Quan shanggu Sandai Qin Han Sanguo Liuchao wen (; "Complete prose of high antiquity, the Three Dynasties, Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms, and Six Dynasties") is a monumental collection of texts from the period before the Tang dynasty, compiled by Yan Kejun () (1762–1843) during the Qing dynasty. It was only published after Yan's death, and in several editions. The manuscript passed successively through the hands of Jiang He , Fang Gonghui , Wang Bingen , Ding Fubao , Ye Jingkui , and others; the Ye family () donated it to the United Library () (in Shanghai).shuge.org (Shuge Online Digital Library of Antique Books)

Introduction The collectaneum consists of 15 collections (ji ), each of the collections can thus be regarded as a book of its own. It contains works from the "Three Dynasties" (Sandai, i.e., Xia, Shang, and Zhou, 11th cent.–221 BCE), the Qin (221–206 BCE), Former Han (206 BCE–8 CE, including the reign of Wang Mang), Later Han (25–220 CE), Three Kingdoms (220–280 CE), Jin (265–420), (Liu)-Song (420–479), (Southern) Qi (479–502), Liang (502–557), Chen (557–589), Later (i.e., Northern) Wei (386–534), Northern Qi (550–577), Later (i.e., Northern) Zhou (557–581), Sui (581–618), and pre-dynastic Tang (Xian-Tang). In total, more than 3,400 authors are represented, each with a short biography describing origins, offices, titles, and major life events.

The collection is particularly valuable because it brings together texts from a wide variety of sources, including official edicts, letters, proposals, inscriptions, poems, and admonitions. Many texts from the Later Han and Three Kingdoms period were fragmentary and were reconstructed from multiple sources, while texts from later dynasties are mostly preserved intact. The works are arranged chronologically and by category, facilitating scholarly study of the literature, history, religion, and language of ancient China.cf. book.douban.com:

To this day, this collection is the most comprehensive compilation of Chinese prose literature before the Tang dynasty and represents an indispensable source for historians, literary scholars, and philologists. It is used both for research on individual authors and for the analysis of literary and historical developments in early China.

In the Guangxu era, Wang Yuzhao had it printed from the manuscript by the Guangya Publishing House (the “Cantonese edition” ), though without punctuation. In 1930, the Medical Publishing House issued an edition with punctuation based on the manuscript and corrected more than 1,000 errors and omissions.

The Hanyu Da Zidian (HYDZD), for example, refers to the 1980 edition published by Zhonghua shuju.HYDZD bibliography no. 269

Volumes The collectaneum, arranged according to dynasties, consists of 15 collections (ji ) of varying length, in which a differing number of persons are treated:Quan shanggu Sandai Qin Han Sanguo Liuchao wen

Quan shanggu Sandai wen 16 juan – High antiquity and Three Dynasties (Xia, Shang, Zhou) – 206 persons Quan Qinwen 1 juan – Qin – 26 Quan Hanwen 63 juan – (Former) Han – 334 Quan Hou Hanwen 106 juan – (Later) Han – 470 Quan Sanguowen 75 juan – Three Kingdoms – 294 Quan Jinwen 167 juan – Jin – 830 Quan Songwen cf. Quansongwen 64 juan – (Liu)-Song – 278 Quan Qiwen 26 juan – (Southern) Qi – 131 Quan Liangwen 74 juan – Liang – 204 Quan Chenwen 18 juan – Chen – 63 Quan Hou Weiwen 60 juan – Later (i.e., Northern) Wei – 302 Quan Bei Qiwen 10 juan – Northern Qi – 84 Quan Hou Zhouwen 24 juan – Later (i.e., Northern) Zhou – 61 Quan Suiwen 36 juan – Sui – 168 Xian Tangwen 1 juan – pre-dynastic Tang – 54

References

Modern edition （Qing）Yan Kejun: . Zhonghua shuju 2000, ISBN 9787101008685

Bibliography Hanyu da zidian. 1993 (one-volume edition) David Knechtges: "Quan shanggu Sandai Qin Han Sanguo Liuchao wen." In Early Medieval Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide, edited by Cynthia L. Chennault, et al., 242–244. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley 2015 Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide, Part 1, 2010 (in partial view) Harvard-Yenching Institute Sinological Index Series & Supplement 8: Index to the Authors in Ch'uan Shang Ku San Tai Ch'in Han San Kuo Liu Ch'ao Wen (cf. chengwen.com)

External links

- commons.wikimedia.org Quan shanggu Sandai Qin Han Sanguo Liuchao wen – ctext.org Quan shanggu Sandai Qin Han Sanguo Liuchao wen All of China's Prose from Ancient & Medieval Times Shanghai tushuguan Quan shanggu Sandai Qin Han Sanguo Liuchao wen