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The Xijing zaji 西京雜記 "Miscellaneous records of the Western Capital" is a collection of short semi-historiographical stories from the Former Han dynasty 前漢 (206 BCE-8 CE) court. At that time the capital was Chang'an 長安 in the west (the "Western Capital", modern Xi'an 西安, Shaanxi), while the Later Han dynasty 後漢 (25-220 CE) moved to Luoyang 洛陽 (modern Luoyang, Henan) further to the east. The compiler of the book is not known. The imperial bibliography in the official dynastic history Jiutangshu 舊唐書 names the Jin period 晉 (265-420) writer Ge Hong 葛洪 as the author, other sources, like Chao Gongwu's 晁公武 Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) private bibliography Junzhai dushu zhi 郡齋讀書志, wrongly attribute the book to the Liang period 梁 (502-557) scholar Wu Jun 吳均. The bibliography Jingjizhi 經籍志 in the dynastic history Suishu 隋書 speaks of a length of 2 juan "scrolls", while other books also talk of 6 juan. According to the postface (xu 序) the sources for the Xijing zaji came from Liu Xin's 劉歆 collection of materials that were also used for the compilation of the dynastic history Hanshu 漢書, but were not included in the history because of their rather novelistic content. It is therefore traditionally classified as a collection of novellas (xiaoshuo 小說), and not as a historiographic book.
The Xijing zaji includes 129 stories which all took place in the capital Chang'an. Although most of the stories are of historiographical content, there are also some belonging to the genre of supernatural stories (zhiguai 志怪). Some of the stories became very popular and have found their way into higher forms of literature, like poetry and theatre. Among those are the story of princess Wang Zhaojun 王昭君 sent out to marry the Xiongnu khan, the love of the poetess Zhuo Wenjun 卓文君 to Sima Xiangru 司馬相如, the licentious behaviour of the sisters and imperial consorts Zhao Feiyan 趙飛燕 and Zhao Hede 趙合德, Jia Peilan's 賈佩蘭 intimate friendship with her mistress, Lady Qi 戚夫人, or the story of Qiu Hu 秋胡 who disguised himself as a women in order to escape military service.
The Xijing zaji is often quoted in Li Shan's 李善 commentary to the literary anthology Wenxuan 文選, as well as in the Tang period 唐 (618-907) encyclopedia Chuxueji 初學記, which shows that the book was widely known in earlier ages.
The Xijing zaji is included in the collectanea Sibu congkan 四部叢刊, where a Ming period 明 (1368-1644) print is reproduced, and Baojingtang congshu 抱經堂叢書. The Zhonghua shuju press 中華書局 has published a modern version in 1985, and in 1991 the Shanghai guji press 上海古籍出版社 published a commented edition.
Source: Bai Huawen 白化文 (1986). "Xijing zaji 西京雜記", in: Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhongguo wenxue 中國文學, vol. 2, p. 1003. Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe.
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Chinese literature according to the four-category system
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