AD), he ordered more than 700 Hualinyuan bachelors to study "Hualin Bianlue" under the leadership of Xu Mian. Compiled, a total of 700 volumes.The collected data is several times more than "Lei Yuan". "Hua Lin Bian Lue" was widely circulated after it was completed, and "Hua Lin Bian Lue" was also very popular in the north.When Gao Cheng, Emperor Wenxiang of the Northern Qi Dynasty, was assisting the government in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Zu Ting [ting Ting] served as Secretary Cheng and was under Cheng's subordinate.Once a merchant from Yangzhou came to sell Hualin Bianlue. Gao Cheng recruited many writers and finished copying the book in one day and one night, so he said to the bookseller, "No need."Zu Ting also sold several volumes of "Hua Lin Bian Lue" for money to gamble, and was "forty sticks" by Gao Cheng.This is an interesting anecdote about Leishu recorded in "Book of Northern Qi·Zu Ting Biography".At that time, the North and the South were confronting each other. Not long after it was written, "Hua Lin Bian Lue" was regarded as a rare commodity and transported to the north. Some people could steal a few volumes and sell them for cash. The value of this book can be seen.

"Hualin Bianlue" also had a great influence, and the books compiled after it, such as "Xiuwendian Yulan" in the Northern Qi Dynasty and "Changzhou Jade Mirror" in the Sui Dynasty, were all based on it.The ancient book "Yiwen Leiju" that can be seen today also makes full use of it as a model. But this book no longer existed in the early Song Dynasty.Fortunately, more than 900 years later, in the caves of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, an unnamed fragment of an ancient book was found among the books copied by the Tang people, with only 259 lines remaining.According to Luo Zhenyu's textual research, it is considered to be "Xiuwendian Yulan", while Hong Ye, a former professor of Yenching University, believes it is "Hualin Bianlue", so far there is no conclusion.

d "Xiuwendian Yulan" "Xiuwendian Yulan" is a class book compiled by Gao Wei, the empress of the Northern Qi Dynasty.Gao Wei's interest in literature is far less than that of Cao Pi and Xiao Yan, but he followed Zu Ting's advice and persuaded him to follow Cao Pi's example, in fact, to gain fame.So in February of the third year of Wuping (AD 572), he ordered the revision of "Xuanzhouyuan Yulan", which was renamed "Shengshoutang Yulan", compiled in August of the same year, and renamed "Xiuwendian Yulan", a total of 360 roll.The content is divided into 55 categories and 240 subheads. The title of "Yu Lan" is taken from the book of Song Shisu, the order of Wucheng of Qi. "Xiuwendian Yulan" is named just like this.It uses "Hua Lin Bian Lue" as a blueprint, and uses it extensively, only supplementing the confiscated books in "Hua Lin Bian Lue".Most of the supplementary collections are literature and history of the Northern Dynasties, books that have not been seen in the South.Besides Zu Ting and Yang Xiu, more than 30 BAs participated in the editorial.Compared with "Hua Lin Bian Lue", "Hua Lin Bian Lue" took eight years, and this book only took seven months to compile. It can be seen that "Xiu Wen Dian Yu Lan" used "Hua Lin Bian Lue" as a blueprint. Nature can get twice the result with half the effort.

According to historical records, Zu Ting, the leader of "Xiu Wen Dian Yu Lan", was intelligent in nature and learned everything without difficulty. Besides writing, he was also good at rhythm, and knew Siyi language, Yin and Yang, Zhanhou, and medicine; but his character was extremely bad. , had stolen and sold "Hua Lin Bi Lue" twice, and had other bad deeds.People in the Southern Song Dynasty commented on him as "treacherous, greedy and dangerous", but the "Xiuwendian Yulan" edited by him has been handed down the longest.This is because it is characterized by rigorous compilation and great emphasis on style, and Yan Zhitui is solely responsible for compiling the examples, and Yan Zhitui is a very practical person.Later, the Northern Song Dynasty compiled "Taiping Yulan", not only based on this book, but also the number of divisions was completely in accordance with its style. "Xiuwendian Yulan" still existed in its entirety in the Southern Song Dynasty.Around the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the books were incomplete, and maybe after the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the books were not handed down to the world.

The ancient books and cultural relics sealed in Grotto No. 288 of Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang County, Gansu Province have been stored for nearly a thousand years, and they were not discovered until the 25th year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1899 AD).Soon it was robbed by imperialist cultural invaders one after another.In the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu (1908 A.D.) stolen by Paul Pelliot of France, there are fragments of manuscripts from the Tang Dynasty, with 259 lines, no beginning and no end, no title and author, so I don't know what kind of book it is. In 1911, after Luo Zhenyu's textual research, it was named "Xiuwendian Yulan Fragments".However, in 1932, Professor Hong Ye of Yenching University published the article "The So-Called Person" and raised objections, arguing that this remnant ancient book was not "Xiuwendian Yulan", but an earlier "Hualin Bianlue".Hongye's textual research is relatively detailed, and his textual research has shaken the claim that the fragment is "Xiuwendian Yulan", and makes people think that this volume of ancient books in Shishi should be compiled by the Southern Dynasty, not the product of the Northern Dynasty.As for whether "Hua Lin Bian Lue" remains to be further verified.But in any case, the discovery of this remnant scroll should be said to be the oldest and only visible one in the class of books, which is certain.

