Jiashi jiuwen 家世舊聞

Jiashi jiuwen 家世舊聞 "Hearsay from my family's older generations" is a "brush-notes"-style book (biji 筆記) written during the Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) by Lu You 陸游 (1125-1210).

The book of 1 juan traces the personal stories of five generations of the Lu family, from the author's great-great-grandfather Lu Zhen 陸軫 to his father Lu Zai 陸宰 (1088-1148), and extends to record the deeds of his maternal Tang 唐 family. The book records, among others, the repeated missions to the empire of the Liao 遼 (907-1125) of Lu's great-grandfather, noting many observations of Kitan and Chinese customs. It includes accounts of Lu Zhen's relations with Daoist priests performing arts that hinted at omens of a fallen state and also speaks of karmic retribution, much of which appears to be embellished. The text contains exceptional records describing social scenes such as divination customs at Xiangguo Monastery 相國寺 in Bianjing 汴京 (Kaifeng 開封). Lu You also talks about Lu Dian's 陸佃 (1042-1102) studies of the Classic Yijing 周易 "Book of Changes" and Lu Zai's governmental affairs. It is thus an important documentary support for research on the scholarly heritage of Lu You's family. The reader also learns that Lu Dian participated in the compilation of the "Veritable Records" of Emperor Shenzong 宋神宗 (r. 1067-1085), Shenzong shilu 神宗實錄, and the motivation of Lu Zai to submission of petitions to the Imperial Library (shubige 書祕閣) during the Jingkang reign-period 靖康 (1126). The accounts of the implementation and effects of the administrative reforms during the Yuanfeng reign-era 元豐 (1078-1085) supplement omissions found in the "Treatise on state offices" (161-172 Zhiguan zhi 職官志) of the official dynastic history Songshi 宋史.

Drawing upon Lu Zhen's manuscript Xiuxinjian 修心鑒 and Lu Dian's Chunqiu houzhuan 春秋後傳, as well as oral traditions passed down within the family, Lu You covers the family history of more than half a century. The accounts on Lu You's maternal ancestors of the Tang family reflect the marriage networks of late Northern Song 北宋 (960-1126) elite lineages.

The text is found in the series Shuofu 說郛 and Baicheng 稗乘. A modern, commented edition was published in 1993, together with Lu You's Laoxue'an biji 老學庵筆記, in Lu's collected writings Lu You ji 陸游集.