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Abstract
The article examines a little-studied work of medieval literature, Queshi (The Missing History). Written by an otherwise unknown author between the ninth and tenth century AD, this collection of short stories records minor historical events of the last decades of the Tang dynasty (618–907). Scholars have long suspected the book to be incomplete, a hypothesis the first part of this article will explore. The enigmatic fragments of a supplementary scroll, in turn, suggest that some stories were probably deliberately expunged between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. The article will show that these fragments, although unlikely to be original, did gravitate towards the book and were in fact included in it. A close inspection of a note appended to the book will reveal traces of the editing process through which the book went.
《闕史》為晚唐時期的一部小說集。該書的作者據說是高彥休，其身份背景不明。學界對《闕史》的保存狀況存有不同觀點。部分學者認為，現知的《闕史》在流傳期間有所散軼；亦有學者認為，目前流傳的版本就是《闕史》原本。本文基於多維的角度及不同的材料探索《闕史》的結構、傳播和影響。筆者特别著墨探討該書的篇幅問題：直到兩宋，書目一致記錄共三卷的《闕史》；而明朝之後，書目只有兩卷版本的記錄。筆者認為，在明代初期，《闕史》曾被書法名家祝允明編輯，因而，《闕史》目前傳世版本並非原本。另一方面，祝允明刪除的故事極可能於唐代之後才編入《闕史》，而非屬於原本。本文的最後一部分將探討《闕史》在清代的印刷和普及過程。
Notes
1 CitationDudbridge 2000, p. 28.
2 CitationHu Daojing 2004, p. 3. Many different figures have been proposed. For a history of the calculation (and miscalculation) of pre-1912 books, see CitationWilkinson 2006, pp. 43–46.
3 Wenxian tongkao 1.8.
4 With Glen Dudbridge (1938–2017), I dismiss as devoid of any explanatory power the term chuanqi 傳奇 (transmissions of the strange). Here and throughout I have instead chosen to employ the generic term xiaoshuo, which I translate as “small talk” in consideration of the very material these stories deal with and their social function. Other contexts, of course, will require a different translation of xiaoshuo, such as “fiction,” “novel” and the like. See CitationDudbridge 2005, pp. 197f.
5 CitationLi Jianguo 2017, 3.1243–1262.
6 CitationCheng Yizhong 1990, pp. 263–268. Cheng also published a separate note on QS: CitationCheng Yizhong 1980, pp. 52–60.
7 CitationDudbridge 2005, pp. 192–216; CitationLuo Manling 2015, p. 7. These studies touch upon QS only incidentally. Luo Manling also produced a full translation of one of the stories in QS: CitationDitter et al. 2017, pp. 48–55.
8 ZMTY 27.82.
9 Nota bene: here and throughout I use the word “edition” to refer to a text’s physical form, be it handwritten or printed, whereas I employ “version” to indicate each different phrasing of the same story (both in printed and manuscript books) or a given arrangement of the stories in QS.
10 It should be noted that slight differences do exist between the Congshu jicheng and Zhibuzu editions.
11 Of the other editions I managed to peruse, I would advise the reader not to rely on the one published by Gu Zhikui 顧之逵 (1752–1797) in his collectaneum Yiyuan junhua 藝苑捃華 (The Collected Quintessence of the Garden of Arts): the text is rife with typos of all sorts. The digital editions – available on Chinese Text Project: https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&res=179837 (accessed May 12, 2022) and Wikisource: https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E5%94%90%E9%97%95%E5%8F%B2 (accessed May 12, 2022) – although sometimes useful for digital research, are not entirely reliable (some stories are unexplainably truncated).