There are also many kinds of books in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, such as "Four Parts Essentials", "Fabao Lianbi", "Diaoyu Ji", "Yu Dui", "Yu Li", etc. Most of the books were written between Qi and Liang, and they all came from Hands of Qi and Liang.At the same time, all of them have long been lost, or there are only fragments left, which have little influence, so I will not introduce them here. During the reign of Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, there were several books compiled by public and private parties, and they occupied an important position in the history of books.Among them, "Changzhou Jade Mirror" is a class book compiled by officials, with a total of 238 volumes (or 400 volumes). It was compiled by Yang Guangming's old ministers of the Six Dynasties, Yu Chuo, Liu Guyan, Yu Shinan, Yu Zizhi, and Wang Cao.It was compiled from the first year of Daye (AD 605) to June of the second year.This book is based on "Hua Lin Bian Lue", with fewer volumes, but more content than "Hua Lin Bian Lue", because it is brief and not repetitive.This book was not handed down until the Song Dynasty.There is also "Xuanmen Baohai", 120 volumes, compiled by Zhuge Ying, and this book has long been lost.Among the books compiled in the Sui Dynasty are the "Bian Zhu" compiled by Du Gongzhan and the "Beitang Shuchao" compiled by Yu Shinan. Although they are incomplete, they can still be seen today. Here are the introductions:

a "Pearls Weaving" This book originally had four volumes, but the first and second volumes are now in existence. Du Gongzhan of the Sui Dynasty compiled it under the order of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty.However, later handed down copies were very rare, and neither the "Sui Shu" nor the old and new "Tang Shu" were recorded.More than 20 years after Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, Qing Dynasty historian Gao Shiqi (AD 1645-1704) was ordered to inspect the books in the inner library in the South Study Room of the Palace. , missing half, only one or two volumes.So copy it down.In the twenty-eighth year of Kangxi (AD 1689), Gao Shiqi had nothing to do at home, so he made up "Bianzhu" into four volumes according to the original title, and continued to compile two volumes, so it became "Bianzhu" with four volumes and "Continued Beads". Weaving Beads, Volume Two.In the 32nd year of Kangxi (AD 1693), Xu Qianxue wrote the preface. In the 37th year, Gao Shiqi made additions and deletions, and the preface was published in the world. This is the edition we have seen so far.Of the six volumes, only the first two are Du's original books, and Gao's supplements are added at the end of each category in the first two volumes, with the words "subsequent additions" noted.

The original catalog of "Bianzhu" is divided into 14 categories, among which there are five categories in the first and second volumes, and there are 194 kinds of cited books according to statistics. Due to the late appearance of this book, there has been controversy over its authenticity.Some people thought it was Gao Shiqi's forgery, and many people raised doubts, but after research by scholars and experts, they believed that this was an unfounded erroneous view.In Da Nei of the Qing Dynasty, there were indeed fragments of the first two volumes of this book, and they were indeed the original works of Du Gongzhan. Although the volumes are few, the quotations from ancient books are mostly from the existing Sui, Tang, and Northern Song books.Therefore, it is valuable in collation and editing work.Unfortunately, due to repeated suspicions, it was considered not to be a work of the pre-Tang Dynasty, so the ancient books it cited were hardly used by scholars who edited and collated in the Qing Dynasty. "Bianzhu" is the earliest extant ancient book. Although it is incomplete, it is the original work after all, and it cannot be compared with the lost ones.It is no wonder that "Bianzhu" is listed as the first among the books in the "General Catalog of Siku Quanshu". b "Beitang Shuchao" "Beitang Shuchao", edited by Yu Shinan, 160 volumes.Although the editor was a famous eunuch and a scholar in the early Tang Dynasty, this book was compiled by him when he was Secretary Lang at the end of the Sui Dynasty, so it is actually a similar book of the Sui Dynasty. "Beitang" is the back hall of the Secretary of the Sui Dynasty. The editor copied and compiled the reference materials that can be used for composition in Beitang, so it is called "Beitang Shuchao". Yu Shinan was knowledgeable and talented. Emperor Sui Yang knew that he was capable, but he didn't like his honesty, so he was allowed to be a seventh-rank official for more than ten years without being promoted.In the Tang Dynasty, Tang Taizong Li Shimin appreciated him very much, and once said: "Shinan is one person, so he has five uniques." The five uniques refer to erudition, virtue, calligraphy, eloquence, and loyalty.Before he compiled "Beitang Shuchao", he participated in the compilation of "Changzhou Jade Mirror". How many volumes of "Beitang Shuchao"?There are different descriptions, but what I see now is 160 volumes.This book may have been incomplete in the Northern Song Dynasty.The 160 volumes of the current edition are divided into emperors, concubines, politics, criminal law, feudal titles, appointment of officials, etiquette, arts and literature, music, martial arts, clothing, ceremonial