Title

From Anecdotes about Individuals to“Biographies in the Miscellany Genre”

Author

Zhu Gang

Genre

Article

Pages

225-242

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese

Key words

biography in the miscellany genre, Collection of Anecdotes of Song Individuals, Records of the Words and Deeds of Eminent Ministers in Eight Reigns

Abstract

Miscellanies written by Song authors often record anecdotes about individuals, collecting relevant pieces together to form a general impression of the person. In spite of their biographical function, these anecdotes are not coherent, complete writings in the manner of historical biographies or grave inscriptions, and thus for the moment we have decided to label them “biographies in the miscellany genre.” We can investigate their characteristics in terms of two aspects: material selection and abridgment. The newly published Collection of Anecdotes of Song Individuals gathers together the relevant records of specific persons preserved in Song miscellanies. The compilers exclude most Buddhist resources, and thus the overall image of monks is in stark contrast to that found in Buddhist histories. This contrast enables us to investigate the principles informing the selection of materials, in particular the inclination of non-Buddhist miscellanies to record certain types of anecdotes that focused on individual monks. As for abridgment, the Records of the Words and Deeds of Eminent Ministers in Eight Reigns, complied by Zhu Xi 朱熹, is the most influential “biography in the miscellany genre,” within which the complete biographies were curtailed into pieces of the miscellany genre.