Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang
The book Youyang zazu (Chinese酉阳 杂 俎Yǒuyáng zázǔ, " A colorful plate of stories from the south side of the You- hill " ) was developed by the Chinese scholar Duan Chengshi段 成 式( 803-863 ) from Zibo, Shandong during the period the Tang Dynasty written.
Contents of the book
The main part ( Quanji ) has 20 chapters ( juan ), the supplement ( Xuji ) 10 Chapter.
This stories about strange or funny things are reported, it is notified of secret writings, tells of unusual events, from Taoists and Buddhists, humans and spirits of good and bad omen, correct predictions; it also contains small stories about various things of everyday life, all in all it is a motley mix: a treasure trove to legends, myths and fairy tales, anecdotes, unofficial history, customs and traditions and regional products from the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty ..
In the following we can therefore only a few points to pick out from this colorful diversity: The Cinderella or Cinderella story and some aspects of Chinese eating and drinking culture.
Cinderella / Cinderella
The book contains in Chapter 21, an early version of the classic Cinderella or Cinderella fairy tale. The story was told to the author by one of his servants, who came from what is now Nanning in Guangxi.
Dining and drinking culture
The section on alcoholic drinks and food ( Jiushi酒食) is contained in Chapter 7 ( the principal part ). It consists mainly of a few anecdotes about food and drink in the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty and is over 100 names in BENWEI (本 味) chapter of the feed ingredients Lüshi chunqiu and other books included, alcoholic drinks, dishes and spices together and the methods of preparation of some dishes already lost books, such as the Shici (食 次) or the Shi Jing (食 经).
Parallels to Zhang Hua
In his manner of arrangement of the reported material and in his literary style it is similar to the book Bowu博物 志zhi ( report of strange things) by Zhang Hua张华( 232-300 ) from the Western Jin Dynasty.
Contents of the book are found in many old collections of books, eg in the Siku quanshu, congshu Jicheng chubian or the Japanese Chugoku shokkei sosho. A modern edition in 1981 published by Zhonghua Shuju in Beijing, another 2001 Publishing Xueyuan Chubanshe, also in Beijing.