Han Wu gushi 漢武故事

Han Wu gushi 漢武故事 "Stories of Han Wudi", also called Han Xiaowu gushi 漢孝武故事, is a collection of stories about Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty 漢武帝 (r. 141-87 BCE) traditionally attributed to the historian Ban Gu 班固 (32-92 CE) from the Later Han period 後漢 (25-220 CE). Of the original 2 juan, only one is preserved.

The book was first categorised as a "miscellaneous history" (zashi 雜史) and later put into the novella category (xiaoshuo 小説). It might have been compiled during the Southern Dynasties period 南朝 (420~589), probably by Ge Hong 葛洪 from the Eastern Jin period 東晉 (317-420) or by Wang Jian 王儉 (452-489) from the Southern Qi period 南齊 (479-502). However, quotations from the Han Wu gushi by Pan Yue 潘岳 (247-300) show that the text corpus must have existed in the 3rd century.

The present version of the Han Wu gushi includes 53 stories, included in Lu Xun's 魯迅 (1881-1936) series Gujin xiaoshuo gouchen 古今小說鈎沉.

The earliest extant print is that in the series Gujin shuohai 古今說海 from the Ming period 明 (1368-1644). It is also included in the series Lidai xiaoshi 歷代小史, Gujin yishi 古今逸史 and Siku quanshu 四庫全書. It can also be found in Hong Yixuan's 洪頤煊 Wenjingtang congshu 問經堂叢書 and Wang Renjun’s 王仁俊 Yuhan shanfang ji yishu bubian 玉函山房輯佚書補編.