Meng Qiu: The Primer

Authored by Li Han during the Tang dynasty. The title is drawn from the Book of Changes, specifically the Hexagram of Youthful Folly, which states: "It is not I who seek the young fool; it is the young fool who seeks me." The entire book is written in four-character lines, with rhymes every two lines and elegant antithetical couplets. Each line recounts a specific historical allusion. It chronicles roughly six hundred figures from the Spring and Autumn period down to the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The events covered span politics, warfare, culture, and esoteric arts, making it astonishingly comprehensive. A fragmentary Tang dynasty manuscript unearthed from the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang stands as its earliest surviving edition.