Yetgeul › China
Shishuo Xinyu (A New Account of Tales of the World)世說新語
“The sun is far. I have never heard of anyone coming from the sun's side, and by that alone one may know it” — the answer a boy of a few years gave on his father's knee. Asked again the next day, he said, “The sun is near. Lift your eyes and you see the sun, but you do not see Chang'an.” For the two hundred years and more from the end of the Later Han down to the Jin, this book gathers nothing but what people said to one another and how they bore themselves, sorted into thirty-six kinds. It begins with virtuous conduct, speech, government and learning, and descends to extravagance, anger, envy and enmity, setting what is to be praised and what is to be blamed on the same scale. The seven men of the bamboo grove appear in it; Wang Xizhi is chosen as a son-in-law; a man rows out on a snowy night to the gate of a friend's house and turns back, saying the mood has run out. A piece usually runs three or four lines, and at its longest does not fill a page. The commentary Liu Xiaobiao drew from more than a hundred books now survives at greater length than the text itself, for nearly all those books are gone.
From 德行 to 仇隙, the thirty-six chapters and 1,130 entries were divided chapter by chapter. The prefaces by Liu Yingdeng and Yuan Jing at the front were written by those who brought out the Yuan and Ming printings and were not included. The 1,602 notes by Liu Xiaobiao were not thrown away but carried along as interlinear notes, and the passage each note points to was attached as a 「pointing」. Interlinear notes are not counted in the character count of the original or in the reading-aloud estimate, and they are read along only when 「Read the notes aloud」 is turned on.
- Enmity and Estrangement世説新語 仇隟第三十六 · 8 passages · 725 Chinese characters
- Infatuation and Folly世説新語 惑溺第三十五 · 7 passages · 603 Chinese characters
- Blunders and Oversights世説新語 紕漏第三十四 · 8 passages · 676 Chinese characters
- Faults and Regrets世説新語 尤悔第三十三 · 17 passages · 1,176 Chinese characters
- Slander and Treachery世説新語 讒險第三十二 · 4 passages · 316 Chinese characters
- Anger and Short Temper世説新語 忿狷第三十一 · 8 passages · 556 Chinese characters
- Extravagance and Excess世説新語 汰侈第三十 · 12 passages · 951 Chinese characters
- Frugality and Stinginess世説新語 儉嗇第二十九 · 9 passages · 422 Chinese characters
- Dismissal from Office世説新語 黜免第二十八 · 9 passages · 524 Chinese characters
- Guile and Deceit世説新語 假譎第二十七 · 14 passages · 1,520 Chinese characters
- Slighting and Abuse世説新語 輕詆第二十六 · 33 passages · 1,728 Chinese characters
- Taunting and Teasing世説新語 排調第二十五 · 65 passages · 3,884 Chinese characters
- Curtness and Arrogance世説新語 簡傲第二十四 · 17 passages · 1,346 Chinese characters
- Unrestrained Ways世説新語 任誕第二十三 · 54 passages · 3,449 Chinese characters
- Favor and Honor世説新語 寵禮第二十二 · 6 passages · 318 Chinese characters
- Skill and Craft世説新語 巧蓺第二十一 · 14 passages · 671 Chinese characters
- Mastery of the Arts世説新語 術解第二十 · 11 passages · 808 Chinese characters
- Worthy Women世説新語 賢媛第十九 · 32 passages · 2,776 Chinese characters
- Dwelling Apart世説新語 棲逸第十八 · 17 passages · 995 Chinese characters
- Grieving for the Departed世説新語 傷逝第十七 · 19 passages · 995 Chinese characters
- Admiration and Longing世説新語 企羡第十六 · 6 passages · 244 Chinese characters
- Making Oneself Anew世説新語 自新第十五 · 2 passages · 329 Chinese characters
- Bearing and Appearance世説新語 容止第十四 · 39 passages · 1,586 Chinese characters
- Boldness and Dash世説新語 豪爽第十三 · 13 passages · 783 Chinese characters
- Precocious Wit世説新語 夙惠第十二 · 7 passages · 649 Chinese characters
- Quick Perception世説新語 捷悟第十一 · 7 passages · 626 Chinese characters
- Admonitions and Warnings世説新語 規箴第十 · 27 passages · 2,060 Chinese characters
- Grading Excellence世説新語 品藻第九 · 88 passages · 3,908 Chinese characters
- Appreciation and Praise世説新語 賞譽第八 · 156 passages · 5,771 Chinese characters
Book Two, Part One
- Insight and Judgment世説新語 識鑒第七 · 28 passages · 2,051 Chinese characters
- Cultivated Forbearance世説新語 雅量第六 · 42 passages · 3,101 Chinese characters
- Square Uprightness世説新語 方正第五 · 66 passages · 4,949 Chinese characters
Book One, Part Two
- Letters and Learning世説新語 文學第四 · 104 passages · 6,633 Chinese characters
- Affairs of Government世説新語 政事第三 · 26 passages · 1,671 Chinese characters
Book One, Part One
- Speech and Conversation世説新語 言語第二 · 108 passages · 6,685 Chinese characters
- Virtuous Conduct世説新語 德行第一 · 47 passages · 3,033 Chinese characters