ornaments, costumes, boats, cars, wine and food, heaven, age, and land. 19 departments, 851 categories.The content of this book is compiled by collecting and extracting allusions, words and some excerpts from poems and essays in ancient books that can be used for poetry composition.Its style is to gather relevant materials in the classics in each category, extract sentences from each matter and publish them in large characters, and then note the source, context and relevant explanation of each sentence below in small characters.Sometimes there are notes from Yu Shinan in the annotations.However, because this book was copied and circulated for a long time before it was published in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it caused a lot of confusion, and the content and style were inconsistent. This book was already a rare book in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty.According to records: in the Northern Song Dynasty, the three halls (Zhaowen Hall, History Hall, and Jixian Academy) all lacked "Beitang Shuchao".Only minister Zhao Anren's family kept it, and Song Zhenzong ordered his servants to take it away.Zhao Anren was good at studying, and most of his salary was used to buy books, so Zhenzong rewarded him at that time.There has never been a printed version of this book, and it was not until the 28th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1600 A.D.) that there was a school publication of Changshu Chen Yumo.However, this school magazine has been arbitrarily added or deleted, and the original written content has been lost.In the Qing Dynasty, for the needs of textual research, efforts were made to search for old manuscripts before Chen's engraving (the original Ming manuscript).According to records, five copies were found in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.Among them, it is worth noting that in the sixth year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (AD 1801), the textual researcher Sun Xingyan (AD 1753-1818) obtained a copy of the Song version by Tao Zongyi, a beginner in the late Yuan and Ming Dynasties, which is the oldest manuscript in existence.Afterwards, this copy changed owners several times, and Zhou Xingyi bought it with a lot of money in the fourth year of Tongzhi (1865 A.D.). This manuscript became famous as the "Thousand Gold Copy", and Zhou also named the library as "Shuchao Pavilion".Later, this copy was acquired by Weng Zhixi. After 1949, Weng donated it to the country, and it is now stored in the Beijing Library.Another old manuscript was once collected by Cao Yin, the grandfather of the author Cao Xueqin, and later belonged to Qu, the owner of Tieqin and Tongjianlou, a famous bibliophile, and is now also in the Beijing Library.Of the remaining three notebooks, one is now in Taiwan, and the whereabouts of the other two are unknown. After Sun Xingyan obtained Tao Zongyi's biography of the Song version at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, he asked famous scholars Yan Kejun and Wang Yinzhi to revise it separately, but it was not completed.Later, Kong Guangtao in Nanhai borrowed from Zhou Xingyi a copy of the Song version by Tao Zongyi hand-educated by Sun Xingyan and Yan Kejun.On the basis of the collations of various families, the three sons and the teacher Lin Guo continued to collate and annotate, and finally completed the collation in the 14th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (AD 1888).This is the first time in the 1300 years since the book was written that it is still printed in its original form, and it is also the current version of the book, which is closer to the original. The books quoted in "Beitang Shuchao" are old editions before the Sui Dynasty. According to statistics, there are more than 800 kinds except Jibu, and most of them are books from the Three Dynasties, Han, Wei, Song, and Qi. Nine no longer exists, therefore, it has certain literature value, and it can be regarded as an important ancient book.Moreover, because the fragments of Shishi Leishu and "Bianzhu" are very small, the ancient books with a considerable scale should still be ranked as the head of "Beitang Shuchao".This book played an important role together with books such as "Yiwenleiju", "Cefu Yuangui", "Taiping Yulan" and other books in the work of Sinologists in the Qing Dynasty to manage ancient books. ". In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, under the influence of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, articles still emphasized rhetoric and allusions, and parallel couplets prevailed.Moreover, with the prosperous development of economy and culture and the prevalence of the imperial examination system, it is necessary for Leishu to provide allusions and rhetoric for poetry and prose, thus promoting the compilation and development of Leishu.There are nearly ten thousand volumes of books in the Tang Dynasty.From the founding of the country to the Xuanzong era, except for the two short periods of Zhongzong and Ruizong, the Lei Dynasty used the power of the feudal state to gather a large number of scholars to compile some large-scale books. Volume; shortly after Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, he ordered Wei Zheng and others to compile "Qunshu Zhiyao", 50 volumes; in the tenth year of Zhenguan (636 AD), he also ordered Gao Shilian, Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, Xu Jingzong, Li Chunfeng, Chu Suiliang, Yao Silian, etc. 