Zhongchao gushi 中朝故事

Zhongchao gushi 中朝故事 "Stories from amidst the court" is a collection of stories compiled by Yuchi Wo 尉遲偓 (c. 950), who lived under the Southern Tang dynasty 南唐 (937-975). He was a gentleman for court discussion (chaoyilang 朝議郎), acting supervising secretary (shou jishizhong 守給事中) and then compiler for the dynastic history (guoshi 國史).

The book Zhongchao gushi was compiled on imperial order and records stories from the imperial court of the Tang dynasty 唐 (618-907) under the last four emperors Xuanzong 唐宣宗 (r. 846-859), Yizong 唐懿宗 (r. 859-873), Zhaozong 唐昭宗 (r. 888-904), and Aizong 唐哀帝 (r. 904-907). The emperors of the Southern Tang saw themselves as descendants of the second emperor of the great Tang, Emperor Taizong 唐太宗 (r. 626-649), and wanted to pay homage to him by compiling a history of the downfall of his dynasty. The first of the 2 juan of the Zhongchao gushi includes stories from the court and paragraphs about the administrative system of the Tang. However, the second juan consists of fantastic stories that have only partial to historical events.

The Zhongchao gushi is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Guang sishijia xiaoshuo 廣四十家小說 (both in a 2-juan version), Lidai xiaoashi 歷代小史, Shuofu 說郛, Wuchao xiaoshuo 五朝小說, Tangren shuohui 唐人說薈, Tangdai congshu 唐代叢書, Congshu jicheng 叢書集成 and Suiyan Xushi congshu 随盦徐氏叢書. In 1958, the Zhonghua Shuju Press 中華書局 published a modern print in a joint version with the books Youxian guchui 幽閑鼓吹 and Da-Tang zhuanzai 大唐傳載.