12 Wude 武德 (618–626); Zhenguan 貞觀 (627–649).
13 Zhenyuan 貞元 (785–805); Dali 大曆 (766–779).
14 Dazhong 大中 (847–859); Xiantong 咸通 (860–873).
15 QS 1.1: 皇朝濟濟多士，聲名文物之盛，兩漢纔足以扶輪捧轂而已。區區晉魏周隋已降，何足道哉！故自武德貞觀而後，吮筆為小說、小錄、稗史、野史、雜錄、雜紀者多矣。貞元大曆已前，捃拾無遺事。大中咸通而下，或有可以為誇尚者，資談笑者，垂訓誡者。惜乎不書於方冊，輒從而記之。其雅登於太史氏者，不復載錄. For the translation of official titles, I have relied on CitationHucker 1985.
16 Nota bene: here and throughout, I use the terms “story” and “tale” interchangeably. For a nicer distinction between the two words, see CitationAllen 2006, p. 106.
17 I.e., 874–875.
18 I omit a few lines of secondary concern to our argument.
19 Zhonghe 中和 (881–885).
20 “The feathered flag” (cui hua 翠華), i.e., the Emperor. Shu 蜀 roughly corresponds to modern Sichuan. Soon after his rebel army conquered Chang’an, at the end of 880, Huang Chao 黃巢 (835–884) established the short-lived Qi 齊 dynasty (880–884). Emperor Xizong 僖宗 (r. 873–888) fled to Sichuan. Cf. CitationTwitchett 1979, 3.745f.
21 The “carriage bells” (luan 鑾) are another metonym for the Emperor.
22 QS 1.1: 愚乾符甲午歲生唐世，二十有一，始隨鄉薦於小宗伯 。或預聞長者之論 … 中和歲，齊偷構逆，翠華幸蜀。搏虎未期，鳴鑾在遠，旅泊江表，問安之暇，出所記述。亡逸過半。其間近屏幃者，涉疑誕者，又刪去之，十存三四焉。共五十一篇，分為上下卷，約以年代為次。討尋經史之暇，時或一覽，猶至味之有菹醢也。甲辰歲清和月編次。
23 ZMTY 27.82.
24 See CitationLi Jianguo 2017, 3.1244f.
25 I.e., the years of which Gao Yanxiu could have had first-hand experience.
26 Cf. the story “Dongdu fen si” 東都焚寺 (A Temple Burns in the Eastern Capital), which is set in 883: Chao zei xianluo zhi qian nian 巢賊陷洛[=落]之前年 (“The Year before the Rogue Chao Fell”). See QS 2.40.
27 CitationMa Yau-Woon 1980, p. 178; on fictionality in Tang dynasty stories, see also CitationIdema 1983, pp. 47–51.
28 Cf. ZMTY 27.82 and CitationCheng Yizhong 1990, p. 265.
29 CitationLuo Manling 2015, pp. 5–12.
30 Cf., for instance, CitationLiu Weichong 1996, p. 120.
31 Xin Tangshu 119.4302.
32 Baishi Wen gong nianpu, pp. 395f. Cheng Yizhong misquotes this biography as Bai Xiangshan nianpu 白香山年譜 (Chronicles of Bai Xiangshan), which is the title of another biography of Bai Juyi written by the Qing 1644–1911) scholar Wang Liming 汪立名 (dates unknown).
33 Cf., for instance, Liu junzi wencui 22.11f; Keshan ji 45.10f.
34 Chongwen zongmu 崇文總目 (General Catalogue in Honour of Literature), by Wang Yaochen 王堯臣 (1003–1058). Cf. Chongwen zongmu, 2.68; CitationChang Bide 1986, pp. 152f.
35 Xin Tangshu, by Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007–1072). Cf. Xin Tangshu 59.1542; CitationChang Bide 1986, p. 154.
36 Tongzhi 通志 (General Treatises), by Zheng Qiao 鄭樵 (1104–1162). Cf. Tongzhi, 65.774.
37 Suichutang shumu 遂初堂書目 (Book Index of the Suichu Hall), by You Mao 尤袤 (1127–1194). Cf. Suichutang shumu, p. 445; CitationChang Bide 1986, p. 159.