16 people wrote "Wen Si Bo Yao", 1200 volumes, and 12 volumes of catalogues, compiled in the fifteenth year of Zhenguan (AD 641).This book is vast and inclusive, but it is a pity that the whole book was lost after Song Nandu.During the years of Gaozong Xianqing and Longshuo, Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu were ordered to compile the excerpts from "Historical Records" to "Book of Jin" into "East Palace New Book", 200 volumes; Yaoshan Yucai", 500 volumes; "Leibi", 400 volumes.Wu Zetian had "Xuan Lan", 100 volumes; during the Shengli period, Wu Zetian thought that the facts listed in "Xiu Wen Dian Yu Lan" and "Wen Si Bo Yao" were not complete enough, so he ordered Zhang Changzong, Li Qiao, Shen Quanqi, Song Zhiwen, etc. Others supplemented the content, adding Buddhism and Taoism, relatives, names, and Fangyu, etc., and compiled "Three Religions Zhuying" with 1300 volumes and 13 volumes of catalogues. It was completed in the first year of Dazu (701 AD).In the second year of Emperor Wenzong's Kaicheng (837 A.D.), the book was renamed "Hai Nei Zhu Ying".During Xuanzong's time, there were 130 volumes of "Shi Lei", and 30 volumes of "Beginners".But now only the two books "Yiwenleiju" and "Beginners" still exist, and all others are lost. After the Anshi Rebellion, official books declined, but some famous poets and scholars wrote their own books more than the previous period.For example, Bai Juyi, Yuan Zhen, Li Shangyin, Wen Tingyun, etc. all edited their own books.Unfortunately, Yuan Zhen's "Lei Ji", Li Shangyin's "Golden Key", and Wen Tingyun's "Xue Hai" have all been lost. Only Bai Juyi's "Bai Shi Liu Tie Shi Lei Ji" still exists today. ", "Beginners" are the three major categories of books in the Tang Dynasty.In addition, in the Tang and Five Dynasties, there was a popular popular book "Rabbit Garden Cefu", which was first edited by Tang Taizong's son Jiang Wang Li Yun ordered Du Sixian, 30 volumes, and was lost after the Yuan Dynasty.At the end of the Qing Dynasty, fragments of "The Rabbit Garden Policy Mansion" were found in the Dunhuang Stone Chamber, which were robbed by the Frenchman Pelliot and the British Stein. In the Tang Dynasty, there was also a class book compiled by Yi Yun, which was "Yun Hai Jing Yuan" compiled by Yan Zhenqing, a famous calligrapher, with 360 volumes.Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy has been handed down for hundreds of generations, known as "Yan Style", but the books he compiled are no longer handed down.He also compiled another 20-volume book "Jinluan Xiuji", which has long since disappeared. Here are some of the surviving books of the Tang Dynasty as follows: a The earliest and complete class book in existence——"Yiwen Leiju" This book was compiled by more than 10 people including Ouyang Xun and Linghu Defen under the edict of Emperor Li Yuan in the fifth year of Tang Wude (622 A.D.).The book consists of 100 volumes and was compiled in three years.This book is one of the more important kind of huge kind of books compiled by the feudal dynasty using government power, organizing manpower, and searching the royal collection. It preserves the rich literature and materials before Tang Dynasty. The level of understanding of the universe and human society in the intellectual circles.The book is divided into 46 parts, including: heaven, age, place, state, county, mountain, water, fate, emperor, concubine, prince, person, ritual, music, official, title, governance, criminal law, and essays , weapons, military weapons, dwelling place, property, clothes, ceremonies, clothing, boats and vehicles, food, miscellaneous utensils, skillful arts, alchemy, internal codes, supernatural, fire, "medicine, incense, grass", precious jade, hundreds of grains, Cloth, fruit, wood, bird, beast, scale, insect, auspiciousness, disaster.Its layout style, from the point of view of the department, is the emperor of heaven and earth, followed by laws and regulations, and then food, clothing, housing, transportation, animals, plants, disasters and auspiciousness, etc., which reflects the orthodox thought of respecting the sky and respecting the emperor in the feudal era.It is divided into 727 subcategories.Under each sub-category, the story is first, and the poems are second, roughly arranged in the order of the age of the works.The titles of the books are indicated in all the stories quoted, and the times, authors and titles are indicated in all the poems and essays quoted, and the categories are marked with words such as "poetry", "fu" and "praise" according to different styles.As can be seen from the previous sections, the content of this book is very extensive, but the classification is different from the current ones. The predecessors have already pointed out that some "separation and combination are not appropriate".There are also omissions, such as the "mountain" part, the five mountains are incomplete, and the eastern mountain Taishan and the northern mountain Hengshan are missing.Disease should belong to the "People" department, but it is included in the "Alchemy" department; and the paper, pen, and inkstone are attached to the "Miscellaneous Essays" department, etc. There are many inappropriate things, and it needs to be mastered slowly after checking this book. More than 20 kinds of books have been published before "Yiwenleiju", which can be used for reference.But it does not have Chen Xiangyin, and it is unique in the way of preparation. The