Taiping Guangji太平廣記; A Collection of Ancient Novels in China; Taoist and Alchemist

"Taiping Guangji" (太平广记)is the first collection of ancient classical Chinese documentary novels. The book has 500 volumes with 10 catalogues . It is a kind of book based on the documentary stories of the Han Dynasty and the Song Dynasty. 14 people including Li Fang, Hu Mongolian ﹑ Li Mu , Xu Xuan , Wangke Zhen , Song white , Lv Wenzhong worked under Song Taizong Emperor’s command for the compilation. It began in the second year of Taiping Xingguo (977 A.D) and was completed in the following year (978 A.D). 


This book is basically a collection of ancient stories compiled by category. The book is divided into 92 categories according to the theme, and is divided into more than 150 details.  The story of the gods and spirits in the book accounts for the largest proportion, such as the fifty-five volumes of the gods, the fifteen volumes of the female fairy, the twenty-five volumes of the gods, the forty volumes of the ghosts, plus the Taoism, the alchemist, the aliens, the dissidents, the interpretation and Spirit vegetation of birds and so on, basically belong to the weird story of nature, represents the mainstream of Chinese classical story. 


The book is the volume about “Taoist and Alchemist” from Taiping Guangji.