38 Who was Can Liaozi 參寥子? We are not the only ones to muse on this curious penname. A considerable number of stories in QS ends with a comment by Can Liaozi. Most scholars identified Can Liaozi with Gao Yanxiu himself (on what grounds?), but it should be noted that the name was a fairly common pseudonym for Daoist recluses. Both Li Bai 李白 (701–762) and Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037–1101) had a friend that went by this name and dedicated poems to him. Cf. Li Taibai quanji 1.9.494f; Su Shi quanji 1.211f.
39 Zhizhai shulu jieti 直齋書錄解題 (Zhizhai’s Commented Book Register) by Chen Zhensun. Cf. Zhizhai shulu 11.321; CitationChang Bide 1986, p. 161. It is noteworthy that Chen Zhensun inherited Zheng Qiao’s collection; thus, the copy of QS indexed by the two catalogues is probably the same.
40 The date of completion of Yuhai 玉海 (The Sea of Jade) is uncertain. Most likely, Wang Yinglin 王應麟 (1223–1296) compiled it in his last years, after the fall of the Song. Cf. Yuhai 2.47.278; CitationBalazs – Hervouet 1979, p. 329.
41 Songshi 宋史 (History of the Song), whose main editor was Tuo Tuo 脫脫 (1314–1355). Cf. Songshi 159.2015; CitationChang Bide 1986, p. 174. QS’s sole attribution to Can Liaozi, in this case, likely derives from an incomplete copy of the book that did not bear the name of the author. Someone attempted to extract authorial information from this copy by means of internal evidence (i.e., looking at the comments that appear at the end of some stories), hence leading them to Can Liaozi.
42 Baichuan shuzhi 百川書志 (Baichuan’s Book Records), by Gao Ru 高儒 (fl. sixteenth century). Cf. CitationChang Bide 1986, p. 180; Baichuan shuzhi, p. 50.
43 Guoshi jingji zhi 國史經籍志 (Records of Dynastic Histories and Classic Books) is a very peculiar book catalogue. The author, Jiao Hong 焦竑 (1540–1620), meant to continue the enterprise begun by Zheng Qiao in his Tongzhi (cf. supra), with the result that his catalogue inherited all the entries from Tongzhi, to which some others were added. Thus, the foremost characteristic of Guoshi jingji zhi is that it does not differentiate between extant and lost books. Qing scholars accordingly criticized this work heavily. Be that as it may, the fact that QS is here recorded in three scrolls does not mean that such a book really existed as late as 1594, but rather that this entry of the catalogue comes from Tongzhi. Cf. Guoshi jingji zhi 3.864; CitationLiu Kaijun 2009, pp. 56–58; CitationChang Bide 1986, p. 183.
44 CitationLi Jianguo 2017, 3.1246.
45 CitationWilkinson 2015, p. 925.
46 CitationChang Bide 1986, p. 154.
47 CitationFudan daxue lishi dili yanjiusuo 1986, p. 622.
48 CitationGu Zhixing 1987, pp. 64f.
49 CitationChang Bide 1986, p. 174.
50 CitationKarlgren 1929, pp. 168f.
51 CitationLi Jianguo 2017, 3.1246.
52 Again, the simple fact that I have been unable to find mention of the book in any early-Ming catalogue does not necessarily entail that the book was lost. The book could have survived in the collections of some minor scholars.
53 From the Ming onwards, QS appears regularly in two scrolls, titled Tang Queshi 唐闕史, and recorded as written by Gao Yanxiu. I have been unable to find any record of the book during the Qing that strays from this format.
54 The stories in square brackets have no titles. I have titled them for the sheer convenience of listing.
55 Zizhi tongjian kaoyi, by Sima Guang 司馬光 (1019–1086). In this work, Sima Guang discusses the sources upon which he relied to write his Zizhi tongjian 資治通鑑 (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid to Government), and which ones he discarded and why. Dating of the story is based on Zizhi tongjian 2.2926; cf. also CitationLi – Lü 1996, 1.892.