previous books of "Yiwen Leiju" focused on similar things rather than essays. They drew materials from poems and essays, and often only excerpted sentences and did not record fragments.In this way, if you want to find poems related to something, you need to look through the collection.Ouyang Xun deeply felt that the separation of "text" and "things" was a major defect of the previous generation of books, which caused great inconvenience to users.In order to overcome this shortcoming, "Yiwenleiju" breaks the convention of classifying books in the past, merges the two dragons of "things" and "literature" into one dragon, and adopts a new method of "things come first, and articles come last". style.This increases the proportion of literature in the book. For later generations, it has preserved a large number of famous poems from Han to Sui, which is beyond the reach of other Tang and Song books.Moreover, as soon as the precedent of "Yiwen Leiju" was set, subsequent books followed suit.This is the case with "Shi Wen Lei Ju" in the Song Dynasty and "Yuan Jian Lei Han" in the Qing Dynasty. Even the huge compilations such as the "Yongle Dadian" in the Ming Dynasty and "The Collection of Ancient and Modern Books" in the Qing Dynasty also follow the principle of "things and texts". Simultaneous conventions.This not only makes the book a new look and increases the convenience for readers to search, but also shows the importance of preserving ancient documents. There are 1,431 kinds of ancient books before Tang Dynasty cited in "Yiwen Leiju", most of which were lost by the Southern Song Dynasty; less than 10% of them survived.Therefore, scholars since the Ming and Qing Dynasties have all regarded this book as a treasure of lost collections.Ming Feng Weina edited "Ancient Poems", Qing Yan Kejun edited "All Ancient Three Dynasties, Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties", Wang Mo edited "Han and Tang Geography Book Notes", etc., all compiled many precious documents from them.Mr. Lu Xun's series "Ancient Novels Going Shen" and "Miscellaneous Collections of Stories from Kuaiji County" have also used "Yiwen Lei Gathering".Because most of the books cited are ancient books before Tang Dynasty, it is also useful for textual research and collation. "Yiwenleiju" is the same as other books, you can also check the source of allusions.For example, the metaphor of "the water that carries the boat can overturn the boat" is generally believed to have originated from Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty.In fact, if you look up the "Boat and Che Department" in "Yiwen Leiju", you can find out that this sentence originally came from "Sun Qingzi", that is, "Xunzi·Wangzhi Chapter": "The emperor is a boat; the common people are water. Water carries the boat, and water capsizes the boat.” Another major feature of the style of this book is that it uses the method of reference.For example, the story of Yan Zi persuading Duke Jing of Qi to kill the horse breeder first appeared in the "People" section of Volume 24, "satire" eyes, and bet on "Things with Horses". At present, the narratives of the two are similar.The story goes like this: During the Spring and Autumn Period, Qi Jinggong’s beloved horse died suddenly, so Jinggong was furious and ordered to kill the person who raised the horse.At that time, Yan Ying (BC? - 500 BC) was a doctor of Qi State.He called the horse breeder and said: You know that you deserve the death penalty for three reasons: first, you raised the horse to death; second, this horse is the king's favorite horse; third, because of you, the king will be ridiculed by the princes of the world. , saying that the king killed someone because of a horse; therefore you deserve death.When Jinggong heard this, he stopped killing the horse breeder.This is Yan Ying's cleverness. He used irony to dissuade Qi Jinggong from killing people because of a horse, so he saved the horse breeder.The key word in this story is the horse, so it can be found under the item "horse"; because there are references, it can be found under the item "satire". This book is commonly used, so Zhonghua Book Company printed two copies: one is a photocopy of the Song Shaoxing publication in the Shanghai Library in 1959, which is a rare and precious version; , this is the best book for general use.It was reprinted by Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House in 1982, with "Book Title Index" and "Person Name Index" attached at the back of the book, which is more convenient to search and use. b "Beginners" "Beginners" has 30 volumes and is a class book compiled by Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty.This was edited by Tang Xuanzong, who ordered Zhang Shuo and Xu Jian, academicians of Jixian Academy, to make it easier for his son to quote allusions and check things when studying composition.It is a knowledge-focused class book, which is rich in knowledge and convenient for immediate inspection.Because it is mainly a small encyclopedia compiled to meet the needs of the princes to practice basic knowledge, it is named "Beginners".The book is divided into 23 parts, including: heaven, age, place, prefecture, emperor, middle palace, royal palace, emperor's relatives, officials, rites, music, people, political science, literature, martial arts, Taoism, and residence. , utensils, food, treasures (with flowers and plants), fruit trees, animals, birds (with scales, insects), and the