A bibliographical study of the 'Hsin hsu' and the 'Shuo yuan'

It is well-known that the Min hsu and the Shuo yuan are two collections of anecdotes and tales from Chinese history from earlier philosophical and historical texts. However, argument has often been raised by scholars as to whether Liu Hsiang was the writer or the editor of these two works or to the accuracy of some of the story. This thesis tries to answer some of the questions by comparison of the text with earlier sources. The topics are as follows: (1) the source, (2) the structure of the text of the contents, (3) Liu Hsiang's aim in compiling these two books and the political background of the time of compiling, (4) how books were put together in the West Han period. The main conclusions are: (1) most fragments were taken from earlier texts while some of them were rewritten while others were original compositions or written by Liu Hsiang, (2) the contents of these two books were arranged by topics grouped for the convenience of the reader who wished to be instructed in the art of government, (3) the concept of a "book" in the West Han period is not the same as today, (4) these two books belong to a unique genre where editing takes the place of original compositions. From these conclusions, the thesis can be put forward that Liu Hsiang can be said to be the editor as well as the author of the Hsin hsu and the Shuo yuan.