Maoting kehua 茅亭客話

Maoting kehua 茅亭客話 (also written 茆亭客話) is a collection of fictional stories compiled during the Song period 宋 (960-1279) by Huang Xiufu 黃休復 (fl. 1007), who also wrote a book on painting in the region of Sichuan, Yizhou minghua lu 益州名畫錄.

The book of 10 juan records 89 anecdotal accounts from the region of Shu 蜀 (Sichuan). Its narrative begins in the Five Dynasties period 五代 (907-960) and continues up to the reign of Emperor Zhenzong 宋真宗 (r. 997-1022), though it also occasionally includes historical events from the mid- to late Tang dynasty 唐 (618-907).

The book catalogue Junzhai dushu zhi 郡齋讀書志 notes that Huang used to converse with his guests about matters of the mysterious and the transformative, as well as popular divination practices, even when these belonged to heterodox traditions yet accorded with Daoist principles and carried a moral purpose of admonition, he recorded them all. This shows that much of the book's content is related to Daoist practices, such as cultivation, ingestion (of elixirs), and exercises. The remainder largely uses supernatural and strange tales to convey moral warnings and exhortations to the world.

Some of the book's records can supplement gaps in official histories. For example, it recounts how Emperor Dezong 唐德宗 (r. 779-804) of the Tang dynasty, suspecting Wei Gao 韋皋 (745-805) of harbouring rebellious intentions, lured him with alchemical elixirs and had him poisoned. Other entries, such as those describing tiger infestations in Sichuan during the Tang and Five Dynasties periods, as well as phenomena like hailstorms, lightning strikes, and rainbows, can also serve as reference material for researchers. The entry Li Chushi 李處士 offers a critique of Du Yu's 杜預 (222-285) attempt to harmonise the parallel tradition Zuozhuan 左傳 with the Classic Chunqiu 春秋, demonstrating the author's learning in the study of the Classics.

The text appears in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Longwei mishu 龍威秘書, Xuejin taoyuan 學津討源, Duiyulou congshu 對雨樓叢書, Shuoku 說庫, Hubei xianzheng yishu 湖北先正遺書, Zeshiju congshu 擇是居叢書, Linglangmishi congshu 琳瑯秘室叢書 (with critical commentary by Hu Ting 胡珽 and Dong Jinjing 董金鑒), Shuofu 說郛 (excerpts) and Wuchao xiaoshuo daguan 五朝小說大觀.