A New Account of the Tales of the World, also known as Shishuo Xinyu (), was compiled and edited by (; 403 – 26 February 444() Song Shu, vol.05. () Song Shu, vol.51) during the Liu Song dynasty (420–479) of the Northern and Southern dynasties. It is a historical compilation of anecdotes about Chinese scholars, musicians, and artists during the 2nd-4th centuries.
Content The book contains around 1,130 historical anecdotes and character sketches of around 600 literati, musicians and painters who lived in the Han and Wei–Jin periods (2nd-4th centuries). Chapter 19, for instance, has 32 stories about outstanding women. It is thus both a biographical source and a record of colloquial language. The original text of the book was divided into eight volumes of juan (卷 "scroll"), though current editions generally span ten volumes.Endymion Wilkinson. Chinese History: A New Manual. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series New Edition; Second, Revised printing March 2013, ), p. 732.NJ Museum
Reception While most of the anecdotes and personalities are attested in other sources, traditional Chinese bibliographers did not classify Shishuo Xinyu as history, but as a novel / "minor tales" ( xiao shuo), a term that was later used to refer to fiction. Some attribute this to its use of colloquial language as well as how it did not follow the historical conventions of the Twenty-Four Histories. The mixture of literary and vernacular styles set the scene for the later tradition of informal Chinese literature. The 20th-century Chinese novelist Lu Xun spoke highly of the book's aesthetic merits.(宋临川王义庆，著《世说新语》，上叙两汉、三国及晋中朝、江事左。刘峻注释，摘其瑕疵，伪迹昭然，理难文饰。) Shitong, vol.17; see Liu Zhiji
Translations The text was fully translated into English in 2002, with annotations and commentary by Liang dynasty scholar Liu Xiaobiao (; 462 - 521 or 463 - 522), by sinologist Richard B. Mather, in the book titled Shih-shuo Hsin-yü: A New Account of Tales of the World.Yiqing Liu, Jun Liu and Richard B. Mather. A New Account of Tales of the World (Shih-Shuo Hsin-Yü). (Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, Michigan Monographs in Chinese Studies, 2002). .
Extant versions Manuscript: Hand-written fragments from the Tang dynasty (618–907) () Woodblock prints: Dong Fen edition, 1138 (8th year of the Shaoxing era of the Southern Song); original kept in Japan () Edition by Lu You, 1188 (15th year of the Chunxi era of the Southern Song; ) Edition from Hunan, 1189 (16th year of Chunxi) () (Chinese Philosophy Digitalization Project)
Categories Virtuous Conduct Speech and Conversation Affairs of State Letters and Scholarship The Square and the Proper Cultivated Tolerance Insight and Judgment Appreciation and Praise Grading Excellence Admonitions and Warnings Quick Perception Precocious Intelligence Virility and Boldness Appearance and Manner Self-renewal Admiration and Emulation Grieving for the Departed Reclusion and Disengagement Worthy Beauties Technical Understanding Skill and Art Favor and Veneration The Free and Unrestrained Rudeness and Arrogance Taunting and Teasing Contempt and Insults Guile and Chicanery Dismissal from Office Stinginess and Meanness Extravagance and Ostentation Anger and Irascibility Slander and Treachery Blameworthiness and Remorse Crudities and Slips of the Tongue Delusion and Infatuation Hostility and Alienation
References and notes
Further reading Nanxiu Qian. Spirit and Self in Medieval China : The Shih-Shuo Hsin-Yü and Its Legacy. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001). . Jack W. Chen. Anecdote, Network, Gossip, Performance : Essays on the Shishuo xinyu (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2021). . Mingyuan Hu. The Eremitic and Extravagant: Elegance of Personality I (London: Hermits United, 2024). . Mingyuan Hu. The Bold and Untrammelled: Elegance of Personality II (London: Hermits United, 2024). .