subordinates are divided into 313 subheadings.Each subheading is divided into three parts: narration, event and poetry.Different from other kinds of books, other kinds of books only extract the collected materials one by one, and there is almost no connection between the articles, just a compilation of materials.The narrative part of this book has been carefully edited to connect similar things into an article, which is equivalent to an explanation of the sub-objective.This is similar to the practice of modern encyclopedias, so it is more informative.Therefore, "Siku Quanshu Zongmu" has a high evaluation of it.Its main essence is in the narrative part, which is not many words, but it briefly records various laws and regulations before Tang Dynasty.For example, Volume 27, "Silk Ninth", quotes a passage from "Stories of Jin Dynasty", which is an important historical material about the land tax system in the Western Jin Dynasty, which is not included in "Book of Jin Shihuo Zhi".The original book of "Jin Stories" has long been lost, which is even more precious. You can also use this book to check the source of allusions. For example, Cao Cao's third son Cao Zhi (192-232 AD) was very talented, but he was persecuted repeatedly after his brother Cao Pi became emperor; execute.So Cao Zhi took seven steps to write a poem, which is the famous seven-step poem: "Cooking beans burns Osmunda, and the beans weep in the cauldron. They grow from the same root. Why is it too urgent to cook?" Since we are brothers, why should we kill each other?" The grief and indignation.In what book was the earliest record of this story? Not in "Three Kingdoms".Check the "Beginner's Notes" volume ten emperor's relatives, which are divided into three sub-heads: king, princess, and son-in-law. Cao Zhi is the emperor's relative and named king. Found in Liu Song Linchuan King Liu Yiqing. "Chu Xue Ji" preserves many ancient books and lost articles.In addition to the ancient books before the Sui Dynasty, the cited books also include poems and essays of the early Tang Dynasty.Many materials related to history, geography, and folk customs are preserved in it, which can be used for research and inspection, and can also be used to collate ancient books or collect lost texts.For example, in Tang Zhenguan, the 550-volume "Kuo Di Zhi" written by Wei Wang Li Tai and others is an important monograph on paleogeography, which describes the establishment and evolution of the Tang Dynasty regime, as well as the situation of mountains and rivers, customs and products, historical sites, etc.It is a pity that the whole book was lost between the two Song Dynasties, and only a series has been handed down today.However, the "Preface" of "Kuo Di Zhi" quoted in "Chu Xue Ji" Volume 8 "General Preface to Prefectures and Counties" has been preserved in the world, so that we can know the division of political districts and states and counties during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty number. There are many editions of "Beginners", and the most practical and well-edited popular edition is the typesetting edition published by Zhonghua Book Company in 1962. In 1980, the "Index for Beginners" was also published to provide convenience for checking this book. c "Baishi Liutie", "Kongshiliutie", "Tang and Song Baikong Liutie" "Baishiliutie" referred to as "Baitie", is a collection of writing materials compiled by Bai Juyi, a famous poet in Tang Dynasty department books.Originally known as "Bai Shi Jing Shi Shi Lei", 30 volumes, alias "Liu Tie".The engraved version in Song Dynasty is titled "Bai Shi Liu Tie Shi Lei Ji" or "Bai Shi Liu Tie Lei Gathering".Bai's original annotations were very simple and did not indicate the source.Chao Zhongyan, a native of the Northern Song Dynasty, verified its sources one by one. The title of this Song edition is "Bai Shi Liu Tie Shi Lei Tian Zhu Chu Jing".In the early Southern Song Dynasty, Kong Chuan, the descendant of Confucius, imitated his book and wrote "Liu Tie Xin Shu", which was called "Confucius Liu Tie", also referred to as "Kong Tie".Around the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the two books were mixed and engraved together to form a book titled "The Six Tie of Bai Kong in the Tang and Song Dynasties", or "Six Tie of Bai Kong" for short. Therefore, we will discuss them together here. There is a story in Bai Juyi's "Six Posts".It is said that his method of compiling books is: use thousands of pottery pots, each titled category, put them on a seven-story shelf, ask students to collect materials, put them into pots by category, then pour them out, and copy them into books.So no provenance and mostly no chronological order.This is a kind of legend.It is not difficult to imagine that these are probably the notes that Bai Juyi copied casually for writing poems. The title of the book or the source of the quotation is not necessarily listed under the sentence, just like the card cabinet we use to accumulate information today. This book collects allusions, words, important words and sentences, as well as good sentences and famous articles in poems and prose before the Tang Dynasty. It is divided into 1367 items and 503 items are attached. Beitang Shuchao is similar, but more scattered and trivial. "Bai Shi Liu Tie" was very popular at that time, so many people expanded and continued it in Tang and Song Dynasties.In particular, the continuation of Confucius' biography in the Southern Song