The Study Of Yu Lin Written By Pei Qi

As the origin of the story of depicting scholars, Yu Lin,written by Pei Qi of East Jin Dynasty, is a truthful record of the scholars of Wei and Jin dynasty. It lays the foundation for the development of the sketches. The extant Yu Lin is a compilation book. This paper makes an investigation into the various editions of Yu Lin in order to reestablish the original one. On the basis of this reestablishment, this paper discusses the circulation, characters and subjects, mode of thinking, and the literariness and historicity of Yu Lin. Different from the anecdotal recollections of the former dynasties and the compilations of previous classics in New Anecdotes of the Times, Yu Lin is an accurate representation of the anecdotes of the contemporary times of Wei and Jin dynasties and the creative texts which incorporate the personal ideas and the ideas of the times, thus possessing higher historical and literary values.