56 The author of the Fenmen gujin leishi is unknown. Both stories have been dated in light of the historical events described therein. The second story is said to come from another work in the edition of Fenmen gujin leishi included in Siku quanshu; I thus put a question mark next to it. Cf. Xinbian Fenmen gujin leishi 2.13–21; Fenmen gujin leishi 2.15f; CitationLi – Lü 1996, 2.2145f.
57 Shuofu by Tao Zongyi 陶宗儀 (?–1396). Dating based on a mention of the Daoist monk Li Rong 李榮 (650–683). Cf. Shuofu 48.2219f.
58 CitationLi – Lü 1996, 2.2067.
59 CitationLi Jianguo 2017, 3.1248. Qiyan lu, like QS, has survived as an independent collection, yet the story “Fa gui” 法軌 is nowhere to be found. This is not very surprising since Qiyan lu was compiled during the Sui, while “Fa Gui” is set in the Tang. Cf. CitationLi – Lü 1996, 2.2173.
60 See also CitationLiu Huang-Cheng 2012, p. 135.
61 CitationCherniack 1994, pp. 14f. On the other hand, as Jerome McGann explains, the image of the silent, passive reader is a modern one in Europe too. Cf. CitationMcGann 1991, p. 5.
62 For a brief biography and his activity as a book collector, see CitationRen Jiyu 2001, 1.780.
63 Yuti Tang Queshi, p. 30[a]. The note is also present in a collection of reading notes compiled by Huang Bosi himself. Cf. Dongguan yulun 3.33[b].
64 Haiyu is in Jiangsu.
65 QS 2.40: 參寥子者，高彥休，乾符中人也。眾傳之本出余。余得之丈人太僕李公。公得之海虞錢允言家。祝允明記. I have been unable to find this note in any complete edition of Zhu Yunming’s works.
66 CitationLiu Huang-Cheng 2012, p. 124.
67 Cf. CitationRen Jiyu 2001, 1.88.
68 Zhu died in 1526, while our edition of QS was first recorded in 1538.
69 What happened to the original manuscript? As Susan Cherniack remarks, the survival rates of manuscripts were quite low. See CitationCherniack 1994, p. 32.
70 Cf. CitationRen Jiyu 2001, 1.308.
72 Fudan daxue lishi dili yanjiusuo Zhongguo lishi diming cidian bianweihui 1986, p. 126.
73 For Zhu, best remembered as a calligrapher, see CitationLi Zhensong 2006, pp. 185f. Yao Zi’s name has fallen into oblivion, and little is known about him aside from his bibliophily. Cf. CitationZang Lihe 1938, p. 639.
74 By “authentic” I mean written in Gao Yanxiu’s hand.
75 CitationDeng – Wang 1998, pp. 558–561. Lu Xun 魯迅 (1881–1936) described the book as “half an original and half a forgery.” Cf. CitationLu Xun 1956, 8.320.
76 “Spurious,” i.e., not written in Gao’s hand.
77 Here I finish my inspection of paratexts. There exist others that I have not mentioned because they were written too late to bear any relevance to our discussion. Bao Tingbo appended the majority of them to the end of his edition of QS.
78 Yuti Tang Queshi 1. Any subsequent edition, including the Siku quanshu one, bears this preface.
79 These figures should not deceive us into believing that the book had become common: the very fact that it was printed in the Zhibuzu collectaneum bespeaks its rarity. This congshu was specifically meant to reprint books of high literary value that had become particularly rare. Cf. CitationLi – Lü 1996, 2.2097.
80 CitationBarr 2001, pp. 690–696.
81 Rather, this reading note seems to focus on other works of the same genre as QS, which Yuan ridicules as recording completely irrelevant matters. About QS, Yuan says only that “it is rare and there are not many” (liao jian wu duo 寥簡無多). See Yuan Mei quanji, 5.4.55f.
82 ZMTY 27.82.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Filippo Ugolini
Filippo Ugolini is a Ph.D. student at Princeton University. He received a Master of Arts from the School of Oriental and African Studies (London) and a Master of Studies from the University of Oxford. His research focusses on anecdotes and unofficial historiography during the Tang and the Five Dynasties.