Dynasty is "Confucius Liutie", also known as "Later Liutie", which has 30 volumes and is divided into 1371 sections.At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the two books of Bai and Kong were merged and published, and they were merged one by one. Each subhead listed "Bai Tie" first, and then "Kong Tie". Divide the original work and the continuation.The two post books are 30 volumes each, and after being combined, they are divided into 100 volumes, with a total of 1399 subheadings. Like other kinds of books, it preserves the lost texts of several ancient books and makes a certain contribution to later generations of scholars.However, because the excerpted sentences are relatively trivial, not fragmented, arranged out of order, and the annotations are brief, it affects the use value. There was a new climax in the compilation of books in the Song Dynasty.From the founding of the country to the era of Emperor Taizong, the cause of unification was nearly completed, the politics was relatively stable, and the economy was also prosperous.In order to calm people's hearts, embellish the peace, and win the name of advocating the rule of law, Zhao Guangyi compiled several large books in succession with the power of the state. They are: "Taiping Yulan" with 1,000 volumes based on encyclopedic knowledge; 500 volumes of "Taiping Guangji"; 1,000 volumes of "Wenyuan Yinghua" with poetry and chapters; these three volumes plus a 1,000-volume "Cefu Yuangui" compiled by his son Zhenzong Zhao Hengshi with the scope of political history. It is called the Four Great Books of the Song Dynasty.Because engravings were prevalent in the Song Dynasty, these four books have been handed down to this day and still exist intact. Except for "Wen Yuan Ying Hua" which is a collection of articles, the rest of the four books are comprehensive or specialized.In addition, during the reign of Renzong Zhaozhen and Tiansheng, Yan Shu and others were ordered to pick up the main content of "Cefu Yuangui" and compile 40 volumes of "Tianhedian Yulan", the original book has been lost.Yan Shu also compiled 100 volumes of "Lei Yao", which is rare now.There are also 20 volumes of "You Ying Yao Lan" compiled by Su Song, Fan Zuyu and others based on stories from the Han and Tang Dynasties; Fan Shidao's collection of Song Dynasty historical facts compiled 12 volumes of "Guo Chao Lei Yao", which have been lost so far. Parallel style was as popular in early Song Dynasty as in Tang Dynasty.Although prose was advocated by Ouyang Xiu (AD 1007-1072) and the fashion changed, the imperial edicts and letters issued by scholars and bureaucrats still prevailed, and those who could write prose should also be able to write Forty-six, this requires familiarity with allusions and rhetoric; moreover, scholars must learn a lot to prepare for the imperial examination.Therefore, there were quite a few relatively large books compiled by the scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty.Famous ones still exist today, such as: "Yuhai" by Wang Yinglin; "Shi Lei Fu" by Wu Shu; "Splendid Flower Valley" by Anonymous; Shan Tang Kao Suo; Xie Weixin's "Combination of Ancient and Modern Things"; Jiang Shaoyu's "Imperial Dynasty Class Garden"; Fang Bei Zu"; Chen Yuanliang's "Shi Lin Guang Ji" and so on.Among them, Wu Shu's "Shi Lei Fu" has 30 volumes. The author has participated in the compilation of "Taiping Yulan" and has editing experience.The original name of this book is "One Character Fu" in 20 volumes.Song Zhenzong ordered him to add annotations, which were expanded to 30 volumes and renamed "Shi Lei Fu".It is divided into 14 parts: day, age, land, treasure, music, food, real objects, food, poultry, beast, vegetation, fruit, scale, and insect.Sub-items, each sub-item is a Fu, summarize the story with the Fu body, and indicate the source, and explain it.The subheads are all one character, and there are hundreds of poems in total, so the original name is "One Character Fu".According to the cloud, it was also written for the needs of the examination room, but this genre is a new creation.This book has been published in Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and has been passed down to this day."Valley of Splendid Ten Thousand Flowers" by Anonymous has 40 volumes each including the pre-, post-, and sequel.The content is a bit messy, but many lost books are used to preserve many stories of the Song Dynasty, and the sources are indicated one by one, which is quite valuable for textual research.According to the "General Catalog of Siku Quanshu", in particular, there are books that have been lost for a long time, such as "Zhilin", "Junge Yatan", etc., which depend on the preservation of fragments of this book.而且每类后用《艺文类聚》体例附录诗篇，亦保存下来不少他书所不载的文章诗作。对保存遗文佚事来说是值得一提的。 《古今事文类聚》有前集60卷，后集50卷，续集28卷，别集32卷，新集36卷，外集15卷，遗集15卷。前、后、续、别四集为宋祝穆编，新、外二集为元富大用编，遗集是元祝渊编。祝穆将其平生读书笔记加以整理，大致仿照《艺文类聚》、《初学记》体例，自上古以至宋代，分门别类编成此书。四集共分70部，每部又分若干类，共885目；每类下首列群书要语或历代沿革，其次辑录古今事实，再次古今诗文。到了元代，富大用依此书的体例，增补了部类中所未备的，编为新集13部，169类；外集9部，55类。每类前除增加历代沿革一项外，其余与祝穆书相同。祝渊鉴于新、外二集的类目还有缺遗，又补编了遗集15卷，19部，118类。 《古今合璧事类备要》，谢维新编。也是一部大型综合性类书。有前集69卷，40门，子目491条；后集81卷，48门，子目416条；续集56卷，6门，子目570条；别集94卷，6门，子目410条；外集66卷，16门，子目430条。宋代官制冗杂，而《宋史》所载，不过仅存其名，当时诗文所称，后世多不知其为何官；此书后集对宋代官制多有记载，阐述详明。且所采宋以前古籍，今多散佚，更足以为考证之资助。更值得一提的是：据今人校勘发现此书别集关于记载花果草木的卷二十二至卷六十一，这40卷是《全芳备祖》(下面将介绍)的简编本，篇幅约占原书的55%。 《全芳备祖》自有祝穆的订正本后，陈景沂的原编即湮没无闻。幸有谢维新把它压缩编入此书的别集草木卷，使我们看到原编的大致面貌，且是摹刻宋本，接近原书，足资校勘。对《全芳备祖》的校订、整理，不失为重要参考资料。江少虞的《皇朝事实类苑》，又别称《皇朝类苑》、《事实类苑》、《宋朝类要》，78卷(记载不一)。分祖宗圣训、君臣知遇、名臣事迹、典礼音律、衣冠盛事、词翰书籍、诗歌赋咏、占相医药、书画伎艺、风俗杂志等24门，每门下又分子目；征引广博，北宋一代遗文佚事，看此书可知大概，史料价值较高。所引书有些已亡佚，如《国朝事实》、《三朝圣政录》、《篷山志》等，靠此书尚能看到片断。此外，还有叶廷珪的《海录碎事》，潘自牧的《记纂渊海》，以及《重广会史》等等。其中《重广会史》是一部政事历史性的类书。此书在国内早已失传，然有北宋刊孤本，由朝鲜流入日本，藏于尊经阁文库。 1928年经日本育德财团用珂罗版影印，线装20册，此书乃重传于世。 1986年9月，中华书局影印。 总之，宋代是我国封建社会更加成熟的时期，政治、经济的发展，带来了文化、科技的空前繁荣，类书得到极大的发展，无论数量、种类都超过唐代，内容形式也有所演变，如《事物纪原》等，已带有一些考证性质，不是专为寻章摘句而编了。 宋元之际，阴时夫编的《韵府群玉》20卷，其兄中夫作注。此书按韵摘录典故、辞藻，按韵排列。类书按韵编排，创自唐颜真卿的《韵海镜原》；但该书早已不传，因此，《韵府群玉》是现存以韵录事的最古类书；后来为清代编写《佩文韵府》时所本。 下面选择宋代类书中最重要且常用的几种介绍如下： a 百科性质的《太平御览》 《太平御览》是宋太宗命李昉等辑编，1000卷。从太平兴国二年(公元977年)三月下诏开修，到太平兴国八年(公元984年)十二月完成，共用了六年零九个多月时间，初名《太平总类》。太宗为夸示自己好学，曾说：“此书千卷，朕欲一年读遍。”因而命人日进三卷，备“一夜之览”。据记载他确实一天读三卷，有事没读必补上，即或盛夏夜短，也必读完。故而改名《太平御览》(下简称《御览》)。 当时参加编纂《御览》的大臣由李昉、扈蒙领衔，另有李穆、吴淑、徐铉等14人。14人中10人《宋史》有传，并各有文集、著作问世。《御览》是以《修文殿御览》、《艺文类聚》、《文思博要》等书为蓝本而编纂成的，也充分利用了当时的皇家藏书；全书1000卷，分天、时序、地、皇王、偏霸、皇亲、州郡、居处、封建、职官、兵、人事、逸民、宗亲、礼仪、乐、文、学、治道、刑法、释、道、仪式、服章、服用、方术、疾病、工艺、器物、杂物、舟、车、奉使、四夷、珍宝、布帛、资产、百谷、饮食、火、休征、咎征、神鬼、妖异、兽、羽族、鳞介、虫豸、木、竹、果、菜茹、香、药、百卉，共55部。这是根据《周易·系辞》说的“凡天地之数五十有五”，以表明内容包罗万象的意思。部下又分若干类，有些类下又有子目，大小类目共计约5474类。其分类原则与编排方法大抵是以天、地、人、事、物为序，每类下面再按经、史、子、集顺序编排。确实是天文、地理、人事等无所不包。 此书征引的古籍相当丰富，在书的第一册所列《太平御览经史图书纲目》中可见到所引的书为1690(实有1689)种，这里不包括古律诗、古赋、铭、杂书等类在内。经核实后，实际有2579种，但所引的书十之七八都已失传。可见《御览》不但是一部重要的综合性资料工具书，而且是保存古代佚书最丰富的类书之一。在现存古类书中是保存五代以前文献、古籍最多的一种，且引书比较完整，多录整篇整段文字，后代学者虽看不到佚书佚文的原貌，但从《御览》中可找到一些可贵的文献资料。例如：论述农业技术的《范子计然》和《氾胜之书》，早于《齐民要术》好几百年，原书都已不见。由于《御览》引录，我们才得以见到两书的一些内容，获知在两千多年前有关农业生产的一些知识。北魏史学家崔鸿的《十六国春秋》，是记述五胡十六国的重要史籍，但书在北宋时已失传，司马光撰时，已看不到原书。可是《御览》摘引此书达480多条。特别是《御览》里引用的古地理书尤为珍贵，保存了汉唐间西域及海南诸国多种古地理书的片断。例如《吴时外国传》是三国孙吴时中郎康泰所著，大约写于公元227年左右；而此书早已不见，只散见于诸类书中，《御览》引用了19条。再如我国古代科学家张衡，创制浑天仪和地震仪的原著早已亡佚，但在《御览》卷二，天部“浑仪”目内就有记载，是为《后汉书·张衡传》中所没有的珍贵材料。由于《御览》保存古籍如此之多，故为历代学者所看重，被视为“类书之冠”。作辑佚工作的，更把它视作“宝山”。做校勘古籍工作的，遇到疑难常借它的引文来解决问题。就是现在我们阅读古文，有疑问也可查《御览》。例如读《昭明文选》中司马相如的《长门赋》序：“……因于解悲愁之辞，而相如为文，以悟主上，陈皇后复得亲幸。”序文中的“于”和“悟”在此很难理解。查《御览》的《皇亲部·孝武陈皇后》条，载有：“武帝陈皇后退居长门宫。司马相如《长门赋》序曰：'因求解悲愁之辞，而相如为颂，以奏主上，皇后复得亲幸。'”“于”为“求”，“悟”作“奏”，这就合乎情理而且文字通顺了。也可利用此书查典故。如读毛主席的《七律·答友人》，其中有“斑竹一枝千滴泪”，“斑竹”是怎么回事？《御览》专有竹部，其中可查到一条记载：“任昉《述异记》曰：'湘水去岸三十许里，有相思宫，望帝台。舜南巡不返，殁葬于苍梧之野。尧之二女娥皇、女英追之不及，相思恸哭，泪下沾竹，文悉为之斑斑然。”这就是斑竹的来历。此外，要查考史实，搜集参考资料，也常用《御览》。里有曹操煮酒论英雄，刘备闻说大惊落箸的故事，其中有刘备假借惊雷以掩饰自己的大惊失色一节。利用《御览》可找到这个故事的最早出处。关键词是“惊雷”，在天部，“雷”子目下有《华阳国志》的一段有关记载。《华阳国志》，东晋常璩撰，是专门记载巴蜀史事的书。就本着这段记载描绘了这个故事。 《御览》的文献价值很高，但其缺点错误也不少。因它所引的书，并不是宋代初年都存在，而是沿袭了前代类书。因杂抄前代类书，未加细校，再加上编修上的草率，所以引书方面就有重复、错落和讹谬。书的部类方面，重复之处也屡见不鲜，如：同一个地部内“太白山”和“岷山”重复出现；居处部有“井”类，休征部也有“井”类；两处排“安息”，两处的引文完全重复等等。所有这些，说明编制体例上的混乱，这都不能不说是《御览》的缺陷。我们使用时要注意。 《御览》现存最古的本子是南宋闽刻本，此本辗转流传到清同治年间，藏书家陆心源以“白金”百两买得，藏于著名的皕〔bi闭〕宋楼，所存只有351卷。光绪末年，陆氏死后，其子不肖，以10万元之代价将皕宋楼藏书尽卖给日本人，此书也随之归日本静嘉堂文库。另一个南宋蜀刊本，也存在日本。1928年近代出版家张元济(公元1866—1959年)到日本访书，获见南宋蜀刊本，遂借以影印，蜀本所缺的，又借静嘉堂文库所藏的闽刊本残卷和日本活字本分别补足。于1935年收入商务印书馆出版的《四部丛刊三编》中，这就是《四部丛刊三编》影印宋刻本。此书成为多少年来流行的最好版本。1960年中华书局将此影宋本缩印，装成四大册出版，这就是我们现在常用的本子。 b 古小说的林薮——《太平广记》 《太平广记》是和《太平御览》同时编的四大书之一。因在太平兴国三年成书，故名《太平广记》。此书也是李昉等奉太宗之命而编，是专门收集小说、异闻、笔记的类书。我国小说源远流长，“小说”这一名词在先秦就已有了。《汉书·艺文志》更把“小说家”列为九流十家之一。古代对“小说”这一概念的理解比现代广泛，凡是神话传说、寓言故事、野史、杂传以及各种纪录异闻都称为“小说”。《太平广记》汇集了从汉代到宋初的各种形式的小说，也包括少量先秦古籍中的传说故事。全书共500卷，另有目录10卷。经过一定的选择，把一则则故事分类重新编排，共分92大类，又有150多个细目。据统计，《太平广记》在92个类目下，共汇集了6970多则故事，每则故事后都注明引自何书。引书计343种，其实仔细核对不止此数，有说475种，有说526种。总之引书范围很广泛，鲁迅先生称之为“古小说的林薮〔sou叟〕”，清人称赞它为“小说家之渊海”，都不是过誉之词。 《太平广记》作为我国第一部大型小说总集型的专门类书，为研究先秦至宋初古小说的发生和发展提供了完备的资料。同时，许多珍贵的古小说及其他遗文佚典，由于《太平广记》的引录，才能保存至今。例如，唐代的传奇是我国文学史上的珍品，当时多出于一些文章名家之手。但因受正统观念的排斥，小说是不能登大雅之堂的，作者自己也不敢收入自己的文集。如元稹的，当时就名噪于世，但不见于早期的《元氏长庆集》。直到明代，才有人据《太平广记》所录，编入元集的补遗之中。如果不是《太平广记》把这些作品收录进去，那我们今天很可能就不知道唐人传奇是什么东西。鲁迅先生辑《唐宋传奇集》，“最多者即《太平广记》中文”；这种情况很多。同时，《太平广记》所辑，虽是小说，但其中许多有关人事的故事，是当时人记当时事，相当可信。只因出自“小说”，是所谓轶闻琐事，往往为“正史”所不载。所以《太平广记》对研究一些历史人物的事迹、各朝的典章、名物制度、历史、地理、宗教、民俗、社会变迁、中外关系以及科技文化等方面的状况也有参考价值。此外，《太平广记》对后世文学的发展有重大影响。宋元的、明清的，以及文言小说，有许多篇目是以《太平广记》中的故事作为蓝本进行再创作的。明末小说家冯梦龙(公元1574—1646年)编著“三言”(、、)，其中至少有30篇在“入话”或“正话”中，采用了《太平广记》中的故事。有的篇目如《杜子春三入长安》等，可以说整篇都是以《太平广记》中的材料为依据写成的。至于元、明、清戏剧家，更把《太平广记》当作重要的取材源泉。脱胎于，这是人所共知的。而且《太平广记》中篇幅较长、想象丰富、情节动人的故事，几乎没有不被改编成戏曲的。如、《柳毅传书》等，这也都说明《太平广记》的使用价值。此外，《太平广记》保存了不少当时的口语、词汇，对研究语言学、词汇学和民间文学都有参考价值。 当然，《太平广记》并不是一部完整无缺的书，其中有后人窜改补入的文字和增加的故事；有100多个条目，没注明出处；卷首的《引用书目》也经过后人的不断增补；所辑故事也不是都抄自原书，转录自类书的很多。《太平广记》所辑故事谈神仙鬼怪与因果报应的占着较大比重，这反映出古代迷信的风气和魏晋南北朝以来志怪小说的兴盛。另外，这部书的门类，也像其他类书一样，不免分合不当、零乱、重复。且门类复杂，查起来有些困难。1949年前邓嗣禹编《太平广记篇目及引书引得》，分书名与篇目二种引得，利用它可帮助查阅。1961年中华书局出版排印本，1982年重版，后来中华书局又编印了《太平广记索引》，为使用此书提供了更大方便。 c 政事历史性质的类书——《册府元龟》 宋真宗赵恒因其父诏修了《太平御览》等，也想编一部大书和他父亲的书媲美。所以，他在即位后的第八年，就命王钦若、杨亿等人，自景德二年(公元1003年)开始编修《历代君臣事迹》，到大中祥符六年(公元1013年)编成。编撰过程中，赵恒亲自过问编修事宜，亲自审阅，随时指示，随时修改。他学父亲“日进三卷”的办法，一般都是当天看完，甚至看到深夜。这期间对编修官的起居饮食都有特殊供应，每次真宗亲临崇文院看编书情况，都分别对编修官有不同赏赐，甚至赠土特产，按旧例土特产只能赐近臣，对编修此书的重视可知。但对他们的工作质量也随时检查，赏罚分明。书成以后，真宗作序，改名《册府元龟》。“册府”就是典策的渊薮，书册的府库。“元龟”就是大龟，为古代用以占卜的宝物。古人说龟可以知未来，测定吉凶，所以凡是可以借鉴的，常称之为龟鉴。《册府元龟》命名的意思，就是说，这部书是一部古籍的大龟，蕴藏丰富，可以作为君臣的鉴戒，是君臣上下行事借鉴的典籍，也就是“前事不忘，后事之师”的意思。 此书是具有政事历史百科全书性质的类书，是一部大型史料分类汇编。它专门辑录自上古到五代的历代君臣事迹，按事类、人物分门编撰；选用材料以“正史”为主，概括全部十七史，也采用经、子等书，只是不收杂史、小说。修书时，唐、五代各朝实录还大都存在，所以，唐、五代史事更详备。如研究唐史，不论人物和事件都可从中搜集资料。若要了解唐太宗李世民的生平事迹，帝王部的帝系、诞圣、名讳、运历、创业、统纪、告功、帝德、功业、征应等许多门类都有有关记载，不难从中形成较为全面的传记，这是很难从其他类书和史书中得出的。全书原有正文1000卷，目录10卷，音义10卷。现在仅存正文和目录，音义已经失传。通行的明刊本分为帝王、闰位、僭伪、列国君、储宫、宗室、外戚、宰辅、将帅、台省、邦计、宪官、谏诤、词臣、国史、掌礼、学校、刑法、卿监、环卫、铨选、贡举、奉使、内臣、牧守、令长、宫臣、幕府、陪臣、总录、外臣，共31部。每部前有《总序》，详述本部事迹的沿革，等于一篇小史；部下又分1104门，每门有《小序》，议论本门的内容，等于一篇总论。《小序》之后即罗列历代人物事迹，这是它与其他类书编制体例上的不同之处。各门材料按年代先后排列。《册府元龟》为宋四大书之一，为清《四库全书》中所收的第二部大书(第一部为《佩文韵府》)，库本约2.72万多页，总字数约940万字，约超过《太平御览》一倍。不仅材料宏富，而且当时所见都是北宋以前古本，与今本正史往往不同；许多古籍，如唐、五代各朝实录、诏令、奏议等，现在都已亡佚，而此书往往全篇或整段录入不加改动，因而可以校史，也可以补史。例如，《魏书》自宋南渡以后即有缺页，严可均辑《全后魏文》，其三十八卷刘芳上书言乐事，引《魏书·乐志》仅一行，即注“原有阙页”。卢文弨撰《群书拾补